FTSE 250 movers: Amigo dives, Capita leaps

London’s FTSE 250 was down 0.36% at 19,596.33 in afternoon trade on Thursday, as Amigo Holdings led the index lower.

Meanwhile, Intu dived lower for the second session in a row as analysts at Goldman Sachs slashed their price target for the stock from 84p to 40p the day after it reported falls in its interim net rental income and underlying earnings.

Renishaw slid as it reported a fall in revenue as weakness in the Asia Pacific region, which saw a 19% fall in revenue at constant exchange rates, more than offset growth in all other regions.

Meanwhile, Hochschild Mining and Centamin both dropped as gold prices slid.

Up at the other end of the index, Capita led the risers as it reported half-year results in line with its expectations, with revenue coming in at £1.85bn on an adjusted basis, down 6.3% year-on-year, and profit before tax falling 3.6% to £126.1m.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "There is still a sense of trepidation when Capita releases a new set of financial results – will it contain more bad news, given how the company has disappointed so much in recent years? Fortunately investors can breathe a sigh of relief as there are no major nasties and chief executive Jon Lewis seems very upbeat in his commentary."

ConvaTec followed close behind as it reported its transformation initiative was on track after the second quarter saw an "improving" revenue trend, with positive organic revenue growth across all franchises.

Mitchells & Butlers made gains after analysts at Canaccord raised their target price for the stock from 290p to 300p in an indication of their confidence that company will be able to achieve its full year targets.

Finally, telecommunications testing company Spirent climbed after it saw pre-tax profits pick up in the first half of its trading year as both order intake and revenues advanced throughout the period.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,596.33 -0.36%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Capita (CPI) 137.10p 17.63%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 183.60p 17.62%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 4,776.00p 5.29%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 316.50p 4.11%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 162.80p 3.04%
Royal Mail (RMG) 213.90p 2.00%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 1,068.72p 1.49%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 622.00p 1.47%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 131.90p 1.46%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 607.65p 1.38%