FTSE 250 movers: Charter Court and Onesavings buoyant on merger news

London's FTSE 250 was up 0.06% at 19,058.77 in afternoon trade on Monday, as merger news fuelled the index's rise.

Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology

19,259.77

15:45 15/11/24

-2.70%

-535.19

Charter Court Financial Services and OneSavings Bank led the risers after confirming that they are in advanced talks about a potential merger to create a “leading specialist mortgage lender in the UK”.

The deal would be structured so that OSB would acquire Charter Court and its shareholders would end up with 55% of the enlarged group, with OSB chief executive Andy Golding continuing in that role. Shares in both companies rose sharply on the news.

G4S was higher as Barclays Capital raised the stock's target price from 200p to 220p and reaffirmed its "equal-weight" rating ahead of the release of the security services company's full-year results on Tuesday.

Doorstep lender Provident Financial also crept upwards after it said the £1.3bn hostile bid from Non-Standard Finance risks jeopardising the company's turnaround after its smaller rival published its offer document.

Integrated shipping services provider Clarkson retreated as it posted a better-than-expected full-year profit but sounded a cautious note on the outlook due in part to Brexit uncertainties and the impact of the trade war.

A note from analysts at Liberum said: "Slightly better than expected results comprised a much better than expected performance in Broking, which ended flat having been sharply lower in H1, offset by further weakness in the Financial division and higher central costs on elevated IT spending. The latter reflects efforts to begin offering new digital services to clients, although we have not assumed material incremental revenue at this stage."

Cairn Energy was under the cosh after saying it expects the arbitration process against the Indian authorities regarding its $1.4bn compensation claim to take longer than initially thought.

Meanwhile, Indivior was lower on the news that Dr Reddy's Laboratories is seeking $70m from the company as compensation for lost US sales of its generic version of a leading opioid addiction treatment that was delayed in a patent dispute.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,058.77 0.06%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Charter Court Financial Services Group (CCFS) 341.80p 11.55%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 407.40p 10.11%
Genus (GNS) 2,342.79p 3.94%
Senior (SNR) 228.20p 3.63%
G4S (GFS) 206.64p 2.80%
IWG (IWG) 260.20p 2.48%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 326.00p 2.32%
Diploma (DPLM) 1,428.00p 2.29%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 4,378.00p 2.24%
Provident Financial (PFG) 569.60p 2.15%