FTSE 250 movers: Oxford Nanopore surges; PageGroup slides
By Frank Prenesti
Date: Monday 13 Jan 2025
(Sharecast News) - FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,687.43 -0.24%
Shares in Oxford Nanopore Technologies surged on Monday after the DNA and RNA analysis firm reported an acceleration in momentum towards the end of the year, pointing to higher-than-expected margins.
The commercial performance picked up in the second half as expected, with underlying revenue growth 34% ahead of last year on a constant currency basis, but gross margins for the year are expected to be slightly above the 57% forecast.
Shares were up 21% at 158.5p by 0848 GMT.
ONT, which has developed nanopore-based sensing technology that is used for the analysis of DNA and RNA, said annual revenues for 2024 were £183m, up 11% on the year before, with underlying revenue growth of 23% at constant currencies.
The company said in a pre-close trading update that results were driven by expansion into customer end-markets outside of research, such as applied industrial, biopharma and clinical markets.
Excluded from underlying results was a £16m combined headwind from COVID sequencing and the Emirati Genome Program, which was slightly less than previously expected.
ONT reiterated its medium-term guidance for constant-currency revenue growth of 30% CAGR between 2024 and 2027, and a gross margin of more than 62% by 2027. It still expected to reach adjusted EBITDA breakeven in 2027 and become cash flow positive in 2028.
"Looking beyond 2025, our highly differentiated platform and deep innovation pipeline coupled with strengthened commercial and operational capabilities combined with a strong balance sheet, position us well to deliver long-term, sustainable, above-market growth," said chief executive Gordon Sanghera.
Recruitment firm PageGroup said annual operating profit would be at the lower end of consensus expectations after fourth-quarter earnings fell 17% as market conditions worsened in Europe with companies low-balling offers to potential job candidates.
The company on Monday said gross profit for the final three months of the year fell to £196.7m, with the annual figure down16.4% to £842m.
"Market conditions remained challenging in Q4 and whilst most markets were sequentially stable, we experienced a further worsening in Europe, particularly in our two largest markets, France and Germany," said chief executive Nicholas Kirk.
He added that offers made to candidates are not as elevated as they were in 2022 and early 2023 as employers tightened budgets and became more risk averse, slowing the recruitment process and impacting time-to-hire.
"The conversion of interviews to accepted offers remains the most significant area of challenge as the ongoing macro-economic uncertainty continues to impact candidate and client confidence," Kirk said.
Page now expects 2024 full year operating profit, after one-off costs of around £5m relating to the closure of its shared service centres in the UK and Singapore, to be towards the lower end of the current market consensus range of £49m - £58.5m.
Gross profits in the UK fell 16.3%, with a 15.8% decrease across the European, Middle East and Africa division - which accounts for more than half of group earnings.
There were also more job losses as Page cut staff numbers - known as "fee earners" - by 2.4% to 5,370 during the quarter, while it also shed another 49 back office roles.
"Given recruitment is an area which can provide a warning signal for the wider economy, the consistent iffy performance of PageGroup and its peers is not exactly encouraging," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
"It can be argued these figures probably reflect budget decisions taken several months back, given the lengthy lead times involved in headcount changes by employers. This fourth-quarter update for 2024, therefore, will not yet capture the impact upon companies' headcount and hiring plans."
"Even so, investors will now look to trading updates from peers Robert Walters on Tuesday and Hays on Wednesday. A trio of weak statements could magnify calls for further interest rate cuts to boost the economy, but the sticky nature of inflation and foment in the UK gilt market both leave the Bank of England with an awkward juggling act."
FTSE 250 - Risers
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 147.80p 12.82%
IP Group (IPO) 50.70p 3.26%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 238.50p 2.80%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 63.65p 2.58%
NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited Red (NESF) 62.10p 2.14%
Ithaca Energy (ITH) 131.80p 1.54%
International Public Partnerships Ltd. (INPP) 115.00p 1.41%
Mitie Group (MTO) 108.00p 1.31%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 104.90p 1.25%
Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 195.20p 1.24%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Pagegroup (PAGE) 296.60p -4.75%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,180.00p -3.99%
PayPoint (PAY) 677.00p -2.73%
C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 139.60p -2.65%
Currys (CURY) 84.25p -2.43%
SSP Group (SSPG) 166.50p -2.23%
Volution Group (FAN) 512.00p -2.10%
Elementis (ELM) 135.60p -2.02%
Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) 608.00p -1.94%
Investec (INVP) 515.00p -1.90%
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