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FTSE 250 movers: Rank rises on acquisition; Halfords skids lower on results

London's FTSE 250 was up 0.4% to 21,220.82 in afternoon trade on Tuesday.
Rank Group surged as it agreed to buy QSB, the owner of Spanish digital bingo business YoBingo.es, for up to 52m in cash. The company said Spain is an attractive multi-channel market and that there is significant upside potential in combining Spanish retail and digital bingo and slot operations.

Irish food group Greencore rallied as it reported an interim operating loss amid challenges in its US division, but said pre-tax profit and revenues rose.

In the 26 weeks to 30 March, the company made an operating loss of £4.4m compared to a profit of £24.5m in the same period a year ago. Still, group revenue was up 22.6% to £1.2bn, benefiting from the Peacock Foods acquisition, and adjusted pre-tax profit rose 5.6% to £47.2m.

Intermediate Capital Group gained ground as it posted a 20% uptick in total assets under management for the year to the end of March, to 28.7bn, with 7.8bn of new money raised.

Food producer Cranswick advanced as it said adjusted-pre-tax profit in the year to the end of March rose 22% to £92.4m, on revenue of £1.bn, up 17.6% thanks to robust growth across all product categories.

On the downside, Halfords skidded lower after it posted a drop in annual profits as the bike and car parts retailer was hit by the increased cost of goods due to the weak pound, with a similar result expected this year as selling prices remain flat.

Inmarsat also suffered heavy losses as the satellite communication group's international maritime maritime distress services monopoly came to an end.

US-based Iridium Communications has been certified by the UN to provide global maritime distress safety system (GMDSS) services from 2020, which had hitherto been exclusively provided by UK-based Inmarsat since 1999.

Pets at Home was in the dog house as it said that full-year underlying pre-tax profit fell 12% as it invested £13m on lower pricing.

UDG Healthcare was in the red after saying it saw a softer-than-expected start to the trading year after its second-largest business, Sharp, lowered its guidance for the remainder of its trading year.



FTSE 250 - Risers

Rank Group (RNK) 166.40p 7.35%
Greencore Group (GNC) 166.92p 6.56%
NewRiver REIT (NRR) 281.00p 5.24%
Greene King (GNK) 581.40p 4.27%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,576.00p 4.16%
Synthomer (SYNT) 536.00p 3.88%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,209.00p 3.87%
Serco Group (SRP) 100.90p 3.54%
Cranswick (CWK) 3,272.00p 3.41%
Herald Investment Trust (HRI) 1,365.00p 3.41%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Halfords Group (HFD) 344.60p -11.19%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 356.40p -8.29%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 145.30p -8.04%
UDG Healthcare Public Limited Company (UDG) 883.00p -5.21%
Capita (CPI) 130.12p -4.98%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 120.50p -3.68%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 551.00p -3.33%
VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund Ltd. (VOF) 332.00p -2.64%
Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 445.00p -1.77%
Greggs (GRG) 1,069.00p -1.57%

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