FTSE 250 movers: Funding Circle recovers, Diploma dips

London's FTSE 250 was flat, edging just 0.01% higher to 19,637.48 in afternoon trade on Tuesday, with Funding Circle leading the index higher.

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The peer-to-peer lending marketplace staged a partial recovery after having suffered heavy losses on Tuesday as it slashed full-year revenue growth expectations from 40% to approximately 20%, warning that an increasingly uncertain economic outlook has reduced demand for loans.

Meanwhile, antivirus developer Sophos got a boost from news that Broadcom Inc. is in advanced talks to buy cybersecurity firm Symantec Corp.

William Hill and GVC Holdings were both also trading higher on the news that a new industry trade body, the Betting and Gaming Council, will launch this autumn with the aim of representing 90% of UK licensed betting firms.

Student accommodation provider Unite advanced after agreeing to buy Liberty Living from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) in a £1.4bn cash and share deal.

Analysts at Liberum said: "Unite’s confirmed acquisition of Liberty Living materially increases its scale in an attractive and growing area of UK real estate. Liberty Living's portfolio provides opportunity to further enhance and extend Unite's strong earnings growth through the repositioning of assets."

Technical products supplier Diploma headed the fallers, while Petrofac was close behind after analysts at Barclays lowered their our 2019-21 estimates by 3-8% at the EBITDA level, though they added that most potential outcomes to an on-going investigation into alleged improper sales practices at the company are likely to be seen as a positive.

Referring to the investigation, a note from analysts said: "On the downside the company stated that it has already cost it $2-3bn of awards, and we note press speculation around the winners of the Marjan project suggests Petrofac has not been successful. On the upside, further press articles that potentially related cases have been dropped and the company's statement that it is working towards a resolution suggest that the case is moving forward."

Finally, Electrocomponents' shares dropped as the electronics distributor reported a slowdown in quarterly sales growth, adding that that first half gross margins in 2020 would be hit by an expansion in inventory.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,767.63 0.55%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Funding Circle Holdings (FCH) 128.60p 11.25%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 428.10p 9.43%
Ted Baker (TED) 853.60p 6.70%
William Hill (WMH) 162.65p 3.80%
McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 144.00p 3.52%
Metro Bank (MTRO) 573.10p 3.35%
Unite Group (UTG) 1,030.00p 3.26%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 684.80p 2.85%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 5,085.00p 2.81%
Contour Global (GLO) 185.00p 2.78%