FTSE 250 movers: Rentokil in favour; N Brown fall on slowdown news

The midcap FTSE 250 index was slightly lower in mid-afternoon trade, down 0.16% at 17,016.96.

Vedanta Resources and Allied Minds led the way, with shares in both companies up 5.42%.

Shares in Royal rat-catcher Rentokil Initial posted a strong start to the year on Wednesday, with growth across most of its businesses and a number of acquisitions in its first quarter.

The FTSE 250 business services group reported revenue from ongoing operations growth of 11.,8% during the quarter, of which 2.8% was organic and 9% was from acquisitions.

On the red side of the screen, Clothing retailer N Brown fell as it revealed a slowdown since the year end and warned of currency headwinds, despite posting solid final results.

Sales in the new financial year have been lower than the previous year due to what is acknowledged as a challenging industry backdrop and the company's new marketing approach of shifting from large TV ad campaigns to a more steadily increasing investment in online and mobile as part of chief executive Angela Spindler's transformation of the business from being mail-order led to digital-first.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 - Risers

Vedanta Resources (VED) 423.80p 5.42%
Allied Minds (ALM) 398.80p 5.42%
IP Group (IPO) 170.60p 4.02%
JRP Group (JRP) 140.60p 3.61%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 182.70p 3.40%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,139.00p 2.89%
Genus (GNS) 1,529.00p 2.82%
Evraz (EVR) 148.00p 2.78%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,462.00p 2.67%
Senior (SNR) 224.60p 2.65%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 269.10p -14.73%
John Laing Group (JLG) 216.30p -4.96%
Pendragon (PDG) 35.11p -3.94%
Ted Baker (TED) 2,387.00p -3.24%
Cranswick (CWK) 2,296.00p -2.59%
Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 263.00p -2.52%
Rightmove (RMV) 3,902.00p -2.25%
Aveva Group (AVV) 1,626.00p -2.11%
Assura (AGR) 55.75p -2.11%
WH Smith (SMWH) 1,672.00p -1.99%