FTSE 250 movers: Marshalls builds while Superdry unravels
London's FTSE 250 was up 1.28% at 17,880.06 in afternoon trade on Wednesday, with Marshalls leading the way after cementing its position at the top of the pile with a new acquisition.
Hard landscaping products manufacturer Marshalls racked up strong gains as it announced the acquisition of concrete brick manufacturer Edenhall for up to £17.2m as it said it expects to exceed full-year expectations thanks to better second-half revenue growth.
Embattled tour operator Thomas Cook climbed after the group’s chief executive Phil Gardner expressed confidence about the coming year, citing a "good start" for bookings and a renewed focus on margin and profit.
"We have a strategy we believe in, we just haven’t been quick enough at executing it," said Gardner.
Indivior also gained ground after some better news from the US courts in its battle with generic drug maker Dr Reddy's over its opioid addiction treatment Suboxone.
Superdry was in free-fall as the fashion retailer warned on profits, pinning the blame on unseasonably warm weather again as it posted a 49% drop in underlying interim pre-tax profit.
Peel Hunt downgraded the retailer's stock to 'hold' with a target price of 550p, while Liberum cut its price target from 700p to 475p and stated that the company's under-performance reflected "more than just tough market conditions and weather impacts".
Electronics retail company Dixons Carphone tumbled as it swung to a £440m loss in the first half, cut its dividend and said it would spend £200m over three years to accelerate a restructuring strategy.
Retail bank Metro Bank dropped as Citigroup downgraded the stock from 'buy' to 'hold' due to its sensitivity to a hypothetical, and increasingly likely, no-deal Brexit.
Similarly, Man Group was weaker on the back of a downgrade to 'neutral' from analysts at JPMorgan, who said “the increasingly volatile market outlook is likely to be unhelpful for certain Man Group funds where the lack of trends may impact the ability to deliver alpha".
FTSE 250 - Risers
Marshalls (MSLH) 474.60p 13.87%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 28.46p 12.49%
IP Group (IPO) 111.60p 8.35%
Equiniti Group (EQN) 219.50p 6.81%
SIG (SHI) 110.57p 6.42%
Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 158.42p 5.19%
Indivior (INDV) 89.14p 5.12%
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 803.00p 5.10%
Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 575.00p 4.45%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 331.60p 4.15%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Superdry (SDRY) 380.60p -33.64%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 138.85p -8.05%
Softcat (SCT) 592.00p -2.79%
Greencore Group (GNC) 166.50p -2.77%
Metro Bank (MTRO) 1,846.00p -2.69%
Spectris (SXS) 2,305.00p -2.45%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 110.60p -2.12%
Man Group (EMG) 134.95p -2.03%
Computacenter (CCC) 998.00p -1.96%
Renishaw (RSW) 3,896.00p -1.62%