FTSE 250 movers: William Hill rises on beat, Afren hit by T5 rebuttal

Full year results from William Hill boosted share prices, as the bookmaker jumped ahead of forecasts despite falling at a fourth-quarter hurdle, as football and horse racing results favoured punters.

The group was forced to officially distribute the figures on Monday night after they were accidentally emailed to analysts. They revealed that net revenue was down 2% and operating profits were down 7% in the fourth quarter as "unfavourable" sports results were exacerbated by a large high-roller hit in its online casino but that full year operating profits were better than expected.

Vedanta Resources rocketed after an upgrade to ‘neutral’ from analysts at HSBC on Monday. They now have a £2.60 price target on the stock.

Oil and gas services provider Petrofac was among the risers after receiving an award notification for the first phase of its $4bn project for Kuwait’s state oil company.

"This is a significant award for Petrofac in one of our core markets and complements the ongoing projects we have in hand for both KOC and Kuwait National Petroleum Company," said the company.

IG Group found its share prices dipping, as a strong set of interim results were undermined with news that its dividend was under threat due to the wave of client currency losses stemming from the Swiss National Bank's policy changes. Huge swings n the Swiss franc and euro led to a £30m hit on the company.

Shares in oil and gas group Afren were lower due to news that rumoured suitor T5 Oil & Gas is not interested in a takeover. T5 put out a statement on Tuesday morning rebuffing rumours: "T5 Oil and Gas announces that it does not intend to make an offer for Afren Plc," it stated.

Analysts at Canaccord said that Afren needs to refinance some of its debt in 2015 as a matter “of the utmost importance to the company’s future as a standalone entity".

Risers
Vedanta Resources (VED) 429.80p +8.26%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 207.40p +6.36%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 482.00p +5.93%
Supergroup (SGP) 969.50p +4.92%
Lonmin (LMI) 183.40p +4.50%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 653.50p +4.39%
3i Infrastructure (3IN) 159.30p +4.32%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 746.50p +4.11%
Aveva Group (AVV) 1,383.00p +3.60%
Synthomer (SYNT) 246.90p +3.52%

Fallers
William Hill (WMH) 364.40p -3.24%
esure Group (ESUR) 226.90p -2.83%
Playtech (PTEC) 646.00p -2.71%
Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,933.00p -2.47%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 501.00p -2.34%
Afren (AFR) 27.16p -1.77%
Ted Baker (TED) 2,360.00p -1.67%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 402.90p -1.40%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,315.00p -1.24%
Infinis Energy (INFI) 189.50p -1.10%