London’s FTSE 250 was 0.4% lower at 22,943.36 in afternoon trade on Friday.
Online electricals retailer AO World plunged after it reported a worse-than-expected rise in first-half revenues and guided for annual profits below expectations.
The company said group revenues for the six months to 30 September grew 5% year-on-year and 66% on a two-year basis. AO added that it expected revenue growth in the second half at a similar rate to the first six months.
In the UK, first-half revenues rose 6% against forecasts of 10% as the nationwide shortage of delivery drivers and ongoing disruption in the global supply chain took its toll. AO also guided for adjusted core earnings to be £35m – £50m, below forecasts of £54m.
Cybersecurity firm Darktrace fell after shareholders sold 25m shares in a placing. KKR Dark Aggregator LP, Summit DT CLN Holdings 4 and Balderton Capital SFI SLP sold the shares at 750p each.
Going the other way, Euromoney jumped to the top of the index after it said full-year adjusted pre-tax profit was set to be “significantly ahead” of analysts’ expectations.
Travel-related stocks SSP, Tui, easyJet, Carnival and Wizz Air all gained, having slumped in the previous session.
FTSE 250 – Risers
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,072.00p 5.51%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 992.00p 4.86%
SSP Group (SSPG) 290.00p 4.77%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 336.20p 4.44%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 246.60p 4.14%
easyJet (EZJ) 689.00p 3.95%
IWG (IWG) 304.00p 3.75%
Carnival (CCL) 1,739.20p 3.40%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 5,172.00p 3.15%
Rank Group (RNK) 176.80p 2.79%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
AO World (AO.) 166.70p -23.32%
Currys (CURY) 122.50p -8.24%
Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 1,730.00p -4.74%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 194.95p -4.62%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 1,478.00p -4.52%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 1,367.00p -3.87%
Darktrace (DARK) 791.00p -3.54%
Bodycote (BOY) 847.00p -3.48%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 316.00p -3.42%
Chrysalis Investments Limited NPV (CHRY) 258.00p -3.37%
