FTSE 250 movers: Senior sparks, Ceres slumps

(Sharecast News) - FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,030.52 -1.25%

Engineer Senior said on Friday that private equity firm Advent has requested and been granted an extension to the 'put up or shut up' deadline as takeover talks between the two remain ongoing.

Advent confirmed on 27 February that it was considering a possible takeover offer for Senior. On 5 March, the PE firm said that Senior had rejected a proposal at 272p per share.

Under UK takeover rules, Advent had until 1700 GMT on 27 March to either announce a firm intention to make an offer or walk away. This has now been extended to 1700 GMT on 17 April.

Senior said: "Discussions between the company and other potential offerors remain ongoing. There can be no certainty that an offer will be made nor as to the terms on which any offer might be made."

A further announcement will be made as and when appropriate, it added.

Mony Group was boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold' at Jefferies, which cited an attractive entry point and said it was best placed to overcome sector-wide headwinds, i.e. AI fears and competition.

The bank said AI-driven fears that have de-rated Mony are misplaced, for two reasons: data and regulatory barriers.

"The need to maintain tight control over sensitive consumer information and to integrate with many stakeholders means that Large Language Models (LLMs) should come to view price comparison websites (PCWs) as mission-critical partners," it said.

"Indeed, on 20 Feb, Mony launched its app on ChatGPT, which should ease disintermediation fears."

Jefferies also said its analysis suggests that Mony's SuperSaveClub (SSC) rewards program can drive better customer retention, cross-selling across verticals, and medium-term margin growth.

"This is important because the PCW sector has long relied on aggressive advertising spending to maintain consumer awareness and revenue share," it said. "SSC breaks that trade-off. We also see greater potential for SSC to improve its utility beyond a rewards program into an essential household tool."

At the current share price and amid depressed expectations, Jefferies believes the risk-reward is now skewed to the upside.

"Indeed, we believe growth tailwinds in 2026 should end the two-year de-rating," it said. "The decade-high circa 7% dividend yield at a 9x FY26 PE, bolsters the appeal of the entry point. Even our worst-case stress test keeps the yield above 5-6%, still at the high end of its historical range."

Ceres Power and THG both slumped after results on Thursday.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 - Risers

Senior (SNR) 287.00p 6.52% Diversified Energy Company (DI) (DEC) 1,364.00p 2.87% Playtech (PTEC) 323.00p 2.70% Mony Group (MONY) 151.20p 2.56% Hochschild Mining (HOC) 570.50p 1.96% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 4,252.00p 1.72% Currys (CURY) 119.40p 1.44% Pollen Street Group Limited (POLN) 816.00p 1.24% C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 110.40p 1.09% Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 215.50p 0.93%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 306.40p -7.47% THG (THG) 30.80p -7.38% Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 313.00p -5.44% Close Brothers Group (CBG) 374.80p -4.76% Breedon Group (BREE) 299.20p -4.69% Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 112.20p -4.41% RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,330.00p -4.31% Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,380.00p -4.02% Discoverie Group (DSCV) 525.00p -4.00% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 36.26p -3.93%