FTSE 250 movers: Cineworld has a blockbuster, Just Group withers away

London's FTSE 250 was up 0.63% at 19,300.09 in afternoon trade on Friday, as Cineworld put in a blockbuster performance to send the index reeling upwards.

The cinema chain was on the rise after it reported a 125% surge in full-year pre-tax profit and a 259% increase in revenue following the acquisition of US-based cinema chain Regal Entertainment last year.

A note from analysts at Canaccord Genuity said: "Cineworld's results were approximately 5% ahead of both consensus and CGe forecasts. The integration of Regal continues to progress well and Cineworld has increased anticipated synergies by 50% to $150m. The US major refurbishment projects are taking a little longer to get underway but the first two-three are now on site."

Royal Mail rebounded from a new all-time low reached on Wednesday, when shares in the postal group pushed the enveloped down more than 60% from their 12-month high last May.

Meanwhile, specialist landscape products group Marshalls was on the way up after it reported a 14% improvement in its full-year revenue to £491m.

Ultra Electronics was boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' at Berenberg, where analysts upped its target price from 1,500p to 1,750p

Down at the other end of the index, retirement products specialist Just Group tanked after announcing plans to scrap its dividend for 2018 and raise £300m in a placing.

A note from Shore Capital said: "There is likely to be some short-term reduction in the share price to adjust for the placing but going forward this should put the business in a much more secure place regarding capital and take away much of the uncertainty surrounding the stock. We will need to flow the latest developments through our model but the business still looks too cheap and we would expect a positive reaction once the placing has been completed."

Sophos dropped after Deutsche Bank cut its price target for the stock from 370p to 300p.

Real estate advisor Savills subsided as it posted a small rise in underlying pre-tax profit, but sounded a cautious note on the outlook.

Finally, Syncona was lower after biomedical research charity The Wellcome Trust confirmed that it will sell a small percentage of its shareholding, reducing its stake in the life sciences investor to 30% from 36.8%.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,300.09 0.63%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Cineworld Group (CINE) 305.00p 5.54%
Royal Mail (RMG) 260.40p 5.47%
Marshalls (MSLH) 574.50p 5.32%
Energean Oil & Gas (ENOG) 777.40p 5.07%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 845.50p 4.64%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 138.70p 4.32%
Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 167.40p 3.98%
HGCapital Trust (HGT) 2,050.00p 3.80%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,587.00p 3.52%
Premier Oil (PMO) 85.59p 3.24%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Just Group (JUST) 84.55p -13.29%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 315.72p -4.85%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 348.30p -4.63%
Savills (SVS) 892.50p -3.36%
Amigo Holdings (AMGO) 195.58p -3.25%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 248.00p -2.36%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 263.65p -2.35%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 145.80p -2.02%
Indivior (INDV) 111.35p -1.89%
Vivo Energy (VVO) 127.56p -1.86%