FTSE 250 movers: UDG Healthcare climbs, PZ Cussons washed away

London’s FTSE 250 was down 1.02% at 18,723.48 in afternoon trade on Tuesday, with PZ Cussons and Royal Mail leading the way down.

Imperial Leather brand owner PZ Cussons tanked after saying that adjusted pre-tax profit for the year will be towards £70m, down from £80.1m the year before, as a "weak consumer environment" in Africa more than offset "good" trading in both Europe and Asia.

Broker Shore Capital Markets said: "Looking into the remainder of FY2019, visibility remains modest given political uncertainty in Nigeria and Indonesia (both have upcoming general elections). In particular Nigeria remains challenging, with port disruption remaining a significant issue."

Royal Mail tumbled to a record low as it warned "business uncertainty" is hitting letter volumes and said parcels volumes would take a hit as it defended profit margins. Management now expects to deliver adjusted group operating profit before transformation costs of £500-530m, from the £500-550m previously indicated.

Domino’s Pizza was looking a bit stale after it said full-year underlying pre-tax profit was expected to be at the lower end of the consensus range of £93.9m to £98.2m.

Having taken rather a tumble last week, Metro Bank slipped again after Goldman Sachs slashed its target price from 2,800p to 1,700p.

Top of the mid-caps was UDG Healthcare, the industry service provider, which said that its first-quarter pretax profit was "well ahead" year on year, driven by acquisitions and growth across its businesses.

Housebuilder Crest Nicholson followed closely behind despite posting a 15% drop in full-year profit amid Brexit uncertainty as it also highlighted strong forward sales and lower costs.

Specialist asset manager Intermediate Capital Group rallied after it posted a 5% rise in assets under management for the third quarter amid steady demand.

Automotive fluid technology specialist TI Fluid Systems continued to advance after having asserted confidence in its ability "to outperform global light vehicle production volume growth on a constant currency basis", while iron miner Ferrexpo also continued its rise as iron prices increased following the Vale mine tragedy in Brazil.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,723.48 1.02%

FTSE 250 - Risers

UDG Healthcare (UDG) 601.00p 7.61%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 362.52p 6.12%
Vivo Energy (VVO) 133.00p 5.98%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,029.00p 5.92%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 179.60p 5.83%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 588.40p 4.88%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 175.75p 4.61%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 217.70p 4.06%
Indivior (INDV) 115.45p 3.96%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 3,020.00p 3.60%