FTSE 250 movers: Asos slumps on 'hack' warning; Clarkson up on FY outlook

6th Oct 2026 14:56

(Sharecast News) - FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,203.05 0.33%

Shares in Asos slumped almost 12% on Tuesday after thousands of customers received a mobile phone alert claiming the online fast fashion retailer had been hacked.

The sharp fall made the stock the biggest loser on the FTSE 250 as investors reacted to fears of a potential data breach.

The notification, pushed through the company's own app and titled "Asos hacked", directed users to a Telegram message in which unidentified attackers claimed to have "fully compromised" the retailer's Snowflake data instance. It triggered immediate concern that cybercriminals had gained access to sensitive customer information.

Asos said it was investigating the incident and had not yet confirmed whether a breach had taken place. Despite the alarming message, the company's website and app continued to operate normally on Tuesday morning, and the retailer stressed that it was still working to establish the facts.

The attackers' message appeared to be addressed to Asos's data protection and IT teams, suggesting they may have accessed systems controlling the mobile app's push‑notification function. Snowflake, the cloud platform referenced in the alert, stores and processes customer data including transactions, demographic details and body‑measurement information.

Asos said it would provide updates once its investigation had progressed. Analysts said the steep share price fall reflected both uncertainty over the scale of the incident and the sensitivity of retailers to cyber risks following a series of high‑profile attacks across the sector last year.

Shipping broker Clarkson said it expected full year earnings of at least £135m driven by Iran war-related volatility.

In a brief trading statement on Tuesday, the company, which in August said profits would be "materially ahead of expectations, said trading in August and September had been "very strong".

"The ongoing geopolitical complexity has created further volatility across commodity and freight markets, accordingly in some areas we have seen record freight rates and this has also then passed through to asset prices," the company said.

Clarkson said its broking division had delivered revenues "significantly ahead of previous expectations, while also adding to the forward order book".

"Alongside this, the financial division has executed a number of transactions, resulting in performance also being significantly up on expectations," it added.

Telecom Plus rose after saying it delivered encouraging early progress against its new five‑year growth plan and reiterating FY27 guidance for adjusted pre-tax profit of between £80m and £90m.

Defence stocks Qinetiq and Chemring were both down after a report that UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is considering pushing back a decision on raising defence spending until autumn 2027.

A spending review had been expected in the spring, setting out a timetable for higher defence outlays, but ministers are now weighing a delay so the move can be aligned with next year's Budget, the Times reported citing unnamed sources.

One Whitehall source told the paper that the "working assumption" is for the review to take place in October 2027, meaning any formal commitment to increased defence spending would come later than previously planned.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 237.00p 8.27%

Clarkson (CKN) 5,285.00p 5.05%

Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 221.00p 4.05%

Man Group (EMG) 333.80p 3.67%

Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 344.80p 3.54%

CVS Group (CVSG) 1,185.00p 3.04%

IP Group (IPO) 72.30p 2.99%

Telecom Plus (TEP) 853.00p 2.91%

Workspace Group (WKP) 365.80p 2.64%

Ocado Group (OCDO) 263.40p 2.57%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

ASOS (ASC) 446.50p -10.46%

QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 447.00p -5.97%

Chemring Group (CHG) 503.00p -5.73%

Inchcape (INCH) 696.50p -4.78%

Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 287.50p -2.21%

Energean (ENOG) 692.50p -2.18%

Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 672.75p -2.15%

Seraphim Space Investment Trust (SSIT) 196.40p -2.09%

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 519.50p -2.06%

Playtech (PTEC) 380.20p -1.76%