FTSE 250 movers: SuperGroup's margin trouble outweighs sales surge

15th Dec 2010 16:13

Trendy fashion retailer SuperGroup leads the market lower Wednesday afternoon after seeing its share price fall by +220p.Early signs for Christmas trade are "very encouraging" with sales rising by 65% in the first half, though a warning on margins has sparked some heavy profit taking. Profit before tax, the impact of financial derivatives, and a new accounting policy, jumped 69% to £13.5m in the 26 weeks ended 31 October on sales up to £90.3m from £54.7m. "Increases in raw material prices may affect gross margins in the next financial year; however we will keep these under review and expect our margins to return to more normal levels by FY13." But an increase in raw material prices could hurt gross margins in the next financial year, the company warned, and it could be 2013 before they return to normal levels.Bucking the trend is iron ore producer Ferrexpo which is buying inland waterway transport company Helogistics for €28.5m, which is equivalent to net asset value. Earlier this year, Ferrexpo provided a €6m working capital loan to a subsidiary of Helogistics so it knows the business reasonably well. Helogistics is one of the largest companies operating on the Danube River and it operates 253 vessels. It transports iron ore pellets, including ones produced in the Ukraine by Ferrexpo, and other goods along the Danube and Rhine rivers to locations in Europe.Also rising higher is engineer Senior which has seen a decent tailwind since October with underlying profits slightly ahead of expectations in each of the past two months. As a consequence, underlying profits overall for 2010 will be above the top end of the previous market range of £61.0m to £63.5m.FTSE 250 - RisersMichael Page International (MPI) 535.50p +7.10%Misys (MSY) 309.30p +3.62%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 383.90p +3.20%Xchanging (XCH) 105.30p +3.13%Victrex (VCT) 1,483.00p +2.63%Greggs (GRG) 470.70p +2.55%Micro Focus International Plc (MCRO) 413.50p +2.50%International Personal Finance (IPF) 357.30p +2.50%Senior (SNR) 144.40p +2.27%Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 329.40p +2.27%FTSE 250 - FallersSupergroup (SGP) 1,410.00p -13.39%Marston's (MARS) 110.70p -4.82%Gartmore Group Ltd. (GRT) 97.55p -4.55%Fidessa Group (FDSA) 1,512.00p -3.39%Persimmon (PSN) 413.10p -3.30%Hansen Transmissions International NV (DI) (HSN) 59.00p -3.28%Chemring Group (CHG) 2,928.00p -3.01%Keller Group (KLR) 591.50p -2.63%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 27.80p -2.59%DS Smith (SMDS) 202.20p -2.55%