FTSE 250 movers: Tullow slides on downgrades; Just Eat rallies

London’s FTSE 250 index was down 0.4% to 16,726.93 in afternoon trading.

Tullow Oil was the standout loser as Macquarie, Goldman Sachs and Numis all had their say on the stock.

Goldman Sachs downgraded Tullow to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’ and cut the price target to 274.30p from 305p on the back of the recently announced need for two pipelines in East Africa.

Meanwhile, Macquarie cut the stock ‘neutral’ from ‘outperform’ on fundamental valuation grounds following recent strength but said it remains very positive on the overall story and would take advantage of any dips.

Finally, Numis removed Tullow from its ‘Top Picks’ list this month.

Aberdeen Asset Management was also under the cosh as it reported a slump in first-half profit amid weakness in emerging markets.

In the six months to the end of March, underlying pre-tax profit fell 40% to £162.9m, as net revenue declined 20% to £483.6m.

Meanwhile, assets under management dropped to £292.8bn from £330.6bn the year before, and the company kept its interim dividend per share unchanged at 7.5p.

Indivior tumbled after the speciality pharmaceuticals company said first-quarter pre-tax profit fell to $86m (£58.6m) from $102m in the same period a year ago, while net income slid to $50m from $77m.

Operating profit slipped 12% to $101m while earnings per share fell to $7 from $11, but revenue grew 3% to $258m.

On the upside, Just Eat surged after saying it now expects full-year profits to be larger than previously indicated after the number of famished Britons ordering takeaway food online continued to increase in the first three months of the year.

Regus, a provider of flexible workspace solutions, was also in the black after saying it expects to deliver full-year results in line with management's views as it reported “good trading” in the three months to the end of March.

Group revenue rose to £532.5m from £452.3m in the first quarter of last year, a 14.5% increase at constant currency, thanks to the development of 554 locations added during 2015.

Interserve was also a high riser after saying its joint venture with process engineering firm Doosan Enpure has been awarded a £46m contract by Northumbrian Water to upgrade the Horsley water treatment works in the Tyne Valley.

During the 30-month contract, the support services and construction group will build new treatment facilities alongside the current plant, which will continue to operate until the new project is complete.

The site supplies up to 150 million litres of water a day to 800,000 customers on Tyneside.

Risers

Just Eat (JE.) 410.20p 6.96%
Regus (RGU) 308.40p 5.47%
Interserve (IRV) 443.50p 3.79%
Rightmove (RMV) 4,002.00p 3.73%
Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 75.75p 2.92%
Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 305.30p 2.73%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 329.80p 2.65%
UDG Healthcare Public Limited Company (UDG) 627.50p 2.53%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 531.00p 2.51%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 679.00p 2.41%

Fallers

Tullow Oil (TLW) 249.20p -10.90%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 270.30p -9.51%
Indivior (INDV) 145.70p -9.39%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 394.90p -6.40%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 465.20p -5.81%
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 71.00p -5.77%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 162.30p -5.36%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 213.40p -4.69%
Investec (INVP) 498.90p -4.61%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,150.00p -4.17%