FTSE 250 movers: Funding Circle falters, Ferrexpo flies

Following close behind the peer-to-peer lending marketplace, Sirius Minerals dropped after successfully raising $425m as part of its a heavily-discounted $3.8bn capital raising to finance the next stage of development of its Woodsmith polyhalite mine in North Yorkshire.

Analysts from Shore Capital said: "Successfully securing the Stage 2 financing is effectively the key to unlocking Sirius’s vast potential, and we expect should catalyse a major re-rating of the shares. Beyond that, while Sirius would still be some years from becoming cash generative, an investment in the company should become progressively de-risked and enjoy significant value uplift as it advances towards production, we believe."

Pub retailer and brewer Greene King fell after Berenberg analysts stated that it is an "opportune moment to sell" as the last of the soft comparatives now lie in the past, leaving a series of challenging comparisons ahead and earnings growth likely to turn negative in 2020.

Indivior and Intu Properties followed suit ahead of respective results and a trading update later this week, while takeaway giant Domino's Pizza was also lower ahead of the release of its first quarter trading statement next week.

Ferrexpo was the top riser after Liberum upped its stance on the stock to 'buy' form 'hold' as it said the recent selloff, which was precipitated by potential management involvement in the possible misappropriation of funds from a charity called Blooming Land, was overdone.

"We think it's highly unlikely management knew of or suspected any (potential) misallocation of funds before ceasing payments to the charity in May 2018. Assuming this becomes clearer following completion of the Independent Review, we expect the shares will rebound, despite our view of further softness in Chinese steel demand and a pull back in benchmark iron ore prices," said analysts.

Finally, telecommunications testing outfit Spirent edged upwards after reporting that it saw positive momentum from its last trading year carry over into the first quarter of 2019.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,805.33 -0.10%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Ferrexpo (FXPO) 216.54p 4.46%
NewRiver REIT (NRR) 238.00p 3.70%
Metro Bank (MTRO) 766.00p 2.13%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 535.80p 2.06%
Charter Court Financial Services Group (CCFS) 362.00p 1.97%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 392.40p 1.92%
McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 130.60p 1.87%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 450.80p 1.69%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 161.40p 1.64%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 518.00p 1.61%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Funding Circle Holdings (FCH) 233.14p -7.85%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 16.34p -6.20%
Greene King (GNK) 613.98p -4.21%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 140.30p -4.10%
Indivior (INDV) 36.94p -3.37%
Hilton Food Group (HFG) 982.00p -3.35%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 258.60p -3.33%
Intu Properties (INTU) 91.88p -2.55%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 167.10p -2.39%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 631.43p -2.35%