FTSE 250 movers: Grafton in favour; Future still out of favour

Building materials distributor Grafton Group rallied after saying it has extended its share buyback programme to end of May 2024, having initially set it to expire at the end of January.

The FTSE 250 firm said the programme, originally set to expire on 31 January, would now continue for an additional five months until 31 May.

Additionally, it had increased the maximum aggregate consideration for the programme by £50m, bringing the total maximum aggregate consideration to £100m.

Under the extended programme, the maximum number of shares available for repurchase was 15,679,817.

The primary purpose of this programme extension was to reduce the share capital of the company

Grafton said it would largely maintain the same terms as announced on 31 August this year.

At 0856 GMT, shares in Grafton Group were up 0.88% at 852.6p.

Online trading platform IG Group rose as it announced the appointment of Breon Corcoran - the former chief executive of Paddy Power Betfair- as its new CEO.

Corcoran, who is currently non-executive chair of Auction Technology, will join the company on 29 January 2024.

Charlie Rozes will remain interim CEO and group chief financial officer until then, at which point he will continue as group CFO and a member of the board.

IG said Corcoran has extensive experience leading multinational fintech companies and delivering on their growth strategies. He was CEO of payments company WorldRemit until 2022 and of FTSE 100 company Paddy Power Betfair until 2018. He began his career as a derivatives trader at Bankers Trust and JP Morgan.

Chair Mike McTighe said: "I am very pleased to announce Breon's appointment following a comprehensive global search. He is a proven leader of high performing teams within multinational organisations, with an ability to deliver results for all stakeholders.

"The board is confident that Breon is the right person to lead IG and deliver the next phase of growth. I look forward to working with him."

Shares in Future continued to slide after heavy falls on Thursday, when it announced full-year revenues were hit by weaker trading in the US.

The media and publishing group – which owns a number of magazines, including Country Life, Homes & Gardens and Cyclingnews, as well as comparison website Go.Compare – said revenues in the year to 30 September were £788.9m, down 4% or by 10% on an organic basis.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Discoverie Group (DSCV) 713.00p 4.85%
AJ Bell (AJB) 313.00p 4.61%
CAB Payments Holdings (CABP) 55.30p 4.34%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 679.00p 4.30%
IP Group (IPO) 48.50p 3.97%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 153.85p 3.32%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 728.00p 3.04%
Trainline (TRN) 296.80p 2.70%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 93.00p 2.54%
Petershill Partners (PHLL) 155.60p 2.50%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Coats Group (COA) 73.40p -2.65%
Foresight Group Holdings Limited NPV (FSG) 396.00p -2.22%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 223.00p -1.85%
OSB Group (OSB) 398.80p -1.77%
Future (FUTR) 620.50p -1.66%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 96.85p -1.63%
W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 88.60p -1.56%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 192.85p -1.46%
Currys (CURY) 45.58p -1.34%
3i Infrastructure (3IN) 315.50p -1.25%