FTSE 250 mover: Vectura leads mid-caps lower, Tritax climbs after fundraising

London's mid-caps were mostly on the back foot on Thursday, down more than 80 points to 19,795.69, led by drug device maker Vectura.

Vectura and drugmaker Hikma Pharamceuticals said there was a "low likelihood" that their generic version of GlaxoSmithKline's former blockbuster asthma treatment Advair would be approved this year after receiving an unfavourable verdict from US drug regulators.

The US Food and Drug Administration sent Hikma, the proposed manufacturer of the drug that will be inhaled using a Vectura device, a Complete Response Letter categorised as 'major', which means the drug application will require significant amendments.

Following a similar major CRL for Mylan on Wednesday, analysts at Singer suggested buying some Glaxo on the back of this.

An even greater weight on the FTSE 250 was the group of companies going ex-dividend, led by Carillion and Saga.

Clothes retailer SuperGroup was hit by profit taking as it reported strong annual revenue growth of 27% and said its full year profits were likely to be in line with expectations. A short trading update from the company for period up to its 29 April year end confirmed the Superdry-owning youth fashion company maintained strong momentum through the fourth quarter to lift retail like-for-like sales 9.4% with the top line boosted significantly by the weak pound.

Hard-to-please analysts at Liberum applauded the "commendable achievement" of maintaining overall momentum but downgraded the shares to 'hold' due to the lack of upgrades.

Similarly the weak pound helped to boost revenues at infrastructure supplier Hill & Smith in the four months to the end of April but this was not enough to save it shares from falling back to where they were at the start of the week.

Trading was in line with expectations, the company added, as revenues jumped to £191.3m from £165.4m. The pound's slump against the dollar and euro provided a 6% lift.

Retailer Pets at Home Group was was hit by a Morgan Stanley note where analysts said they believed the pet products specialist, along with Dunelm and Halfords, "all rely on gross margins that are unsustainable in the age of online retailing and discounters".

"All three have been underperforming for some time, but we see considerable further downside," a note said, with Pets at Home forecasts being the most at risk in the near term.

Risers were led by Tritax Big Box REIT after the logistics warehouse investor raised more than £350m (€415m) in an oversubscribed placing.

The fundraising far exceeded the company's initial £200m target size, with backing from existing and new investors, according to chairman Richard Jewson, who said the proceeds will be used to acquire more properties within six months of admission.

Precious metals miners Acacia Mining and Hochschild Mining climbed as silver and gold prices rose.

"Gold has bounced off 2017 shallow rising support at $1217 and overcome May's accelerated downtrend,” said analyst Mike Van Dulken at Accendo Markets.

Rathbone Brothers rose after reporting a rise in total funds under management for the three months to the end of March, citing strong investment markets.

Total FuM were up 4.7% to £35.8bn at the end of the first quarter from £34.2bn at 31 December and 22% from £29.3bn a year ago. Net inflows came in at £427m and the wealth manager had £1.2bn of market gains.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Tritax Big Box Reit (BBOX) 146.30p 2.74%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,071.00p 2.49%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,019.00p 2.36%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 352.10p 2.30%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 405.40p 2.09%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 256.90p 1.82%
Sanne Group (SNN) 645.00p 1.74%
Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate (KWE) 1,051.00p 1.64%
Renishaw (RSW) 3,544.00p 1.49%
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 2,437.00p 1.33%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Vectura Group (VEC) 131.70p -9.11%
Carillion (CLLN) 204.80p -7.58%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 167.30p -6.01%
Supergroup (SGP) 1,570.00p -4.91%
Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 1,319.00p -4.90%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 759.50p -4.10%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,854.00p -3.44%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 616.50p -3.07%
Keller Group (KLR) 922.00p -3.05%
Saga (SAGA) 206.90p -2.86%