FTSE 250 movers: Just Eat shares jump on strong first half

12th Aug 2014 14:50

Online takeaway marketplace Just Eat said profits trebled in the first half of 2014 on the back of strong demand and accelerating growth in mobile. The company said pre-tax profit was up 200% at £6m on revenues that jumped by 58% to £69.8m, causing shares to surge in morning trade.High street bookie Ladbrokes erased early gains and slipped into the red by the afternoon following its first-half results. The comapny said a good World Cup performance pushed revenues higher 4% to £589.3m, but profits fell by nearly 50% as a result of "industry-wide customer-friendly results".Support services group Serco was making gains despite reporting "poor" first-half trading and predicted challenges ahead. Investors, however, welcomed the news that it had reduced net debt and appointed a new finance chief.Oil stocks such as Ophir Energy and Afren were out of favour after the International Energy Agency cut its forecast for oil demand growth this year. Hospital chain operator Al Noor Hospitals was higher after saying underlying profits before tax increase 33.6% to $45.6m in the first half on the back of a 25.2% increase in revenues to $224.8m.FTSE 250 - RisersJust Eat (JE.) 240.70p +9.66%AO World (AO.) 209.20p +4.60%AL Noor Hospitals Group (ANH) 1,030.00p +3.94%Beazley (BEZ) 250.20p +3.13%Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,473.00p +2.65%Restaurant Group (RTN) 642.50p +2.47%Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 618.50p +2.40%Investec (INVP) 517.50p +2.37%Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 2,078.00p +2.31%Xaar (XAR) 559.50p +2.19%FTSE 250 - FallersFerrexpo (FXPO) 130.90p -3.96%Regus (RGU) 175.10p -2.72%Ophir Energy (OPHR) 199.70p -2.44%SIG (SHI) 168.50p -2.03%Wood Group (John) (WG.) 739.50p -1.86%Balfour Beatty (BBY) 238.50p -1.85%Afren (AFR) 98.15p -1.85%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 310.50p -1.62%Lonmin (LMI) 225.40p -1.61%Amec (AMEC) 1,091.00p -1.53%BC