LONDON (ShareCast) - Vesuvius was one of the biggest fallers on the second tier this afternoon, pushed lower by BNP Paribas, which reiterated its 'neutral' rating on the stock, while WS Atkins and Entertainment One dropped after going ex-dividend.

The progression of the integration of its UK Support Services business helped FTSE 250-listed Interserve deliver a strong performance in the first half of the year, but investors appeared to be unimpressed.

Construction group Galliford Try was also lower despite revealing its full-year earnings are set to be at the upper end of analysts' estimates of £93m-£95m.

On the upside, online gaming group 888 jumped after it issued an unexpected update, which said first-half earnings will be "significantly" ahead of the prior year.

The FTSE 250 company, which in April released record first-quarter results that showed revenue up 11% year-on-year, said trading in the six months to the end of June had continued on track.

Credit Suisse upped Rentokil Initial from 'neutral' to 'outperform' and raised its target price from 120p to 141p.

Liberum Capital pushed Cairn Energy up after it reiterated a 'buy' rating on the oil and gas group and upped its target price from 224p to 231p.

Unite Group also moved into positive territory, helped by the news its 21%-owned Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund (USAF) has acquired a 2,904 bed student accommodation portfolio for £137m. The deal, which was funded through a combination of cash resources and existing debt facilities, equates to a net initial yield of 6.3%.


FTSE 250 - Risers
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 116.30p +3.29%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 166.50p +2.15%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 97.85p +2.14%
Greencore Group (GNC) 274.60p +2.08%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 197.70p +2.06%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 397.90p +1.84%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 271.40p +1.72%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 377.10p +1.40%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 320.70p +1.20%
RPS Group (RPS) 277.60p +1.13%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Cineworld Group (CINE) 339.60p -3.96%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,228.00p -3.76%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 440.60p -3.74%
Atkins (WS) (ATK) 1,277.00p -3.48%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 307.00p -3.46%
Bodycote (BOY) 671.50p -3.31%
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 403.90p -3.14%
PayPoint (PAY) 1,074.00p -2.98%
AO World (AO.) 230.60p -2.95%
Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 89.70p -2.92%

NR

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