FTSE 250 movers: Balfour on firm footing; Hochschild losing its lustre
A sharp turnaround in interim fortunes propelled construction firm Balfour Beatty to the top of the midcap risers list on Wednesday.
The company swung to a first half pre-tax profit of £12m from a loss of £15m last year as its more selective bidding approach started to yield results.
However, chief executive Leo Quinn warned that Brexit and the weak pound it has caused were likely to reduce migrant labour at a time when a growing pipeline of major projects is likely to increase demand for skilled workers.
In its first results as a FTSE 250 company, Sirius Minerals reported a larger loss as its development of its Woodsmith polyhalite fertiliser mine under the Yorkshire Moors prepares to move to sinking of a first shaft in the new year.
At the end of June, Sirius had £584.6m of bank funds available, having spent £121m during the first six months of the year, of which £48.3m was capital expenditure.
With no revenue coming in, a £14.7m operating loss was reported, all from operating costs.
Tullow Oil and Vedanta Resources were also sharply higher as commodity prices rose.
On the red side of the screen Hochschild Mining plunged more than 16% as the company reported a 33.8% slump in first half pre-tax profits, hurt by higher costs.
Balfour Beatty peer, and former takeover suitor Carillion was out of favour after Balfour's Quinn said he was interested in mounting a bid for the ailing rival.
Market Movers
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,865.00 0.86%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Balfour Beatty (BBY) 282.90p 7.77%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 164.30p 6.97%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 739.50p 5.49%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 28.39p 4.53%
Just Eat (JE.) 641.00p 4.31%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 270.10p 4.25%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 124.30p 3.58%
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 913.00p 3.28%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 694.00p 3.20%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 174.50p 3.13%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 263.60p -16.85%
IP Group (IPO) 139.70p -4.51%
Carillion (CLLN) 50.20p -3.28%
Computacenter (CCC) 879.50p -2.87%
Capita (CPI) 648.00p -2.85%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,899.00p -1.13%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 90.05p -0.99%
esure Group (ESUR) 284.20p -0.98%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 148.10p -0.94%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 1,103.00p -0.63%