FTSE 250 movers: Kennedy Wilson gains but Tritax slumps

London’s FTSE 250 was up 0.9% to 17,791.99 in afternoon trade.

Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate was a high riser after launching a share buyback programme to manage its balance sheet and take advantage of future investment opportunities.

The group said it plans to spend £100m starting from 5 October through broker J&E Davy, which will cancel all shares bought back under the programme.

Tullow Oil was on the front foot as oil prices advanced, while Petrofac benefited from an upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’ by Goldman Sachs, which lifted its price target to 1,066p from 912p.

It said the upgrade was driven by Petrofac’s geographic exposure, which is predominantly geared to the Middle East and by the current backlog for 2017, which stands at 87%. In addition, it pointed to scope for additional contract awards driven by the Middle East.

The bank also highlighted the potential for free cash flow improvement from 2017. GS said it expects capex to start falling from 2017, which would lead to a FCF yield of about 10%/14% in 2017/18.

Tritax Big Box was the worst performer after the property investment trust announced plans to raise about £150m in a discounted share placing, subscription and open offer in order to make further acquisitions.

The company, which also on Wednesday announced a second interim dividend of 1.55p per share for three months to 30 September to be paid around 27 October, said it will issue around 113.6m new shares, subject to shareholder approval, at around 132p each.

ICAP was under the cosh after Citigroup downgraded the stock to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’ and cut the price target to 490p from 530p.

AG Barr was also in the red a day after it said it was planning to cut jobs and reported a drop in first-half sales.

Looking back on the six months to 31 July, against a soft drinks sector that lost 0.7% of value and 0.4% in volume, the FTSE 250 maker of Irn Bru, Rubicon and Tizer saw total revenue drop 3.6% to £125.6m and by 2.8% on a like-for-like underlying basis.

Risers

Allied Minds (ALM) 322.70p 3.86%
William Hill (WMH) 309.90p 3.82%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 224.40p 3.74%
Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate (KWE) 979.00p 3.71%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 845.50p 3.68%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 486.20p 3.67%
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 186.00p 3.45%
Diploma (DPLM) 867.00p 3.21%
Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 865.00p 3.16%
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 326.00p 3.13%