FTSE 250 movers: William Hill bets on good results

19th Jan 2011 15:46

Pick of the bunch today is William Hill after it confirmed full-year results would be at the top end of expectations. The bookmaker said that strength in the online business and gaming machines during the fourth quarter made up for weather-hit sports fixtures. The positive trends of the previous quarter continued into the final 13 weeks of 2010 when retail turnover grew 8% despite the snow capping December's figure at 4%. Almost half all UK horseracing meetings were cancelled last month and one weekend saw almost no football at all.Shares in pub chain JD Wetherspoon were higher after it announced like for like (LFL) sales grew more than expected during the second quarter despite the snow and predicted a "reasonable" outcome for the full year. LFL sales for the 12 weeks to 16 January rose 3%, up from 1.6% in the first quarter and much better than the flat performance predicted by some analysts. That means like for like sales are up 2.3% so far this financial year.Providing a drag on the index is Comet owner Kesa Electricals. Comet did record business between Christmas and New Year, but that wasn't enough to offset a dismal start to December which means full-year profit at Kesa will be toward the lower end of expectations. Total revenue for the group was up 0.4% in the third quarter, but down 4% on a like for like basis because of "difficult market conditions". Poor weather is estimated to have sliced 2% off sales.FTSE 250 - RisersWilliam Hill (WMH) 190.20p +7.64%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 574.50p +6.78%JD Wetherspoon (JDW) 463.00p +4.82%BTG (BGC) 236.60p +4.32%Heritage Oil (HOIL) 463.40p +3.23%Betfair Group (BET) 1,025.00p +3.07%Ladbrokes (LAD) 135.90p +2.88%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 730.00p +2.82%Ocado Group (OCDO) 210.30p +2.49%Avis Europe (AVE) 233.90p +2.41%FTSE 250 - FallersKesa Electricals (KESA) 138.00p -8.49%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 883.00p -3.97%Persimmon (PSN) 442.40p -3.64%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 36.72p -3.62%Laird (LRD) 167.40p -3.40%SIG (SHI) 148.10p -3.33%IG Group Holdings (IGG) 465.10p -3.31%Centamin Egypt Ltd. (CEY) 158.00p -3.25%Forth Ports (FPT) 1,390.00p -3.00%Debenhams (DEB) 67.70p -2.94%