FTSE 250 movers: Indivior dives as BTG soars on sale news

London's FTSE 250 was down 0.94% at 18,365.26 in afternoon trade on Tuesday, as Indivior plummeted following some courtroom drama.

Indivior shares were in freefall as it emerged that the company had lost an appeals court ruling that could allow Dr Reddy's Laboratories to start selling a generic version of its top-selling opioid treatment, Suboxone.

The pharmaceutical company said in a brief statement that it was "disappointed" and that the company would "continue to vigorously pursue ongoing infringement cases against DRL to protect its Suboxone (buprenorphine and naloxone) sublingual film patent portfolio".

Meanwhile, CYBG was sharply lower after the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank owner increased underlying profits 13% in the past 12 months but fell into a loss at the statutory level due to PPI costs.

Electronics distributor Electrocomponents also fell after it reported like-for-like revenue growth of 9.8% for its half-year, with market share gains in all three of its regions, but a slowing of growth as it moved into the second half.

In broker action, Spirax Sarco dropped after a downgrade to 'underperform' from RBC Capital Markets, with a share price of 6,400p.

"Spirax is one of the best UK engineers in our coverage measured on past delivery, and we expect continued robust operational performance in the future. However, the relative valuation is at new highs on an over 60% P/E premium versus the peer group and as such we see more attractive opportunities elsewhere in our UK engineering coverage," said a note from RBC.

At the other end of the spectrum, shares in medical technology company BTG rocketed to the top of the FTSE 250 as it agreed to be bought by US-based Boston Scientific for £3.3bn.

Spectris surged after posting an 8% jump in like-for-like sales growth for the four months to the end of October, online trading platform Plus500 gained as it said 2018 results should be ahead of market expectations and Telecom Plus rallied on the back of record first-half numbers.

Pub owner and operator EI Group climbed higher after reporting further growth in its net asset value to £3.34 per share, from £3.13 per share at the end of 2017.

Finally, Beazley was on the up as RBC named the company its 'top pick' among Lloyds insurers, with a target price of 675p even though the financial services company said investment returns during the current year had been "weak".

"We see this as simply accounting noise. In an economic balance sheet, the discount rate used to discount liabilities would also increase, leading to a fall in the value of the liabilities. What this does do however is mean that the company is able to reinvest its fixed income portfolio into higher yielding assets faster. With a largely USD denominated fixed income portfolio, we think Beazley is well placed to deliver a strong pick up in investment income heading into 2019," said RBC analysts.

Market Movers
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,365.26 -0.94%

FTSE 250 - Risers

BTG (BTG) 828.00p 34.63%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 1,463.00p 13.85%
Spectris (SXS) 2,317.00p 10.18%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,302.64p 8.37%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 635.00p 5.48%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 344.00p 3.68%
EI Group (EIG) 180.00p 3.57%
Beazley (BEZ) 550.00p 3.48%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 106.90p 3.29%
Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 144.40p 2.85%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Indivior (INDV) 156.45p -24.20%
CYBG (CYBG) 210.20p -15.38%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 567.40p -7.23%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 6,180.00p -6.29%
UDG Healthcare Public Limited Company (UDG) 571.00p -5.23%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 179.90p -5.02%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 117.60p -5.01%
Metro Bank (MTRO) 1,976.00p -4.91%
Premier Oil (PMO) 77.00p -4.70%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 311.80p -4.65%