FTSE 250 movers: CYBG rises on JPMorgan upgrade; housebuilders retreat
London’s FTSE 250 was down 0.7% to 20,776.91 in afternoon trade on Thursday as investors digested a more hawkish than expected policy announcement from the Bank of England.
CYBG was the standout gainer after JPMorgan Cazenove upgraded the stock to ‘neutral’ from ‘underweight, saying the merger with Virgin Money was "highly accretive" with cost synergies of £120m. JPM upped its price target on CYBG to 310p from 270p.
However, with only 4% upside in Virgin Money at the recommended offer, it downgrade it to ‘neutral’ from ‘overweight’
Dixons Carphone advanced as its final results filled in the gaps after it announced the key points of a disappointing year in a recent profit warning. For the 12 months to 28 April, revenue increased of £10.5bn was up 3% on the previous year, with like-for-like sales up 4%, but profit before tax falling 24% to £382m.
Pagegroup was in the black as Citi upped its price target to 650p and reiterated its ‘buy’ stance on the recruiter. The bank said it now forecasts 2017-2020 EBITA compound annual growth rate of 22% and 24%, making Page the sector’s fastest earnings per share growth story.
Housebuilders Bellway, Redrow, Bovis and Galliford Try all fell after a cautious outlook from peer Berkeley Group a day earlier and amid worries about the impact of rising rates on housing demand after the Bank of England’s chief economist, Andy Haldane, joined two existing dissenters to vote 6-3 for a 25 basis points rate hike.
Expectations for a rate hike at the August meeting rose to 65% from 50% before Thursday’s policy announcement.
Elsewhere, NewRiver REIT was among the fallers as its stock went ex-dividend.
FTSE 250 - Risers
CYBG (CYBG) 316.60p 3.26%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 196.00p 2.75%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 365.70p 2.58%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 560.00p 2.56%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,400.00p 2.49%
RPC Group (RPC) 673.00p 1.82%
Card Factory (CARD) 196.40p 1.81%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 2,800.00p 1.16%
Genus (GNS) 2,472.00p 1.06%
Equiniti Group (EQN) 251.62p 1.05%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 191.95p -5.26%
NewRiver REIT (NRR) 272.00p -4.06%
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 1,052.00p -4.01%
Premier Oil (PMO) 108.57p -3.58%
Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 249.00p -3.49%
Bellway (BWY) 3,083.00p -3.11%
Redrow (RDW) 550.50p -3.08%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 1,165.00p -3.08%
Galliford Try (GFRD) 924.00p -3.04%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 266.00p -2.92%