FTSE 250 movers: Auction Tech slides; Moonpig surges on Berenberg upgrade

FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,308.45 -0.11%

Marketplace tech firm Auction Technology Group has announced that private equity firm TA Associates has offloaded a 5% shareholding through a share placing with institutional investors.

The company said that TA Associates had sold 6.1m shares by way of an accelerated bookbuild to institutional investors at 525p a pop on Thursday, compared with Wednesday's closing price of 565p.

The transaction reduced TA Associates' stake in ATG from 17.6% to 12.6%

ATG, which does not receive any proceeds from the placing, has seen its share price fall by around a quarter since the same time last year and by around 65% since hitting highs of nearly 1,600p in mid-2021.

The stock was down 7.2% at 516p in early deals on Friday.

Moonpig continued its rally after upbeat results this week and got a further boost Berenberg lifted its price target on the stock to 280p from 265p as it said the strategic initiatives implemented by management are bearing fruit.

"Moonpig’s technology-led strategy is delivering an improved customer experience, which is translating into stronger financial outcomes," it said.

"The market had previously questioned whether this strategy could yield such improvement, making the strength of the FY 2024 result particularly pleasing.

"Improved P&L outcomes accompanied significant deleveraging in FY 2024, which we expect to provide Moonpig with capital return optionality."

Berenberg - which reiterated its ‘buy’ rating on the stock - said it expects the strategic progress in FY 2024 to continue and deliver revenue growth acceleration beyond existing consensus estimates.

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