FTSE 250 movers: Sophos surges but Allied Minds retreats

London's FTSE 250 was up 0.2% to 19,000.04 in afternoon trade, with broker notes behind some of the moves.

Online security specialist Sophos surged as it boasted that its full-year earnings and cash flow are likely to outshine the consensus forecast after a very strong end to the fourth quarter.

Commercial laundry group Berendsen rallied as Exane BNP Paribas initiated coverage of the stock at 'outperform'.

Engineer Rotork pushed higher as JP Morgan Cazenove upgraded the stock to 'overweight' from 'neutral' and lifted the price target to 265p from 230p, saying the company was positioned to return to growth.

The bank said it reckons the group's earnings power has increased and earnings can significantly exceed previous peaks.

Allied Minds was under the cosh again following a double downgrade by Jefferies at the end of last week and amid worries about the departure of chief executive officer Chris Silva.

Builders' merchant Travis Perkins was hit by weaker-than-expected data on the UK construction sector.

The UK construction purchasing managers' index from Markit and CIPS fell to 52.2 for March from 52.5 in February, a level at which economists expected it to remain. A PMI index reading above 50 indicates growth.

Risers

Sophos Group (SOPH) 309.90p 13.89%
Berendsen (BRSN) 772.00p 4.18%
Rotork (ROR) 255.10p 3.61%
BGEO Group (BGEO) 3,337.00p 3.22%
NMC Health (NMC) 1,795.00p 2.92%
Evraz (EVR) 230.10p 2.63%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 1,775.00p 2.60%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 178.50p 2.53%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,676.00p 2.33%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 361.20p 2.27%

Fallers

Allied Minds (ALM) 255.30p -5.58%
Henderson Group (HGG) 230.40p -2.37%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 441.00p -2.07%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,471.00p -1.93%
Carillion (CLLN) 220.60p -1.82%
Computacenter (CCC) 736.50p -1.80%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 300.00p -1.61%
Debenhams (DEB) 53.30p -1.57%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 627.00p -1.49%
Kier Group (KIE) 1,353.00p -1.46%