FTSE 250 movers: Marshalls gains on interims, Debenhams slumps on downgrade

(ShareCast News) - London's FTSE 250 was a touch higher on Friday and by 1445 BST, was trading up 0.2% at 16,952.75, with investors mostly keeping to the sidelines at the end of what's been a pretty turbulent week.Marshalls was the standout gainer after the paving slabs specialist posted a strong set of interim results. Revenues were up 11% from the same period last year at £199.1m versus roughly 5% growth in underlying markets, indicating a strong level of market share won so far this year as the group invested in new products and overseas growth.Computacenter was also on the front foot after reporting a jump in first-half pre-tax profit and saying it expects its performance for the year to be slightly ahead of original expectations. For the six months ended 30 June, adjusted pre-tax profit rose 13.7% from the same period last year to £29.1m as it benefited from a gain of £42.2m from the sale of its RD Trading recycling business in February.Industrial components manufacturer Rotork gained after announcing that it has struck a £125m deal to buy Manchester-based Bifold Group, which makes pneumatic and hydraulic instrument valves. Rotork boss Peter France emphasised that the purchase would strengthen his company´s position in the flow-control sector and broaden its product portfolio.On the downside, broker notes weighed on Debenhams and Go-Ahead.UBS downgraded Debenhams to 'sell' from 'neutral' and cut its price target to 70p from 90p. The Swiss bank said its 'Evidence Lab' survey suggests customer intention to purchase in the next 12 months has seen the most significant decline among peers. "Shopping intentions for Debenhams are at the low end of both clothing and homewares retail and the company scores below the sector average for retailers with regard to low prices and good value."Meanwhile, JPMorgan Cazenove downgraded travel operator Go-Ahead and cut its price target to 2,768p from 2,879p. "We continue to believe that Go-Ahead is well positioned over the long term, but ahead of next week's prelims we reduce our rating to 'neutral' from 'overweight' due to potential risks to FY16E earnings, specifically from rail and the GTR franchise."Shares in luxury accessories group Jimmy Choo fell. Although the company said interim pre-tax profit increased to £20.3m from £1.3m, analysts were disappointed by the core earnings, which rose just 0.5% to £27.7m.RisersMarshalls (MSLH) 335.00p +5.85%Tullow Oil (TLW) 215.50p +5.43%Lonmin (LMI) 34.68p +5.00%Allied Minds (ALM) 480.00p +4.87%Pennon Group (PNN) 761.00p +4.18%Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 737.00p +2.65%Computacenter (CCC) 760.00p +2.63%Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 783.50p +2.62%Foxtons Group (FOXT) 237.20p +2.60%Rotork (ROR) 205.60p +2.59% FallersDebenhams (DEB) 75.45p -7.42%Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 2,512.00p -2.60%Evraz (EVR) 77.10p -2.41%Lookers (LOOK) 159.30p -2.39%Restaurant Group (RTN) 664.00p -2.14%Jimmy Choo (CHOO) 163.40p -1.92%Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 350.20p -1.90%Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,810.00p -1.90%Marston's (MARS) 150.30p -1.89%Genesis Emerging Markets Fund Ltd Ptg NPV (GSS) 441.50p -1.89%