FTSE 250 movers: Trustpilot tanks; Pennon gushes

Moonpig slumped on Thursday after a group of investors sold 35m shares in the company in a placing via Citi, JPMorgan and Jefferies, raising proceeds of approximately £61m.

According to terms seen by Bloomberg, Exponent Private Equity, Lexington Partners, Blackstone Group, LGT Capital Partners, GoldPoint, Kaust Investment Management Co, Storebrand International Private Equity & Patria Investments were all involved in the sale.

The sale represents around 10.2% of Moonpig’s issued share capital and the sale price of 175p is a discount of 13.4% to the closing share price on Wednesday.

Computer software reseller Bytes Technology Group said on Thursday that it has continued to "trade well" against the backdrop of a "competitive market environment", with good growth across key financial performance metrics for the first four months of the trading year.

The FTSE 250-listed group said percentage growth in both gross invoiced Income and adjusted operating profit was "comfortably in double digits", with gross profit growth in the high single digits as a result of an increased weighting towards high volume, lower margin software wins in the period.

Chief executive Sam Mudd said: "The overall performance of the business was again driven by strong and stable demand from both corporate and public sectors for our market-leading, supported and secure IT systems. We remain confident that our continued strong vendor partnerships and first-rate client service position us well to achieve our strategic goals for the year."

Review website operator Trustpilot said on Thursday that interim revenues had grown, reflecting momentum across its focus markets and "significantly improved" retention in North America.

Trustpilot said revenues were expected to be 18% higher at $100.0m, with annual recurring revenue growth of roughly 17% at $211.0m. Bookings were seen 20% stronger at $118.0m.

The London-listed group also highlighted strong cash generation during the period, with net cash of $76.0m after completing its initial £20.0m share buyback in H124.

Chief executive Adrian Blair said: "We are pleased to report strong growth across the business in the first half of the year. This was combined with significant strategic and operational progress, and a clear focus on helping our business customers to build trust, grow and improve.

"As we look ahead, we remain confident in the significant growth opportunities available to us in our focus markets of the UK, US, Germany and Italy, and beyond. The combination of new sales and an improvement in net dollar retention, supported by product innovation, underpins our confidence to reiterate our guidance of mid-teens constant currency revenue growth and margin improvement for the full year."

Pennon Group on Thursday said its chief financial officer, Steve Buck, will be stepping down after less than eight months in his position at the troubled British water company that in May apologized for infecting dozens of its customers with parasites.

The FTSE-250 company, which owns South West Water, said Buck had decided to step down for personal reasons and would be succeeded by its current chief customer and digital officer, Laura Flowerdew.

The company also said industry regulator Ofwat had given positive assessments of its business plans for its South West Water, and its Sutton and East Surrey Water subsidiaries.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 - Risers

Pennon Group (PNN) 689.50p 11.39%
RS Group (RS1) 781.50p 8.47%
Indivior (INDV) 838.00p 7.44%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 249.80p 5.76%
Hays (HAS) 93.80p 4.57%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 86.40p 3.85%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 1,152.00p 3.78%
SSP Group (SSPG) 178.90p 3.65%
Coats Group (COA) 87.50p 3.55%
Currys (CURY) 75.95p 3.54%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Trustpilot Group (TRST) 217.00p -7.86%
Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 497.00p -5.15%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 191.50p -3.87%
Moonpig Group (MOON) 195.00p -3.47%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 322.50p -2.86%
Carnival (CCL) 1,246.00p -2.35%
Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 744.50p -1.97%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,046.00p -1.51%
Zigup (ZIG) 426.00p -1.50%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 179.00p -1.43%