FTSE 250 movers: JMat surges; Bloomsbury tanks

(Sharecast News) - FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,749.44 -0.96%

Johnson Matthey surged on Thursday as the chemicals firm said it has agreed to sell its Catalyst Technologies business to Honeywell for £1.8bn.

In the announcement, which came alongside the company's full-year results, it said the deal was expected to deliver net proceeds of around £1.6bn, of which £1.4bn will be returned to shareholders after completion.

Johnson Matthey said that following the sale, it will be "repositioned as a highly streamlined group focused on Clean Air and PGMS, driving sustained strong cash generation to support attractive ongoing returns to shareholders".

Bloomsbury Publishing tanked as the Harry Potter publisher said full-year pre-tax profit fell 22% to £32.5m.

Qinetiq posted a slide in profits on Thursday following a "difficult" year, but said it expected trading to improve, helped in part by a key defence contract worth more than £1.5bn.

The defence and security specialist, which warned on profits earlier this year, posted a 2% uplift in underlying revenues for the year to 31 March to £1.93bn.

But operating profits fell to £185.4m from £215.2m, while earnings per share were down 11.2% at 26.1p.

The five-year extension to its long term partnering agreement to modernise test and evaluation services for the MoD is worth £1.54bn, Qinetiq said.

Shore Capital downgraded Close Brothers on Thursday to 'hold' from 'buy' following the company's third-quarter update a day earlier, which it called "a bit of a mixed bag".

The broker said news of disappointing loan book growth and a downgrade to guidance was offset by continued positive impairment performance and a better-than-expected capital position.

Infrastructure product supplier Hill & Smith said it was not currently seeing any significant impact from US tariffs, adding that any raw materials cost increases had been offset by price rises.

The company on Thursday also said trading in the first four months of the year was in line and it expected to meet full-year consensus earnings estimates. Revenue was 3% higher on a constant currency basis, with further operating margin expansion against a strong prior period comparator.

"With around 95% of our materials being sourced in the US and less than 1% of revenue from US exports, we have low direct exposure to the tariffs announced so far," it added.

"Where raw material cost increases are coming through, our businesses have been able to mitigate this by raising prices. We have not seen any indication of reduced activity levels or delays to projects, supporting our confidence that the structural drivers for US infrastructure growth remain intact."

British Land reported a 4% rise in underlying profit to £279m for the year ended 31 March on Thursday, supported by strong rental growth and high occupancy across its campuses and retail assets.

Underlying earnings per share were flat at 28.5p, with the full-year dividend also maintained at 22.8p per share.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 - Risers

Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,800.00p 29.59% QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 476.00p 8.23% Investec (INVP) 506.00p 2.93% Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 81.30p 2.65% Lion Finance Group (BGEO) 6,655.00p 2.46% PPHE Hotel Group Ltd (PPH) 1,426.00p 1.57% Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 207.00p 1.47% Helios Towers (HTWS) 116.20p 1.22% Victrex plc (VCT) 793.00p 1.15% TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 4,555.00p 1.11%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) 540.00p -17.05% Hill and Smith (HILS) 1,798.00p -6.35% Close Brothers Group (CBG) 335.60p -6.05% British Land Company (BLND) 388.60p -5.59% Tate & Lyle (TATE) 572.00p -5.14% TP Icap Group (TCAP) 258.50p -4.61% Grainger (GRI) 213.50p -4.47% Ferrexpo (FXPO) 60.70p -4.26% Ocado Group (OCDO) 265.30p -4.26% Savills (SVS) 934.00p -3.71%