FTSE 250 movers: Balfour Beatty slides on profit warning

6th May 2014 14:09

Civil engineering group Balfour Beatty blamed 'significant operational issues' for a profit warning, sparking the resignation of its Chief Executive. The group also said it was considering selling its US engineering consulting business, Parsons Brinckerhoff.Croda International was also firmly lower following a rating cut from Deutsche Bank to 'hold' from 'buy'. The bank also slashed its target price on the chemicals company from 2,850p to 2,700p. Mining group African Barrick Gold was also in the red, following data from China, a major metals consumer, which showed a contraction in monthly manufacturing data. HSBC's manufacturing PMI index for the People's Republic revealed a reading of 48.1 for April, below the level of 50 which separates growth from contraction. Meanwhile, Pace, the set-top box maker, recovered from friday's falls which came amid reports AT&T has approached DirecTV regarding a potential acquisition of the satellite television firm. Pace is a supplier to both companies.Rentokil Initial, the pest control, hygiene and work-wear company, continued to impress the market today after last week reporting strong growth in profits in the first quarter despite a weaker top line. The company said that pre-tax profit rose to £19.3m, up 21.7% at constant exchange rates on the year before.FTSE 250 - RisersPace (PIC) 353.00p +4.75%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 141.50p +4.04%Rentokil Initial (RTO) 125.20p +3.22%Fidessa Group (FDSA) 2,317.00p +3.02%AL Noor Hospitals Group (ANH) 1,030.00p +3.00%Spirent Communications (SPT) 97.05p +2.59%Perform Group (PER) 223.60p +2.57%Genus (GNS) 1,054.00p +2.33%BTG (BTG) 556.00p +2.21%Soco International (SIA) 429.00p +2.17%FTSE 250 - FallersBalfour Beatty (BBY) 230.00p -19.52%Ocado Group (OCDO) 334.90p -3.57%Croda International (CRDA) 2,483.00p -3.20%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 233.50p -3.11%Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 450.60p -3.10%Carillion (CLLN) 362.40p -3.10%Just Retirement Group (JRG) 161.40p -2.71%Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,408.00p -2.56%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 176.20p -2.54%Diploma (DPLM) 655.50p -2.53%NR