FTSE 250 movers: Booker soars on retail bid, Inchcape hit by weaker revenue

21st May 2015 13:20

London's secondary equity index was inching higher on Wednesday afternoon, buoyed by stronger than expected retail sales and strong performances from mining, telecommunications and pharmaceutical stocks.As of 3:40, the FTSE 250 was trading 4.4 points higher at 18,140.Food wholesaler Booker jumped after beating full-year earnings forecasts and proposing a deal to buy the Londis and Budgens grocery chains for £40m. Analysts were doubly impressed with Investec one to lift its share price targets on the day.Qinetiq was making gains despite full year sales falling slightly short of expectations, after the defence and aerospace technology company hiked its dividend 17%. Shares were also boosted by a recent upgrade from JP Morgan to 'overweight' from 'neutral'.Dairy food group Dairy Crest was in the red after its annual pre-tax profits plunged on a weaker dairies division.Inchcape registered losses as it reported a 0.9% drop in revenue in the four months to the end of April, due to a weak euro, although UK revenue and growth remained solid due to improvements in new vehicle sales.Electrocomponents, a global distributor of engineering products, also dipped, as it posted a drop in full-year profits, partly on the back of a subdued performance in the UK. Chief executive Lindsley Ruth, who was appointed in February, said: "2015 financial performance was disappointing with investment not yet delivering the expected step-up in revenue growth and the UK business remaining in revenue decline."Shares in food outlet operator SSP Group were binned by investors on Thursday morning, despite a 50% rise in half-year profits and a maiden interim dividend, as it revealed earnings were likely to be heavily second-half weighted.Thomas Cook nosedived, despite it reporting a narrowing of its first-half operating loss to £220m from £283m on Wednesday. RisersBooker Group (BOK) 169.90p +11.78%QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 239.40p +11.25%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 213.00p +4.98%Electra Private Equity (ELTA) 3,266.00p +4.95%Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,896.00p +4.87%Tullow Oil (TLW) 421.30p +4.02%DCC (DCC) 5,110.00p +3.86%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 901.00p +3.44%Croda International (CRDA) 2,920.00p +3.14%Soco International (SIA) 190.70p +3.14%FallersDairy Crest Group (DCG) 485.10p -6.35%Electrocomponents (ECM) 235.30p -5.65%Inchcape (INCH) 853.00p -4.59%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 145.70p -4.21%SSP Group (SSPG) 301.40p -3.46%Redefine International (RDI) 55.90p -3.37%Just Eat (JE.) 433.90p -2.93%Keller Group (KLR) 978.50p -2.54%Computacenter (CCC) 729.50p -2.47%Provident Financial (PFG) 3,048.00p -2.15%