FTSE 250 Movers: Homeserve rises over 21%

10th Nov 2011 14:45

HomeServe rose over 21% after reporting that it has restarted its sales activity following the mis-selling scandal exposed on 31 October. However, Panmure Gordon has kept its sell rating on repair services firm saying, "The risk of mis-selling issues remains unknown but real." Panmure said it will stay cautious until it has spoken to the company in a conference call later today.Meanwhile books and stationary retailer WH Smith was heading lower after it reported that its sales in the first 10 weeks of the financial year were down 3%, with like-for-like sales (LFL) down 6% compared to the same period last year.Sales at WH Smith Travel were flat, while LFL sales were down 4%, while the gross margin is said to have improved. Halfords, the leisure, cycling and automotive specialist, saw its share price rise despite falls in revenue and profit in the 26 weeks to 30 September.Underlying group revenue for the period was down just 0.1%, while operating profit fell 17.7% from £69.1m to £56.9m and the operating margin fell from 15.1% to 12.5%. The dividend was maintained at 8p per share. Cape was rising after its share price took a 28% dive yesterday following a report that it will incur a charge of £1.4m to cover the costs of closing its depot facilities near Brisbane. FTSE 250 - RisersHomeserve (HSV) 264.80p +21.19%Premier Foods (PFD) 4.53p +12.85%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 43.67p +5.05%Cape (CIU) 343.60p +4.76%Rentokil Initial (RTO) 67.70p +4.56%Rank Group (RNK) 143.00p +4.38%Carpetright (CPR) 476.60p +4.04%Halfords Group (HFD) 347.80p +3.82%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 180.50p +3.68%Micro Focus International Plc (MCRO) 351.50p +3.32%FTSE 250 - FallersWH Smith (SMWH) 516.50p -6.09%Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 108.50p -5.16%Supergroup (SGP) 675.50p -4.99%Renishaw (RSW) 911.50p -4.45%Kesa Electricals (KESA) 94.60p -4.44%BTG (BGC) 279.00p -3.56%Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 553.00p -3.15%Lamprell (LAM) 247.70p -3.13%Debenhams (DEB) 63.15p -2.85%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 458.20p -2.82%NR