FTSE 250 movers: Miners Acacia and Petra dig midcaps deeper
The FTSE 250 fell on Monday, though not as much as its larger sibling, with two miners leading the retreat.
Shareholders in Acacia Mining knew there was more bad news to come but a tax bill from the Tanzanian authorities totalling around $190bn for unpaid tax and penalties from its Bulyanhulu and Buzwagi mines in the country, was perhaps worse than their wilder dream. Acacia, which has been banned from shipping its gold/copper concentrate out of the east African country since March amid a dispute over exports and tax, said it disputed these assessments and is considering all of its options and rights.
Petra Diamonds fell as it warned full year production was lower than forecast but that revenues rose 11% to $477m and that it expected a big ramp up in output in 2018. The independent South Africa-based miner said full year operating costs remained in-line with expectations despite inflationary pressures, but added that unit cost per tonne was “adversely affected by the high fixed cost base and below plan throughput”.
After results late last week, Capital & Counties was down as Numis maintained its 'reduce' rating, expecting the shares to
remain range-bound between 260-310p due to the lack of income support. "While Covent Garden is making positive progress, Earls Court has substantial but unquantifiable execution risk and we cannot make the group’s risk adjusted return profile stack up against the tight 9% discount to NAV."
Carillion bounced up more than 5% to over 63p after losing more than 15% at the back end of last week. Broker Canaccord reckons it could go as low as 20p, though as the company is facing a major liquidity crisis that many people think will require significant capital restructuring. "Successful delivery of the current balance sheet repair initiatives (including augmented recovery of receivables, exit from certain construction markets) may itself be compromised by the perceived funding gap."
Discount retailer B&M European Value was lifted by rumours at the weekend that it is a takeover target. Asda, said the Sunday Times, has been exploring potential bid options for the company, although these are reported to be at an early stage.
Business-to-business information company Ascential was higher after reporting first-half numbers in line with its expectations, with revenue from continuing operations of £222m, up from £176.2m in the first half of last year.
Meat products producer Cranswick churned out impressive revenue growth in the first quarter of the year and stated its confidence of hitting full year targets. Sales in the three months to 30 June charged 27% higher than the first quarter last year, with like-for-like revenue increasing 21%.
FTSE 250 - Risers
Carillion (CLLN) 63.35p 5.67%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 357.50p 4.87%
Ascential (ASCL) 350.00p 4.04%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 224.70p 4.03%
Drax Group (DRX) 327.00p 3.58%
Cranswick (CWK) 2,934.00p 3.20%
Aggreko (AGK) 863.00p 2.68%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 474.50p 2.44%
Cobham (COB) 136.10p 2.33%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 361.10p 2.27%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Acacia Mining (ACA) 184.50p -20.61%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 102.80p -6.38%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 292.20p -2.99%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 202.00p -2.95%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 459.10p -2.73%
Genus (GNS) 1,711.00p -2.73%
Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) 103.20p -2.64%
Capita (CPI) 656.50p -2.60%
Pennon Group (PNN) 804.00p -2.43%
Mitie Group (MTO) 262.40p -2.42%