Full-year like-for-like sales growth at instrumentation and controls group Spectris was boosted by a strong fourth quarter, as the firm said it is well positioned for 2013.

LFL sales growth accelerated from 2% to 4% from the third to the fourth quarter of 2012, "helping deliver a robust full year performance despite a challenging trading environment," Spectris said in a pre-close trading update on Friday.

Kentz Corporation also rose after it a backlog of $2.57bn at the end of December, up 7.0% from December 2011, and an order intake of $1.72bn. Pipeline prospects increased 32% to $13.2bn and the group had a net cash balance of approximately $220m at the end of 2012.

Meanwhile, heading the other way was fund manager Ashmore after UBS downgraded its recommendation from 'buy' to 'neutral' and reduced its target price for the stock from 390p to 375p. "We downgrade Ashmore [...] on valuation grounds and because we believe that competitive pressures will persist," the broker said.


FTSE 250 - Risers
Essar Energy (ESSR) 133.50p +8.10%
Kentz Corporation Ltd. (KENZ) 420.00p +7.97%
Spectris (SXS) 2,183.00p +7.91%
Redrow (RDW) 194.70p +7.04%
CSR (CSR) 366.30p +4.66%
Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 265.60p +4.57%
Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 655.50p +4.46%
F&C Asset Management (FCAM) 109.50p +4.19%
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 186.60p +3.09%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 85.00p +2.84%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Kenmare Resources (KMR) 34.05p -5.42%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 352.60p -3.26%
PayPoint (PAY) 855.00p -2.12%
Afren (AFR) 135.10p -1.60%
IP Group (IPO) 128.00p -1.54%
Raven Russia Ltd (RUS) 64.60p -1.37%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 628.50p -1.26%
Homeserve (HSV) 244.10p -1.25%
Debenhams (DEB) 101.60p -1.17%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 510.00p -1.16%

NR

Related share prices
Spectris (SXS) share price
Ashmore Group (ASHM) share price
Kentz Corporation Ltd. (KENZ) share price