FTSE 250 movers: Investors get a taste for Premier Foods

(Sharecast News) - The FTSE 250 was up 0.15% at 20,095.37 at 1423 BST.

Shares in Mr Kipling and Oxo owner Premier Foods surged as the company reported full-year trading profit and adjusted pre-tax profit ahead of its expectations on Wednesday as it said it might have to raise prices to tackle inflation.

In the 52 weeks to 2 April, trading profit was flat versus a year earlier at £148.3m but up 11.9% on a two-year basis, while adjusted pre-tax profit rose 11.4% from the previous year to £128.5m, and was 37.6% higher on a two-year basis. Revenue came in at £900.5m, down 3.6% on the year but up 6.3% versus two years prior.

Engineered ceramics company Vesuvius gained more than 9% after delivering a "stronger than expected" sales performance in the first four months of 2022.

Vesuvius stated positive volume growth in its steel division was supported by market share gains across all key regions, particularly in flow control, while the firm's foundry division reported volumes broadly in line with the equivalent period a year earlier amid continued weakness in automotive end markets.

Industrial thread manufacturer Coats Group was also higher after "strong sales momentum" through the first four months of the year, saw group sales growing 20% year-on-year.

Shares in Darktrace fell sharply, after a senior director of the cyber security specialist was linked to the legal row over Autonomy's sale to Hewlett Packard.

According to the Telegraph newspaper, Justice Robert Hildyard - in a judgement handed down on Tuesday - found that Autonomy's central management had pulled on accounting "levers" to misrepresent how well the business was fairing ahead of its 2011 sale to the US tech firm.

Specialist media publisher Future fell despite reporting a rise in first-half profits, driven by revenue growth and contributions from acquisitions and forecast a "modest" rise in annual guidance.

The company said pre-tax profit for the six months to March 31 rose 42% to £81m. Revenue rose 48% to £404.3m, boosted by the purchase of magazine publisher Dennis last October.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Premier Foods (PFD) 122.00p 14.45% Vesuvius (VSVS) 363.20p 9.79% Coats Group (COA) 77.80p 7.91% Vistry Group (VTY) 854.00p 6.29% Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 179.80p 4.78% Redde Northgate (REDD) 384.00p 4.35% NB Private Equity Partners Ltd. (NBPE) 1,540.00p 4.05% Wood Group (John) (WG.) 237.00p 3.90% WH Smith (SMWH) 1,562.50p 3.86% Abrdn Private Equity Opportunities Trust (APEO) 475.00p 3.49%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Darktrace (DARK) 333.80p -12.39% TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 216.90p -11.83% Greencore Group (CDI) (GNC) 103.60p -6.16% Playtech (PTEC) 499.40p -5.95% Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 950.00p -4.28% Dr. Martens (DOCS) 199.70p -3.99% Helios Towers (HTWS) 112.90p -3.75% Trustpilot Group (TRST) 110.40p -3.33% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 138.30p -3.29% Future (FUTR) 1,987.00p -3.26%