FTSE 250 movers: Afren shares jump on strong Q3

31st Oct 2013 13:59

Oil and gas company Afren saw its shares rise strongly after it achieved a six per cent rise in third quarter pre-tax profit to 427m dollars, driven by an increase in revenue and production. Revenue grew 9% to $1.2bn in the nine months ended September 30th, as production jumped 18% to 48,573 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), principally from the Ebok and Okoro fields offshore Nigeria. Sitting in the bottom spot was Rentokil Initial, after its largest shareholder, Inveseco Perpetual, reduced its stake in the company from 25% to around 14% in a discounted placing. Berkeley Group shares fell, with chatter indicating that the decline is due to Chancellor George Osborne weighing up whether or not to introduce a capital gains tax on foreign property investors. Energy and engineering consultant RPS was also lower after it admitted the weaker Australian dollar will have an impact on results, although it did stress its cost cutting made over the last year will enable it to benefit from growth as it develops. FTSE 250 - RisersAfren (AFR) 151.40p +2.37%Hansteen Holdings (HSTN) 104.50p +2.15%SIG (SHI) 201.70p +2.02%Beazley (BEZ) 229.10p +1.42%Atkins (WS) (ATK) 1,227.00p +1.41%Spectris (SXS) 2,320.00p +1.09%Redrow (RDW) 264.40p +0.95%Diploma (DPLM) 693.00p +0.87%ICAP (IAP) 383.90p +0.84%Soco International (SIA) 403.80p +0.82%FTSE 250 - FallersRentokil Initial (RTO) 104.90p -6.51%Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,345.00p -4.21%Telecity Group (TCY) 758.00p -4.11%RPS Group (RPS) 288.90p -3.44%Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 475.40p -3.31%Drax Group (DRX) 640.50p -3.03%Polymetal International (POLY) 604.00p -2.89%COLT Group SA (COLT) 123.40p -2.83%AL Noor Hospitals Group (ANH) 872.00p -2.57%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 192.50p -2.38%NR