FTSE 250 movers: Wood chipped, Inmarsat zooms

London's FTSE 250 index was down 1.03% at 18,802.86 in afternoon trade on Monday, with Wood Group shunting the index lower after agreeing to the sale of one of its divisions.

The multinational energy services outfit slumped after it was downgraded to 'underperform' from 'hold' at Jefferies, with analysts citing an increased risk to the company's dividend after "messy" full-year results demonstrated how underlying performance had been impacted by adjustments and exceptionals.

Wood Group also announced that it had agreed the sale of its Terra Nova Technologies division - a conveying and material handling systems solutions business - to Murray & Roberts subsidiary Cementation Americas for $38m.

Amigo continued its descent, following a Friday afternoon announcement after the market had closed, denying that it has any plans to make an offer for Provident Financial and attempting to calm market fears in respect of recent concerns raised by the FCA in respect of the guarantor lending market. Investors appeared to not have much confidence in management's assurances.

Genus fell sharply after its chief executive Karim Bitar was poached by medical products and technologies company ConvaTec, effective from 30 September.

Shares in Computacenter dropped as Berenberg cut the stock's target price from 1,600p to 1,400p.

Satellite telecommunications group Inmarsat surged after agreeing to be bought for $3.4bn by a group of private equity firms and pensions funds led by Apax Partners.

Investors ordered more Domino's Pizza after the Sunday Telegraph reported that US fund Asteya Partners, which has a seat on the board of Burger King’s parent company, is building a stake in the London-listed takeaway franchiser.

Dechra Pharmaceuticals rose after JPMorgan initiated the stock at 'overweight' with a target price of 3,000p and Jefferies upped its target price from 2,466p to 2,805p.

Finally, Sirius Minerals crept higher after analysts at its house broker Shore Capital commented that the company is nearing a "crucial juncture" as its $3.4 to $3.6bn stage two financing will soon be completed if all goes to plan.

"We expect this seminal achievement to catalyse a major re-rating of the shares. Beyond that, while Sirius would still be some years from becoming cash generative, an investment in the company should become progressively de-risked and enjoy significant value uplift as it advances towards production, we believe."

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,802.86 -1.03%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Inmarsat (ISAT) 550.00p 8.65%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 234.30p 3.44%
McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 126.90p 2.17%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 2,528.00p 2.02%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 341.90p 1.24%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 108.00p 1.03%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 19.88p 1.00%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 470.50p 0.97%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 984.50p 0.87%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 737.50p 0.82%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Wood Group (John) (WG.) 505.80p -7.29%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,008.60p -5.46%
Amigo Holdings (AMGO) 163.90p -5.38%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,994.00p -5.27%
Genus (GNS) 2,238.00p -5.25%
Aggreko (AGK) 764.00p -4.79%
Rank Group (RNK) 154.00p -4.70%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 241.60p -4.66%
Computacenter (CCC) 1,120.00p -4.60%
Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 113.00p -4.40%