FTSE 250 movers: Thomas Cook and CYBG hit by downgrades, oilers dominate

London's FTSE 250 was down 0.64% at 20,270.76 in afternoon trade on Tuesday.

Thomas Cook was the big faller in afternoon trade on Tuesday as its target price was cut from 100p to 65p at Berenberg, though the broker upgraded its outlook from 'sell' to 'hold'.

The travel agent is the second worst performing stock in the FTSE 350 so far this year, coming in just ahead of Indivior, with its share price dropping by 53% since the start of January.

Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank owner CYBG saw its shares dip after being handed a 'sell' rating and a 311p price target from UBS.

The broker, which said that the UK banking market is experiencing high competition for both loans and deposits in an easy credit supply cycle, pointed out that CYBG has a number of commonalities with other challenger banks such as a weak deposit base, declining margins, slowing loan growth and high reliance on Bank of England funding.

"This has led the bank to scale up its operations through the acquisition of Virgin Money. In our view, this is unlikely to address these issues, and we forecast declining earnings from FY21e, despite our expectation of deal synergies," said the broker.

Virgin Money Holdings fell also, with much of the banking and wider financial sector stocks amid worries about Italian government debt. OneSavings Group was also in the red.

Hungarian budget airline Wizz Air was down despite having reported 17.5% year-on-year rise in September passenger numbers to 3.1m.

It was carried lower along with easyJet as investors had renewed worries about the sector after Ryanair's profit warning and the high price of oil.

Oilers dominated the top risers in afternoon trading on Tuesday, with Premier Oil, Energean Oil and Gas, Hunting and Wood Group all higher after oil prices hit new four-year highs, having risen by around 18% since the middle of August. Brent crude was up around $85 a barrel and WTI topping $75.

Energean Oil & Gas also benefited from the appointment of 30-year oil and gas industry veteran Iman Hill as its new chief operating officer.

Chief executive Mathios Rigas said: "Iman is a highly experienced oil and gas professional with a proven track record and we are delighted to welcome her to the team. She brings a wealth of operational and technical expertise and we look forward to working closely with Iman across all of our global operations."

Over 50's services company Saga was on the rise after being upgraded to ‘buy’ with a 150p target price at UBS, thanks to “supportive trends and recovering sentiment”.

The company's recent interim results, which were released last Thursday, showed that the outfit's travel division put in a strong performance in the first half of the year, though insurance profits slipped as the company upped its spending to rebuild market share.

Gold miner Centamin was also on the up as the price of the commodity rose amid jitters surrounding Italy’s financial picture filtering into broader financial markets.

James Fisher was down despite a 15-point climb in the Baltic Dry Index, reaching 1570 points.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,270.76 -0.64%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Premier Oil (PMO) 145.20p 3.85%
Saga (SAGA) 134.80p 3.43%
Energean Oil & Gas (ENOG) 603.10p 2.92%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 205.50p 2.65%
LondonMetric Property (LMP) 183.30p 2.06%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 105.70p 1.92%
Hunting (HTG) 820.50p 1.87%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 295.31p 1.83%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 440.00p 1.76%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 797.00p 1.63%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 55.00p -5.32%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,822.00p -5.01%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 363.99p -4.36%
CYBG (CYBG) 306.40p -4.13%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 353.40p -3.60%
Ascential (ASCL) 410.40p -3.30%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 161.80p -3.22%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 398.60p -2.88%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,565.00p -2.77%
IP Group (IPO) 126.60p -2.62%