FTSE 250 movers: Bwin.party climbs after pleasing with Q3 results

Gaming giant Bwin.party rose after it reported a 2% rise in third quarter revenue to €148.7m as an increase in sports betting sales offset a fall in bingo, casino and poker. Sports betting revenue advanced 11% to €58.8m, driven by higher margins, the World Cup and growth in the number of people using their mobile phones to gamble.

Third quarter net inflows at hedge fund manager Man Group were better than expected, with a "significant" new institutional mandate offsetting the impact of a slowdown in sales at GLG. Group assets under management (AuM) increased 25% to $72.3bn thanks to the completed acquisitions of US-based Numeric and Pine Grove, with net inflows of $0.4bn, comprising sales of $4.5bn and redemptions of $4.1bn.

Also higher was WH Smith after its preliminary results came in slightly ahead of target thanks to a strong year from its travel business and solid performance from the UK high street. Group total sales were down 2% to £1.12bn in the year to 31 August, with like-for-like (LFL) sales down 3%, but a 160-basis-point hike in gross margin helped profit before tax rise by 9% to £112m and earnings per share by 18% to 77.7p.

British food wholesale operator Booker rose after it reported a £67.4m pre-tax profit for the first six months of the year, a £2.3m increase year-on-year. The firm said that despite challenging market conditions, profit for the period rose from £53.8m to £55.3m, with earnings per share rising to 3.12p from 3.05p in the previous year.

On the downside, Enquest and Afren continued to slide after UBS AG said both had more exposure to falling crude prices than some of their sector peers.

Rank Group was in the red despite delivering a 3% climb in like-for-like revenue in the first 15 weeks of its financial year. The rise was driven by the performance of its Grosvenor Casinos brand, but investors appeared concerned by the smaller 1% like-for-like improvement from its Mecca brand.

FTSE 250 - Risers

AO World (AO.) 175.80p +4.83%
Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 86.05p +4.18%
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 308.30p +3.77%
Man Group (EMG) 112.30p +3.69%
WH Smith (SMWH) 1,029.00p +3.37%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 226.90p +2.86%
Greencore Group (GNC) 236.50p +2.78%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 166.30p +2.53%
Booker Group (BOK) 120.10p +2.30%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,705.00p +2.28%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,059.00p -8.31%
EnQuest (ENQ) 72.15p -6.66%
IP Group (IPO) 183.80p -5.70%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 2,285.00p -5.42%
Card Factory (CARD) 218.10p -5.17%
Just Retirement Group (JRG) 118.30p -4.83%
Afren (AFR) 93.55p -4.83%
PayPoint (PAY) 877.50p -4.62%
Rank Group (RNK) 154.20p -4.40%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 789.50p -4.25%