FTSE 250 movers: Merlin Entertainment rallies but Aveva slumps

London’s FTSE 250 was down 0.7% to 19,541.61 in afternoon trading on Thursday.

Legoland park and Sea Life centre operator Merlin Entertainment was the standout gainer after it reported an improvement in revenues and profits despite a year affected by UK terror attacks.

Defence and aerospace firm Cobham surged as its turnaround plan started to bear fruit, with the company swinging to a pre-tax profit of £173.1m from a loss of £847.9m a year ago.

Howden Joinery gained as it registered a slight fall in annual profit as costs rose faster than revenue but the kitchen company said sales remained robust at the start of 2018.

Molten metal flow engineering company Vesuvius rose after saying that full year pre-tax profits rose 22.3% to £97.1m as global steel production increased.

Elementis got a boost as Jefferies upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’, saying its "legacy" personal care business has more growth potential than was previously apparent.

Hunting rallied as it the energy services group said revenue from continuing operations in the year to the end of December 2017 increased to $722.9m from $455.8m in 2016, while National Express was up after impressive full-year results.

On the downside, Aveva was weaker as its stock went ex-dividend and as it announced the completion of the combination with the Schneider Electric industrial software business.

Insurer Hastings was under the cosh. Although it posted a rise in full-year profit as it continued to grow its share of the UK private car insurance market, growth in gross written premiums and live customer policies left investors disappointed.

Oil services outfit Petrofac gushed lower as it said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 3.7% to $730m as it announced chief executive Ayman Asfari would resume full duties with immediate effect.

Risers

Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 381.50p 12.21%
Cobham (COB) 124.25p 9.52%
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 474.90p 6.94%
Hunting (HTG) 649.50p 6.74%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 615.00p 4.15%
Elementis (ELM) 299.80p 2.74%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,606.00p 2.69%
National Express Group (NEX) 357.00p 2.23%
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT) 1,350.00p 2.12%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 28.06p 2.04%

Fallers

Aveva Group (AVV) 1,830.90p -36.56%
Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 285.00p -8.83%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,456.00p -8.43%
AA (AA.) 74.96p -5.71%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 428.60p -5.16%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 132.20p -4.89%
IP Group (IPO) 109.40p -4.70%
BCA Marketplace (BCA) 158.20p -4.12%
Capita (CPI) 169.00p -4.06%
Galliford Try (GFRD) 882.50p -3.87%