FTSE 250 movers: Drax, housebuilders and banks hit by Osborne's budget
Policy changes announced in the budget saw a number of stocks on the FTSE 250 take a tumble on Wednesday, including Drax and a host of housebuilders.
Shares in Drax fell a whopping 27% to an all-time low after Chancellor George Osborne said that the government will remove the exemption for electricity from renewable sources. RBC Capital Markets said the move was “a big negative for renewable generators”.
Housebuilders were also hit by several measures unfurled by Osborne as he revealed measures to cut tax relief on mortgage interest for buy-to-let landlords, tightened up rules on "non-domicile status", and announced a crackdown on real estate owned "through foreign companies or other opaque structures". Sector peers Bellway, Berkeley and Crest Nicholson were all trading in the red.
Changes to buy-to-let lending were also hitting shares of banking groups Aldermore, OneSavings, Virgin Money, and Paragon. According to analysts at RBC Capital Markets, Paragon has 93% exposure to BTL lending, while OneSavings has 52% and Aldermore has 44%.
Among the risers was property investor Daejan Holdings after it reported a net valuation surplus of £229.7m in its final results.
FTSE 250 - Risers
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 6,055.00p +4.58%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 472.40p +3.80%
Genus (GNS) 1,452.00p +3.57%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 804.50p +3.41%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 293.10p +2.59%
esure Group (ESUR) 266.60p +2.42%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 634.50p +2.34%
Premier Oil (PMO) 136.20p +2.33%
Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 530.00p +2.32%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 165.70p +2.28%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Drax Group (DRX) 257.00p -27.38%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 260.50p -12.61%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 279.10p -10.46%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 391.30p -9.84%
Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 330.00p -9.59%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 123.30p -9.54%
Bellway (BWY) 2,220.00p -7.27%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,106.00p -6.87%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 515.50p -6.10%
Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 377.50p -5.65%