FTSE 250 movers: Easing Brexit fears lift Redrow and Countrywide

The Treasury weighed into the Brexit debate, aiming to convince Britain to vote to remain in the European Union at the 23 June referendum with its analysis of the perils of a split from the economic bloc.

Chancellor George Osborne warned that leaving the EU would tip the UK into a year-long recession with up to 820,000 jobs lost within two years, which followed polls last week and is likely to tip the balance further in favour of a majority voting for the status quo.

This helped housebuilder Redrow, estate agent Countrywide and property developer CLS Holdings, which have been hit by Brexit worries in recent weeks.

The sentiment may also have boosted banks Shawbrook and Aldermore. Furthermore, a survey found a large majority of financial services firms are optimistic about the UK's growth prospects in spite of the headwinds of economic volatility and new regulation.

Lloyds Bank's financial institutions sentiment survey found 78% believe that the UK will grow in line with or faster than its peers across the G7 over the coming year. Two fifths of firms interviewed said that uncertainty about the outcome of the EU membership vote was a concern for them.

Also among the risers was Mitie which confirmed annual numbers, pretty much as indicated in the outsourcing group's pre-close statement. New news was the introduction of a formal share buyback programme, where Mitie will purchase and cancel shares of upto £20m in the year to next March.

The buyback was said to reflect management's confidence in the long-term cash potential of the business and the desire to keep an efficient balance sheet in the 1.0-1.5x net debt/EBITDA range in the absence of any material acquisition spending.

Going the other way, ICAP slumped as Credit Suisse analysts downgraded their stance on the stock to ‘neutral’ from ‘outperform’ and cut the price target to 450p from 475p.

CS said the downgrade reflects weak electronic volumes and lower NewCo earnings estimates resulting from higher retained costs. “We continue to model for the whole of ICAP plc, including the businesses being sold, and cut our FY17-18 EPS estimates 5-8% on lower electronic volume growth and higher cost assumptions."

Sports Direct was also jogging downhill as Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to a 'neutral' rating and removed the retailer off its Pan-Europe Buy List after cutting its earnings per share (EPS) forecasts for this and next year.

"We expect the combination of a demanding European apparel demand environment, gross margin pressure and elevated opex growth due to a one-off wage bill increase to stall Sport Direct’s EPS progress in FY16, FY17 and FY18, despite the European football event this summer."

Tullow Oil was lower as the strong dollar and further reminders of the global crude supply glut sent oil prices back down. Brent crude fell 1.1% to $48.18 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate dropped 0.6% to $48.1 per barrel.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Indivior (INDV) 172.30p 5.19%
Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 293.80p 4.82%
Mitie Group (MTO) 285.80p 4.46%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 205.10p 4.38%
IP Group (IPO) 158.40p 4.28%
Redrow (RDW) 423.80p 4.15%
Pendragon (PDG) 39.56p 4.02%
BTG (BTG) 673.00p 3.94%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 1,600.00p 3.90%
Countrywide (CWD) 373.90p 3.49%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

ICAP (IAP) 412.10p -4.54%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 259.10p -3.89%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 355.20p -3.74%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 366.50p -3.43%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 240.40p -2.67%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 615.00p -1.91%
Allied Minds (ALM) 330.20p -1.81%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 144.70p -1.70%
Assura (AGR) 57.00p -1.47%
Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 184.10p -1.45%