FTSE 250 movers: Mitie surges on results; Travis Perkins slides on profit warning

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 250 was down 0.4% at 17,891.15 in afternoon trade on Wednesday. Mitie was the top gainer after the facilities management company said it delivered solid top-line growth in the first half, helped by recent acquisitions, and that it expects to increase revenues by 17% over the full year.

Transport operator FirstGroup also rallied after hiking its full-year profit outlook. The company now expects FY 2024 group adjusted operating profit and group adjusted attributable profit to be ahead of the board's previous forecasts by around £14-20m and £7-10m, respectively.

Energean - which is developing a gas field offshore Israel - was under the cosh again amid worries about the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Travis Perkins slumped after the builders' merchant warned on profits, citing a slowdown in the construction sector. Howden Joinery also lost ground.

PageGroup slid as the recruitment firm said it expects full-year profits to drop by at least a third as a result of ongoing challenging conditions across Asia, the UK and US markets in the third quarter.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Mitie Group (MTO) 104.00p 5.05% FirstGroup (FGP) 152.70p 4.23% Essentra (ESNT) 174.20p 3.81% Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 189.80p 2.59% Target Healthcare Reit Ltd (THRL) 76.40p 2.55% Empiric Student Property (ESP) 89.30p 2.41% Balanced Commercial Property Trust Limited (BCPT) 67.90p 2.26% Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Limited (SEQI) 78.90p 2.07% Hill and Smith (HILS) 1,690.00p 2.05% Workspace Group (WKP) 479.20p 1.96%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Energean (ENOG) 865.50p -7.28% Travis Perkins (TPK) 751.00p -6.78% 888 Holdings (DI) (888) 89.85p -4.67% Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 679.20p -4.20% Grafton Group Ut (CDI) (GFTU) 832.90p -4.08% Marshalls (MSLH) 221.20p -3.66% Pagegroup (PAGE) 408.60p -3.63% Carnival (CCL) 924.80p -3.38% Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 515.50p -3.37% Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 93.00p -2.92%