FTSE 250 movers: Capita rallies, McCarthy & Stone tumbles on profit warning
London's FTSE 250 was down 0.6% to 20,880.08 in afternoon trade on Tuesday amid growing concerns about a trade war between the US and China.
Capita was the standout gainer after it agreed to sell its Supplier Assessment Services unit for £160m in cash and after the outsourcer confirmed it had been awarded a British Ministry of Defence contract, beating rival Serco.
Satellite group Inmarsat was also higher following a report that US rival EchoStar is considering upping its offer for the company after its initial approach was rejected for being too low. According to Bloomberg, EchoStar is working with financial advisers on its bid.
On the downside, McCarthy & Stone tumbled as the retirement housebuilder's chief executive was pushed into early retirement after the company issued a profit warning amid increased caution from potential customers.
An anticipated strong spring selling season failed to materialise and the company said it now forecast 2,100-2,300 sales for the financial year ending 31 August, from the 2,302 last year, meaning profits could fall between 17% to 32% to an expected operating profit range of £65-80m.
Moneysupermarket was under the cosh as Barclays said a re-rating from here can only be justified if earnings per share growth returns to double-digit territory.
The bank, which kept its 'equalweight' rating on the stock but trimmed the target price to 310p from 315p, pointed out that at 19x estimate 2018 price-to-earnings, the share are back to where they were before the new chief executive announced more investment in early March.
Barclays said the stock's current valuation "would suggest that investors have given them the benefit of the doubt in terms of growth improving in 2019 after a year of investment in 2018".
"To make 19x look cheap, we believe that more than 7% expected earnings growth in 2019 is needed. We don’t see valuation as a reason to own this share outright until we get more confidence that a return to double-digit EPS growth is possible."
FTSE 250 - Risers
Capita (CPI) 161.20p 5.88%
BTG (BTG) 532.50p 2.40%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 536.80p 2.40%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 232.50p 1.97%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 223.40p 1.82%
Hunting (HTG) 775.00p 1.71%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,820.00p 1.59%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 219.00p 1.58%
Greencore Group (GNC) 183.05p 1.47%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 115.50p 1.32%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 111.16p -14.82%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 305.40p -5.48%
Alfa Financial Software Holdings (ALFA) 177.40p -5.24%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 868.20p -5.03%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 667.20p -3.67%
Energean Oil & Gas (ENOG) 505.00p -3.63%
Renishaw (RSW) 5,410.00p -2.79%
Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 428.00p -2.73%
VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund Ltd. (VOF) 331.06p -2.63%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 526.50p -2.50%