FTSE 250 movers: Telecom Plus follows market trend, Drax falls on warning from chief executive

The FTSE 250 started the week on a high, rising to 17,367.86 points by mid-afternoon Monday, up 102.76 points (0.60%).

Telecom Plus followed the lead of the market overall, with shares rising over 5% on the day. Last week the company announced that statutory pre-tax profit for the six months to the end of September advanced to £15.2m from £14.5m. Revenue for the year was at £294m, up 10% from the same period last year. The utility services provider also lifted its interim dividend by 15.8% to 22p per share, which will be paid on 18 December with the ex-dividend date being Thursday this week.

Chemicals group Elementis was another strong riser, most likely due to the strong write-up from Goldman Sachs on sector peer Croda International . The two companies both sell into the fast-growing personal care market.

Croda was given a 'buy' rating and added to the investment bank's conviction-buy list, on the expectation of renewed earnings momentum from improvements in the personal care segment, the Yorkshire-headquartered group's biggest earnings contributor, along with tailwinds from raw materials prices and strong pricing power.

Also benefitting from a strong write-up, Zoopla Property Group was also a key riser after being highlighted by Sunday Times' Inside the City column. The exodus to new rival OnTheMarket.com appears to have slowed and OTM only gets an eighth of Zoopla's visitors. Results for the group are out on Wednesday, and the column suggested they are still likely to show growth in profits of 15% on sales up 33%.

Cranswick was squeezed higher after interim results showed solid demand for the sausage-maker's products helped lift half year adjusted profits by 22% to £31.5m. Shares were also helped by a positive broker recommendation from Investec, which said the food producer, which supplies sausages to Tesco and Sainsbury's under their own label lines, was "a key stock pick for us", according to analyst Nicola Mallard.

Leading the market fallers was Drax Group, after its chief executive Dorothy Thompson in an interview with The Times warned that UK electricity supplies are tight and that more flexible power generation is needed. She also added that an increase in intermittent supply from renewables such as wind and solar would require additional back-up power to be built. “What we are going to need is plant that is flexible and that supports the system.”

TalkTalk also dipped after Berenberg downgraded the stock to ‘sell’ from ‘hold’ and slashed the price target to 208p from 290p as it cut estimates materially.“We believe Talks’ plan to improve margins significantly faces tough challenges, made more difficult by the recent cyber-crime attack,” said the bank. Its central case expects that the company’s margins will reach around 15-16% in the mid- to long term, and Berenberg said that raises a serious question about Talk’s potential to continue with the dividend at the current level.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,132.00p 5.70%
Elementis (ELM) 256.70p 5.46%
BGEO Group (BGEO) 1,931.00p 4.38%
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 235.50p 3.97%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 545.00p 3.91%
Croda International (CRDA) 2,866.00p 3.47%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 384.10p 3.25%
Greencore Group (GNC) 333.20p 3.06%
Essentra (ESNT) 864.00p 3.04%
Cranswick (CWK) 1,750.00p 2.94%