FTSE 250 movers: Restaurant Group gives food for thought

Shares in Restaurant Group rose as the company said it had swung to a pre-tax loss in the first half on the back of restructuring costs, while like-for-like sales fell and the company announced the closure of 33 outlets.

In the 27 weeks ended 3 July, the group posted a loss before tax of £22.5m compared to a pre-tax profit of £38m the year before.

Meanwhile, like-for-like sales were down 3.9%, and Restaurant Group said it plans to exit 33 underperforming sites immediately as it reckons they are incapable of generating adequate returns. The outlets include 14 Frankie & Benny's, 11 Chiquito sites and eight others.

Shore Capital said the results were better than feared. “Overall, we see the headline metrics as encouraging, given the recent past, although there remains a lot to do stabilise the business and at this stage we are unsure what the investment will mean to margins in 2017f. Given the share, despite the recent rally, trade sharply below the intrinsic value we retain our buy stance.”

Strong performances in France and Germany drove a 2.8% rise in Computacenter´s revenues at the half-year stage to £1.48bn, but the shares were down as management said business conditions in the UK were "challenging", with a reduction in services volumes driving a drop in that segment´s margins.

Mike Norris, Computacenter´s boss, commented: "The first half of 2016 finished slightly better than we had anticipated at the time of our Q1 Trading Update in April 2016, mainly due to the better performance of Computacenter in France."

In adjusted terms, profits before tax for the six-month stretch ending 30 June were off 13.1% to £25.3m and by 66.6% at the statutory level to reach £23.6m. Cash on the other hand shot higher by 115% to £96.6m.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,870.36 -0.07%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 566.50p 5.49%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 167.00p 4.31%
SIG (SHI) 124.10p 4.29%
Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 232.90p 4.25%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 419.50p 2.97%
Ladbrokes (LAD) 161.50p 2.93%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 1,937.00p 2.92%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 276.00p 2.22%
NMC Health (NMC) 1,318.00p 2.17%
McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 202.20p 2.12%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) 2,030.00p -4.15%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,016.00p -4.15%
Carillion (CLLN) 271.30p -3.69%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 269.10p -2.75%
Ascential (ASCL) 258.50p -2.64%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 345.20p -2.60%
BBA Aviation (BBA) 245.70p -2.42%
Computacenter (CCC) 748.50p -2.28%
Homeserve (HSV) 551.50p -2.22%
P2P Global Investments (P2P) 823.00p -2.02%