FTSE 250 movers: Victrex rallies on double upgrade, Acacia tumbles on results
London's FTSE 250 was up 0.8% to 19,366.89 in afternoon trade on Monday.
Polymer company Victrex racked up strong gains on the back of a double upgrade to 'buy' at Bank of America Merill Lynch, which hiked its price target on the stock to 2,800p from 2,160p as it said it offers more than 20% total return potential.
"We are now less concerned about competition given Victrex’s focus on differentiation and see high cash generation supporting returns," it said.
Over-50s travel and insurance group Saga was on the front foot as it entered into a quota arrangement with NewRe and HannoverRe to cover 80% of the underwriting risk of motor policies of the group's in-house underwriter, AICL, to take effect from 1 February 2019.
The new quota share agreement, which provides three years of cover on a rolling basis, adds Hannover Re to its current reinsurance partner NewRe and replaces Saga’s existing quota share arrangement which is due to expire at the end of January 2019.
Stagecoach was trading higher amid news that the decision to end the East Coast Mainline rail franchise early will come under scrutiny from MPs, as the House of Commons transport committee announced that it will hold an inquiry into the matter.
Going the other way, Acacia Mining tumbled as it reported a massive £710m loss after writing down the value of its assets due to a dispute with the government of Tanzania but has cut costs to "remain competitive" in 2018.
Waste management company Renewi was on the back foot as it said full year trading would be in line with expectations after a positive second half but warned that it was likely to book higher exceptional charges due to loss-making contracts in its municipal division.
Risers
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 109.17p 3.97%
Victrex plc (VCT) 2,516.00p 3.80%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 423.00p 3.65%
F&C Global Smaller Companies (FCS) 1,320.00p 3.53%
Polypipe Group (PLP) 386.40p 3.32%
Mitie Group (MTO) 159.10p 3.31%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 140.80p 3.15%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 269.10p 3.10%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 788.60p 3.03%
Saga (SAGA) 115.10p 2.95%
Fallers
Acacia Mining (ACA) 156.00p -9.25%
Capita (CPI) 184.45p -5.51%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 478.40p -5.27%
Card Factory (CARD) 192.40p -2.29%
Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 255.50p -1.92%
Pennon Group (PNN) 637.40p -1.88%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 1,053.00p -1.77%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 318.20p -1.52%
Renewi (RWI) 95.90p -1.34%
Drax Group (DRX) 224.60p -1.32%