FTSE 250 movers: Crest Nicholson rallies; travel shares decline

London’s FTSE 250 was down 0.4% at 21,378.47 in afternoon trade on Tuesday.

Tullow Oil and Wood Group lost ground as oil prices slid.

Travel company TUI, Ritazza and Upper Crust owner SSP, cruise operator Carnival and budget airline easyJet all fell as the foreign travel ban was extended until July, with anyone attempting to leave England facing a £5,000 fine as of next week.

Speciality chemicals and personal care business Elementis was also weaker after saying it swung to a loss in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic dented volumes.

Going the other way, Crest Nicholson was sitting pretty at the top of the index after the housebuilder lifted its full-year profit expectations as it hailed a “resilient” UK market. In an update for the period from 1 November 2020 to 22 March 2021, the company highlighted a good trading performance and said it now expects full-year adjusted pre-tax profit of around £85m, ahead of consensus expectations of £74.3m.

Peer Bellway was also in the black.

FTSE 250 – Risers

Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 394.40p 5.12%
Provident Financial (PFG) 209.00p 4.29%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,240.00p 4.20%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 164.40p 3.40%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 490.50p 3.26%
Hammerson (HMSO) 32.36p 3.06%
Bellway (BWY) 3,484.00p 2.59%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 314.50p 2.44%
Gamesys Group (GYS) 1,630.00p 2.13%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 395.60p 2.12%

FTSE 250 – Fallers

Tullow Oil (TLW) 49.59p -7.31%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 356.20p -5.77%
Elementis (ELM) 118.00p -4.84%
SSP Group (SSPG) 323.80p -4.76%
TP Icap Group (TCAP) 241.90p -3.91%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 270.60p -3.53%
Carnival (CCL) 1,602.00p -3.49%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 204.40p -3.49%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,990.00p -3.40%
easyJet (EZJ) 911.20p -3.19%