Shares in transport firm FirstGroup took a hammering today after the Department for Transport (DfT) dropped the competition to award it the West Coast franchise. Following a legal challenge from current operator Virgin Rail, the DfT said it had found "significant technical flaws in the way the franchise process was conducted" and was launching a review.

Stagecoach, part owner of the Virgin Rail joint venture with Virgin Group, was in demand after saying it was in discussions with the government regarding the rail franchising review. Meanwhile, according to Jefferies, the three other live franchise contests out (the Great Western, Essex Thameside and Thameslink contracts) will likely be delayed as a result of a government review, taking down the share prices of Go-Ahead and National Express.

BTG, the specialist healthcare company, jumped after reporting it had outperformed in the first half and was boosting its revenue expectations for the full year.

Budget airline easyJet was in demand after a surge in business at the end of the summer and a benign operating environment means it was upping its full-year profit forecasts.


FTSE 250 - Risers
BTG (BTG) 364.90p +9.55%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 686.50p +4.81%
easyJet (EZJ) 618.50p +4.12%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 93.40p +3.66%
NMC Health (NMC) 194.60p +3.46%
Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 566.50p +2.44%
Yule Catto & Co (YULC) 172.30p +2.38%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 289.60p +2.22%
SIG (SHI) 104.60p +2.05%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 785.50p +2.01%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
FirstGroup (FGP) 195.70p -19.80%
Ruspetro (RPO) 100.20p -6.79%
Morgan Crucible Co (MGCR) 272.30p -3.06%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 568.00p -2.91%
Lonmin (LMI) 540.50p -2.70%
Pace (PIC) 167.50p -2.50%
Spectris (SXS) 1,752.00p -2.40%
Bodycote (BOY) 395.20p -2.30%
COLT Group SA (COLT) 119.00p -2.14%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 418.80p -2.06%

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Related share prices
FirstGroup (FGP) share price
easyJet (EZJ) share price
BTG (BTG) share price