FTSE 250 movers: Ferrexpo flies higher, Funding Circle spirals lower

London's FTSE 250 index was 0.90% higher at 19,503.15 in afternoon trade on Wednesday, as Ferrexpo once again struck higher.

The commodity trading and mining company continued to climb after delaying its final results on Monday in order to allow more time for an independent review of the company’s donations to a charity called Blooming Land, a Ukrainian charity set up to coordinate Ferrexpo’s corporate and social responsibility programme.

Meanwhile, banks and housebuilders rallied as investors welcomed Prime Minister Theresa May's softer stance on Brexit as she invited Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to help find a compromise Brexit deal, with Metro Bank, CYBG and Bellway all following their FTSE 100 contemporaries higher.

Grafton was higher after analysts at Berenberg raised their target price for the stock from 910p to 950p after it achieved positive like-for-like growth, margin improvement and ROIC expansion despite "the subdued repair, maintenance and improvement (RMI) market".

"Some investors have questioned whether there are better ways to play UK RMI in the case of a pickup in underlying activity. We think not. If the group can deliver in bad times, it can only get better in good times. We maintain our Buy rating and raise our price target to 950p as we roll forward our valuation," said the analysts.

Moneylenders Funding Circle and Amigo Holdings were both lower, while Dechra Pharmaceuticals dropped after confirming that Richard Cotton has decided to step down as chief financial officer with immediate effect for personal reasons.

Hochschild Mining edged lower after Revelo Resources reported that Hochschild's Chilean subsidiary has terminated an option agreement to earn a 100% interest in Revelo's gold-silver project at Loro, located in northern Chile.

Finally, Saga crept lower ahead of the release of its full-year results on Thursday, which analysts at Peel Hunt expect to show a 6% decline in adjusted profit before tax due to margin pressure in the broking business.

"As the insurance cycle takes its course, the success of Saga's strategy will be closely linked with: a) its ability to drive new business growth from the launch of its membership scheme; and b) the momentum in transitioning the Motor insurance business from underwriting to broking. Saga's ability to manage this transition has been disappointing, however recent trends suggest there is better momentum in on-boarding new members to the Saga scheme," said the analysts.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,503.15 0.90%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Ferrexpo (FXPO) 283.20p 5.44%
Metro Bank (MTRO) 869.50p 5.33%
Diploma (DPLM) 1,534.00p 5.21%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 852.00p 3.84%
CYBG (CYBG) 210.00p 3.81%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,119.00p 3.71%
Bellway (BWY) 3,137.00p 3.67%
Royal Mail (RMG) 257.00p 3.59%
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 513.20p 3.55%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 146.70p 3.46%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Funding Circle Holdings (FCH) 356.67p -6.63%
Amigo Holdings (AMGO) 181.60p -3.09%
Polymetal International (POLY) 835.00p -2.68%
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 917.00p -2.34%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 2,602.00p -1.89%
Rank Group (RNK) 158.40p -1.61%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,496.00p -1.45%
Ascential (ASCL) 359.60p -1.37%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 204.60p -1.35%
Saga (SAGA) 107.10p -1.29%