Shares in Dixons rose on Thursday following news that its main High Street rival, Comet, is likely to go into administration, prompting one broker to upgrade its price target for Dixons.

Comet, the UK's second-largest electrical specialist after Dixons, is estimated to have made a loss of £35m in the year to April.

Gold miner Centamin jumped after shares were restored to trading; the stock was suspended on Tuesday after media reports suggested that a court had over-ruled a 2005 decision to award the company its flagship contract to mine at the Sukari project in Egypt. In a written statement yesterday, Centamin reassured that no written decision has yet been made but it still stood firm that the court does not have jurisdiction to cancel the concession.

Also rising was energy services group Hunting, after it said its businesses have generally performed well recently, although the group continues to face pesky competition in the short perforating gun market, while new regulations continue to slow sub-sea product deliveries despite having an increased sales backlog.

Meanwhile, shares in defence contractor Chemring reduced profit expectations for the financial year ended October 31st following delays and technical problems in a number of contracts. In an update on current trading Chemring said a contract for the supply of vehicle based mortar systems for a Middle Eastern customer was experiencing delays in the granting of export licences for a limited number of parts. This delay the group believes is unlikely to be resolved in the near term and will continue into its new financial year.


FTSE 250 - Risers
Dixons Retail (DXNS) 23.81p +15.58%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 72.10p +12.97%
Hunting (HTG) 805.00p +7.55%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 219.40p +5.03%
FirstGroup (FGP) 200.00p +4.99%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 119.60p +4.82%
PayPoint (PAY) 805.00p +4.55%
Bumi (BUMI) 248.50p +4.32%
Afren (AFR) 143.60p +4.28%
Berendsen (BRSN) 586.00p +4.09%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Chemring Group (CHG) 263.80p -15.91%
SDL (SDL) 511.50p -3.58%
Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,154.00p -2.94%
RPS Group (RPS) 228.20p -2.44%
ITE Group (ITE) 189.30p -2.02%
Mondi (MNDI) 668.50p -1.98%
Playtech Ltd. (PTEC) 415.50p -1.91%
Perform Group (PER) 393.90p -1.77%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 787.50p -1.56%
Lonmin (LMI) 505.00p -1.56%

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Related share prices
Chemring Group (CHG) share price
Hunting (HTG) share price
Centamin (DI) (CEY) share price
Dixons Retail (DXNS) share price