FTSE 250 movers: Ocado surges on Casino deal; Pets at Home loses ground
London's FTSE 250 was up 0.5% to 19,985.76 in afternoon trade on Tuesday, with Ocado pacing the advance following news of a long-awaited international deal.
Shares in Ocado surged after the online grocery retailer said it has signed an agreement with Groupe Casino to develop the Ocado Smart Platform in France. Ocado had already said back in June that it had signed an agreement with a "regional European retailer" but that the retailer wanted to remain anonymous until it launched its online business, in order to remain competitive.
Food producer and supplier Cranswick jumped as it reported a rise in profit and revenue for the first half as it hiked its dividend by 15%. In the six months to the end of September, adjusted pre-tax profit rose 17% to £44.4m on revenue of £714.6m, up 23% from the same period a year ago, driven by growth across all product categories. Growth was supported by contributions from Crown Chicken and the Ballymena pork processing business which were acquired in the previous financial year.
SIG was on the front foot as Jefferies upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'hold' and lifted the price target to 200p from 150p saying the recent strategy day mapped out a credible turnaround plan, while Cineworld was boosted after Numis raised it to 'buy' from 'hold' and bumped up the target price by 10% to 825p following recent share price weakness.
On the downside, Pets at Home slipped after its interim results and as it announced CEO Ian Kellett will step down from the role, to be replaced by Peter Pritchard, who is currently CEO of the retail division.
UDG Healthcare was weaker despite posting a rise in full-year profit as it announced that chief financial officer Alan Ralph plans to retired by the end of next year, while Dixons Carphone was hit by a downgrade from Stifel.
Risers
Ocado Group (OCDO) 305.70p 19.32%
Cranswick (CWK) 3,274.00p 8.52%
IP Group (IPO) 149.98p 7.05%
SIG (SHI) 173.05p 5.20%
Genus (GNS) 2,325.00p 5.16%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 686.00p 4.81%
FirstGroup (FGP) 107.00p 4.09%
Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 481.60p 3.97%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,264.00p 3.44%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 187.40p 2.91%
Fallers
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 163.50p -9.02%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 602.50p -6.73%
Dignity (DTY) 1,752.00p -5.60%
UDG Healthcare Public Limited Company (UDG) 817.50p -5.05%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 144.90p -4.10%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 769.50p -3.99%
Hansteen Holdings (HSTN) 137.40p -3.65%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 152.59p -2.99%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,550.00p -2.33%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 267.50p -1.87%