FTSE 250 movers: Mitchells & Butlers gains; Mobico tanks

London’s FTSE 250 was flat at 17,869.91 in afternoon trade on Thursday.

Mitchells & Butlers was the standout gainer on the index, likely on positive read-across from The Restaurant Group, which surged after agreeing to be taken over by private equity firm Apollo in a £700m deal.

On the downside, transport operator Mobico - formerly National Express - was under the cosh as it cut its full-year earnings outlook, and said it was looking to sell its North America school bus business and had decided to suspend its final dividend.

Oxford Instruments lost ground as it warned that full-year trading was set to be at the lower end of expectations.

Budget airline easyJet flew lower even as it hailed record fourth-quarter profit amid strong demand, as it said it plans to resume dividend payments and announced a deal with Airbus to expand its fleet.

Darktrace fell as the cybersecurity firm’s first-quarter annualised recurring revenue missed analysts’ expectations.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 213.60p 3.79%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 258.80p 3.64%
North Atlantic Smaller Companies Inv Trust (NAS) 3,700.00p 3.64%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 128.00p 3.23%
Ithaca Energy (ITH) 180.20p 3.21%
Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited (BSIF) 113.20p 2.72%
Me Group International (MEGP) 153.40p 2.68%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 422.60p 2.62%
IP Group (IPO) 52.60p 2.53%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,710.00p 2.46%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Mobico Group (MCG) 60.65p -28.65%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,908.00p -6.70%
easyJet (EZJ) 413.20p -5.40%
Darktrace (DARK) 382.50p -2.55%
Supermarket Income Reit (SUPR) 75.30p -2.21%
Primary Health Properties (PHP) 91.20p -2.20%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 974.50p -2.11%
Savills (SVS) 823.50p -2.08%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 107.80p -2.00%
NCC Group (NCC) 109.80p -1.96%