FTSE 250 movers: PZ Cussons at the bottom on the pile

27th Mar 2012 14:26

PZ Cussons, the Imperial Leather soap maker, was in the bottom spot after announcing its second profit warning since November.The company warned that the impact of economic and social tensions in its largest market of Nigeria would be significant, resulting in overall performance being some way below expectations. Jefferies did nothing to help the stock, maintaining its negative stance on the group. Heading in the opposite direction was Afren, the Africa-focused oil company, after it said full-year profits nearly tripled in 2011, and a 'significant' discovery has been made at its Okoro site, offshore Nigeria. Profits before tax came in at $221m, 180% up on the previous year's figure of $79m. Turnover came in at $597m, up from the $319m of the prior year. Another riser was engineering support services group Babcock, which rose after saying that the overall trading performance for the 2011/12 fiscal year was in line with expectations. Peel Hunt said this morning that the stock could potentially enter the FTSE 100 index. FTSE 250 - RisersHikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 700.00p +3.70%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 78.75p +3.62%Spirent Communications (SPT) 158.40p +3.33%TR Property Inv Trust Sigma Shares (TRYS) 71.75p +3.24%Supergroup (SGP) 639.50p +3.15%Afren (AFR) 135.00p +3.05%QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 150.20p +2.88%Babcock International Group (BAB) 797.00p +2.84%Ophir Energy (OPHR) 490.50p +2.70%SVG Capital (SVI) 284.40p +2.38%FTSE 250 - FallersPZ Cussons (PZC) 303.00p -9.31%Exillon Energy (EXI) 159.50p -7.00%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 183.60p -3.37%Bellway (BWY) 833.50p -3.03%Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 35.66p -2.97%Home Retail Group (HOME) 118.50p -2.55%Big Yellow Group (BYG) 293.30p -2.40%Premier Farnell (PFL) 217.80p -2.16%Carpetright (CPR) 683.00p -2.08%FirstGroup (FGP) 291.30p -1.82%NR