FTSE 250 movers: Wood Group, Chemring surge on bid talk; B&M slides

FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,483.20 -0.63%

Oil services and engineering firm Wood Group confirmed on Monday that it had received a takeover approach from Dubai’s Sidara.

Responding to media speculation, the company said in a brief statement: "Wood shareholders are advised to take no action in relation to the proposal.

"There can be no certainty either that an offer will be made nor as to the terms of any offer."

Earlier, the Financial Times reported that Wood Group had entered talks with Sidara about a potential takeover.

Sidara walked away from a takeover attempt in August last year, citing "rising geopolitical risks and financial market uncertainty".

Chemring surged to the top of the FTSE 250 on Monday following a Sky News report that private equity firm Bain Capital has made an approach to buy the defence group.

One source suggested to Sky that an initial offer may have been tabled at 390p a share. This is a modest premium to the 356p at which the stock was trading on Monday morning.

Shares in UK discount retailer B&M slumped on Monday after profit guidance was cut again on the back of an uncertain economic outlook and announcement that chief executive Alex Russo would retire at the end of April.

The company said annual adjusted core earnings were now expected to be in the range of £605m to £625m down from a previous trimming of guidance to £620 - £650m outlined in January. The latest cut also includes the potential impact of exchange rate volatility on the valuation of stock and creditor balances.

It said it is in the advanced stages of a recruitment process to appoint a new CEO.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 - Risers

Wood Group (John) (WG.) 34.00p 28.79%
Chemring Group (CHG) 388.50p 8.52%
Deliveroo Class (ROO) 144.50p 6.64%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,571.00p 3.63%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 395.20p 2.70%
TP Icap Group (TCAP) 263.50p 1.54%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 558.00p 1.45%
Drax Group (DRX) 638.00p 1.43%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 758.00p 1.20%
Genus (GNS) 1,792.00p 0.90%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 626.25p -6.74%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 271.60p -6.63%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,023.00p -3.76%
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 112.80p -3.42%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 979.00p -3.07%
Currys (CURY) 96.20p -2.93%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 184.60p -2.84%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 505.50p -2.79%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 263.50p -2.77%
Indivior (INDV) 669.50p -2.76%