FTSE 250 movers: RPC surges on update but QinetiQ slumps
London's FTSE 250 was up 0.3% to 19,676.41 in afternoon trade.
RPC Group was the standout gainer as it unveiled a £100m share buyback and said first-quarter revenue was "well ahead" of last year.
Galliford Try got a boost as Liberum initiated coverage of the housebuilder at 'buy'. The brokerage expressed confidence in the improvement plans that could deliver at least 60% pre-tax profit growth by 2021 and might even lead to doubling EBIT.
"The team has managed bigger and more profitable businesses and has a proven track record of meeting prior objectives. Its low valuation does not reflect the prospects and high quality of Linden and Partnerships, and exaggerates the construction setback."
Shares in roadside assistance group AA rallied as Barclays initiated coverage of the stock at 'overweight' with a 280p price target. Barclays said that three years into its investment programme, the full-year 2017 results were the first sign that it is starting to bear fruit.
Going the other way, QinetiQ fell sharply after it said new orders were slower than expected in the first quarter.
Spire Healthcare was hit by a downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy' at Liberum, which cut its price target on the stock to 370p from 400p.
"We like the long-term story at Spire and see scope for significant growth on a 3-5 year view. However, we expect near-term pressures at its PMI business (50% of revenues) to continue while its NHS business (30% of revenues), which is a key growth driver, appears to be facing significant demand volatility," the brokerage said.
Just Eat was in the red, with traders pointing to news that businesses will no longer be able to add surcharges for card payments from next January.
Hunting was under the cosh as Morgan Stanley cut the stock to 'underweight' from 'equalweight' saying consensus was too upbeat about the prospect for activity in the oilfield services space and hence the company's top-line growth.
Drax slumped as it posted a statutory pre-tax loss of £83m for the first half of this year compared to a £184.2m profit in the same period last year.
Risers
RPC Group (RPC) 875.50p 3.92%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 98.40p 3.85%
Galliford Try (GFRD) 1,317.00p 3.78%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 658.00p 3.70%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 209.00p 3.47%
AA (AA.) 240.90p 3.30%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 629.00p 2.95%
Softcat (SCT) 387.00p 2.65%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 31.48p 2.54%
IP Group (IPO) 141.90p 2.38%
Fallers
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 251.30p -8.42%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 340.40p -5.42%
Just Eat (JE.) 680.50p -4.83%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 155.00p -4.26%
Hunting (HTG) 483.80p -3.82%
Drax Group (DRX) 333.00p -3.62%
Carillion (CLLN) 68.95p -2.34%
BGEO Group (BGEO) 3,434.00p -2.25%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,353.00p -2.24%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 279.00p -1.83%