FTSE 250 movers: RPC waits for the bell, Vivo surges

London's FTSE 250 was down 0.97% at 19,725.23 in afternoon trade on Monday.

Plastic packaging supplier RPC Group suffered heavy losses as investors fretted about potential suitors Apollo Global Management and Bain Capital's 1700 BST deadline to either announce a firm intention to make an offer for the group or walk away.

RPC came out just on the dot of the close to say that discussions were continuing and there was a new deadline of 5 November.

It added that revenues of £1.9bn had been generated by continuing operations in the first half of the year, including organic growth of circa 3%.

Insurance company Lancashire tumbled after saying it expects to report third-quarter net losses following hits to its marine portfolio and exposure to natural disasters including US hurricane Florence, and Asian typhoons. The company said the marine losses were forecast to be $30m while the natural disaster estimated losses would be $25-45m.

"Absent these events, the company would have been profitable for the third quarter. The company also expects to remain profitable for the first 9 months of 2018," said a statement from the company.

Following the news, broker Numis reiterated its 'buy' stance on the company's shares and target price of 765p, though reduced its full-year profit before tax outlook by $52m to $81m and its dividend forecast from 46p to 28p.

"We consider the spate of Q3 losses to be an unusual cluster of events that may add upwards pressure on rates in certain segments such as marine insurance. We remain positive on the shares based on stable to improving underwriting conditions and emerging growth opportunities," said the broker.

Fellow insurers Beazley and Hastings were also among the fallers, with the latter also downgraded to 'reduce' at Investec.

The big riser in Monday afternoon trading was Vivo Energy, a downstream petroleum company which is behind the Shell brand in Africa, despite oil prices waning as Washington said it may grant waivers to sanctions against Iran’s oil exports next month.

Mediclinic was on the rise after being upgraded to 'buy' by Investec, who also dropped their target price for the company's shares from 592p to 490p.

Investec argued that the company should recover from a period marred by NHS cost constraints and a mild winter slowing down Mediclinic's operations in South Africa.

"We believe consensus now reflects the risks in Switzerland and see opportunity for upgrades if the UAE recovery gathers momentum. We upgrade to Buy ahead of the H1 trading update on 17 October, but caution that seasonality in Switzerland and the UAE, combined with the recent opening of Parkview Hospital in Dubai, will yield a stronger H2 versus H1," said a not from Investec.

Assura continued its rise from Friday, when the real estate investment trust was up after reporting completion of a further three acquisitions for £50m, taking its total spend for the year to £158m.

TalkTalk crept up as rival telecoms firm Vodafone was cut to 'hold' at Jefferies, with the broker stating that Vodafone is losing out having been neither a "national champion" of deploying superfast fibre to customers homes, "nor pay TV leader nor remedy-taking challenger".

TI Fluid fell among worldwide concern among car parts manufacturers about a looming 25% blanket tariff from Washington.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,725.23 -0.97%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Vivo Energy (VVO) 124.04p 4.94%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,884.00p 3.63%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 526.00p 3.14%
AA (AA.) 100.35p 2.71%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,825.00p 2.54%
Greencore Group (GNC) 204.30p 2.18%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 453.10p 2.12%
Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 241.00p 1.90%
Assura (AGR) 55.62p 1.50%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 115.50p 1.49%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 219.80p -8.42%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 694.60p -5.63%
RPC Group (RPC) 771.00p -5.24%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 557.50p -5.03%
Cranswick (CWK) 3,210.00p -4.86%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 4,190.00p -4.77%
Beazley (BEZ) 555.50p -4.06%
Computacenter (CCC) 1,256.00p -3.98%
Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 238.20p -3.95%
Rotork (ROR) 316.75p -3.90%