FTSE 250 movers: RS Group surges; AEP tanks

(Sharecast News) - FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,606.26 0.17% Shares in London-listed palm oil producer Anglo Eastern Plantations (AEP) tanked on Wednesday after Indonesia announced plans to centralise commodities exports through a state-run agency.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said crude palm oil, coal and iron-containing alloys would be sold to the agency, which would then negotiate prices with overseas buyers.

He added that "the prices of all commodities must be determined in our own country". Shares in AEP, which operates in Indonesia and Malaysia, fell 20% on the London Stock Exchange.

The new changes will be implemented in phases from June. Prabowo said they would help combat alleged export fraud through under-invoicing, which he claimed had cost the country $900bn between 1991 and 2024.

AEP, which sells all production to local refineries, said the changes were not expected to have a direct impact, "although there may be indirect effects through pricing adjustments arising from any new arrangements".

Shares in RS Group jumped on Wednesday after the industrial and electrical products distributor launched a £100m share buyback programme following a "resilient" full-year performance.

Revenues were 1% lower at £2.88bn over the 12 months to 31 March, with like-for-like sales broadly flat, in what the company labelled as "challenging markets", though the second half saw momentum build across all regions with good growth in Asia Pacific and North America, while EMEA returned to growth.

Adjusted pre-tax profit fell 1% to £246m, with the adjusted operating profit margin falling to 9.2% from 9.4% due to cost inflation and investments. However, margins reached 9.7% in the second half.

Despite the subdued headline performance, the company hailed its strong balance sheet, with net debt falling to £329m from £364m, taking its net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio to 1.0 from 1.1. The firm also raised its dividend by 2% to 14.2p per share.

"Two years of positive underlying progress, combined with disciplined cost control and a clear plan, increases our confidence in delivering our medium-term financial targets and sustainable returns," said chief executive Simon Pryce.

"Excellent cash generation and a very strong balance sheet gives us more than sufficient capacity to execute our organic investment programme enhanced by value creative acquisitions. In line with our disciplined approach to capital structure and allocation we are therefore also launching today a £100 million share buyback programme."

Looking ahead, RS said that industry indicators are "trending positively" and momentum should improve further in FY27 with most of the company's major markets now back to low-single-digit growth.

FTSE 250 - Risers

RS Group (RS1) 686.50p 14.24% Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 309.25p 5.37% Pan African Resources (PAF) 138.60p 2.29% Polar Capital Technology Trust (PCT) 656.50p 2.18% QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 428.40p 2.15% Chemring Group (CHG) 484.40p 2.02% PPHE Hotel Group Ltd (PPH) 1,542.00p 1.98% Hochschild Mining (HOC) 587.00p 1.82% Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust (USA) 336.00p 1.82% Dr. Martens (DOCS) 67.60p 1.81%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

AEP Plantations (AEP) 1,764.00p -20.36% Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 618.00p -5.00% IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 322.00p -4.74% C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 109.40p -4.70% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 43.34p -3.73% Trustpilot Group (TRST) 236.00p -3.20% Kainos Group (KNOS) 820.00p -3.07% Pagegroup (PAGE) 113.40p -2.58% NCC Group (NCC) 137.00p -2.56% B&M European Value Retail (BME) 160.10p -2.26%