FTSE 250 movers: Investors worried about Ocado Smart Platform partners

The FTSE 250 continued to slide on Tuesday, with the second tier market down 249.75 points (1.51%) to 16,239.51 points by mid-afternoon.

Tullow Oil

22.10p

15:39 15/11/24

1.94%

0.42p

Despite posting double-digit revenue growth for the year through “challenging market conditions”, shares in Ocado Group were down over 8%.

The online grocery website said revenue for the 52 weeks to 29 November 2015 had jumped 16.7% from £948.9m to £1.108bn compared to 2014. That was driven by a 12.4% jump in active customers from 453,000 to 509,000, and a 16.8% increase in order volumes with an average of over 195,000 orders per week. However the company did note that the average basket value declined by 2.1% to £109.95 due to price deflation and an increased mix of standalone orders from its pet store Fetch and kitchen store Sizzle.

The company also said discussions with multiple potential international partners to adopt the Ocado Smart Platform solution continue. “If Ocado do end up signing multiple deals in multiple territories then Ocado’s shares could well have real potential in the years ahead, but that will be a long haul,” said Hargreaves Lansdown’s Danny Cox. “No-one wants to hold Ocado for years, watching them making paltry margins. The market wants to see deals. Big deals, with upfront licence fees and royalties ever after.”

Analysts at Liberum cut its share price targets for a wide swathe of the London-listed oil sector, including Tullow Oil and Ophir Energy, after taking into account the sharp shift lower in futures prices over the last four months.

"The oil market appears concerned that, in the short term, supplies from OPEC and the US could outstrip demand but recognises that long–term oil prices above are required to bring forth the investment to replace natural decline,” the note said. It was concerned that firms’ estimated free cash flows might not cover their dividend policies even if capital expenditures were reduced. Exploration and production companies should offer more obvious value, it noted, but positive catalysts remained elusive. Liberum cut its price target on Tullow Oil from 251p to 170p, and on Ophir Energy from 102p to 80p.

On the other side of the ledger, Allied Minds was the big riser as it continued to benefit from Numis reiterating the stock at ‘buy’ on Monday. It followed the company announcing a successful $22m (£15.4m) fundraising for its subsidiary Federated Wireless. The US-based science and technology developer invested $5m in the fundraising and the rest came from Woodford Investment Management. Allied Minds has increased its stake in Federated Wireless to 73% from 91%, boosting net asset value by $51m.

“Allied Minds last reported a portfolio asset valuation of $488m with its FY14 results and we would expect this to be updated with the FY15 results for developments such as the Precision Biopsy fund raise in October 2015 and today’s news relating, leading to an uplift of $97m, before any other adjustments,” said Numis analyst Sally Taylor. “On this basis the stock is trading at 1.3x net asset value.”

And A.G. Barr rose after JP Morgan Cazenove initiated coverage of the soft drink company at ‘overweight’. In a note on Tuesday, the investment bank said it expects the company to outperform the market “as it over-indexes in the high growth on-the-go vs. the struggling grocery channel”. It also highlighted that the company has strong brands in water and energy, but no brands in the challenging squash category – a sector that competitor Britvic has a presence in. JP Morgan Cazenove set a target price of 620p for A.G. Barr.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Allied Minds (ALM) 322.60p 6.79%
Circassia Pharmaceuticals (CIR) 291.10p 2.75%
UDG Healthcare Public Limited Company (UDG) 557.00p 2.20%
Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 545.50p 1.87%
Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 69.10p 1.77%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 405.80p 1.73%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 300.90p 1.45%
HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited A Shs (HVPE) 885.50p 1.20%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 220.30p 1.10%
Ted Baker (TED) 3,060.00p 1.09%