FTSE 250 movers: Auction Tech US buy boosts shares; Morgan Advanced slides

(Sharecast News) - FTSE 250: 20,277.82, -0.64% at 1343 GMT. E-commerce service Auction Technology Group has acquired US estate sales listing site Vintage Software in a deal valued at $40.0m.

Auction Technology stated the acquisition expands its immediately addressable market into the "growing and fragmented US estate sales market", which had an estimated gross merchandise value of $5.0bn in 2022.

The London-listed group will make an initial cash payment of $30.0bn, plus a deferred cash consideration of $10.0m, payable after twelve months. A total of up to $2.0m employee retention bonus will also be payable to certain employees of ESN after 12 months.

The acquisition will be funded from ATG's available cash balance and existing debt facilities.

Chief executive John-Paul Savant said: "As a leading US estate sale listing site, estatesales.net is a natural fit for ATG as we unlock further areas of value within the secondary goods market and facilitate another part of the circular economy.

"We are excited by the multiple growth opportunities ahead, including enabling more sellers of unique and specialised secondary items to cross-list across multiple marketplaces and gain access to a larger pool of bidders and buyers, as well as the opportunity to develop ESN into the leading online estate sales platform in the US."

Manufacturing company Morgan Advanced Materials warned on Tuesday that full-year operating profits will be approximately 10% to 15% below previous expectations as it continues to manage the consequences of a cyber security incident that saw the company uncover unauthorised activity on its network back in January.

Morgan Advanced Materials said it remains "challenging" to estimate precisely the extent of any impact on its interim trading, stating that during January, a number of sites experienced a delay in restarting production and shipping due to the cyber security incident.

"Whilst demand has remained strong during January, we are experiencing production inefficiency during the recovery period which, based on current estimates, could lead to adjusted operating profit for FY2023 being approximately 10% to 15% below our previous expectations," said the company.

Morgan Advanced Materials stated all manufacturing sites were now operational, although it noted that some continued to use manual transaction processes as work continues to restore systems but the FTSE 250-listed group added that a "small number of systems" had proven "irrecoverable".

Exceptional costs associated with the incident were said to potentially amount to approximately £8.0m-12.0m, comprising specialist professional fees, as well as costs associated with recovering a number of systems.

MAM also said revenue growth remained "robust" in the final two months of the year, with revenue expected to be around £1.1bn, representing growth of 16% or 11% at constant currency. Adjusted operating profit was expected to be "slightly above" the top-end of forecasts.

Iron ore pellet maker Ferrexpo said Ukrainian courts have granted an order to freeze bank accounts belonging to one of its subsidiaries in the war-torn country over alleged royalty underpayments.

The court order was requested by Ukraine's prosecutor and relates to an ongoing investigation in Ukraine relating to iron ore royalty payments during 2018 - 2021.

"Ferrexpo denies all accusations made as part of the Investigation, and confirms that it has consistently operated in accordance with the legal and fiscal frameworks of Ukraine," the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

"As such, the group is seeking to resolve matters through the Ukrainian legal system and will appeal the above decision."

Ferrexpo added it had "consistently followed the established legal due process for such disputes" and fully cooperated with local authorities.

"Furthermore, the group notes that the nature of the Investigation is similar to two separate investigations previously faced by other major international metals and mining companies operating within Ukraine."

FTSE 250 - Risers

Auction Technology Group (ATG) 744.00p 8.93% Carnival (CCL) 902.20p 3.37% W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 82.00p 2.50% Balanced Commercial Property Trust Limited (BCPT) 82.80p 2.48% FirstGroup (FGP) 111.00p 2.30% Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 336.00p 2.25% Darktrace (DARK) 236.30p 1.85% Tullow Oil (TLW) 34.52p 1.65% Wood Group (John) (WG.) 141.85p 1.50% Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 3,180.00p 1.40%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Mitie Group (MTO) 79.20p -5.04% Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 300.50p -4.91% Future (FUTR) 1,619.00p -4.26% Currys (CURY) 73.45p -4.24% Ferrexpo (FXPO) 146.10p -4.20% Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 114.60p -3.70% Pagegroup (PAGE) 470.00p -3.09% Rathbones Group (RAT) 2,060.00p -3.06% Vesuvius (VSVS) 393.00p -2.96% Molten Ventures (GROW) 371.00p -2.88%