FTSE 250 movers: Alpha Group tumbles as CEO exits; Ocado rallies

dl ocado supermarket retail online delivery groceries truck transport ftse 100 min — OcadoCompany photo / Ocado Group

London’s FTSE 250 was down 0.2% at 20,614.59 in afternoon trade on Tuesday.

Alpha Group was under the cosh as it said Morgan Tillbrook had decided to step down as chief executive on 31 December.

He will be succeeded by Clive Kahn, who has been chairman since 2016, and who will be appointed as CEO from 1 January 2025.

On the upside, gold miner Centamin surged after agreeing to be taken over by AngloGold Ashanti in a £1.9bn deal.

Under the terms of the transaction, Centamin shareholders will receive 0.06983 new AngloGold Ashanti shares and $0.125 in cash.

The price represents a premium of around 36.7% to the closing share price on Monday.

Centamin chief executive Martin Horgan said: "The transaction will allow our assets to grow as part of AngloGold Ashanti's larger, diversified portfolio, benefitting from AngloGold Ashanti's track record of responsibly developing and operating large-scale open pit and underground mines in Africa in close partnership with the host governments and communities."

Hochschild also shone.

Ocado gained as the latest research from Kantar showed it was the fastest-growing grocer for the seventh consecutive month in the four weeks to 1 September. Sales were up 12.9%, which was the quickest rate of growth since May 2021.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Centamin (DI) (CEY) 148.60p 24.35%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 170.00p 3.66%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 327.00p 3.55%
International Workplace Group (IWG) 176.50p 3.46%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 185.90p 2.71%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 345.50p 2.49%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 10,410.00p 2.26%
Savills (SVS) 1,166.00p 1.92%
IP Group (IPO) 44.85p 1.82%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 289.00p 1.76%