London’s FTSE 250 was down 0.2% at 23,946.68 in afternoon trade on Thursday.
Recruiter Hays was the standout performer after saying it was resuming dividend payments as it hailed a “strong” recovery in fee and profit growth in its full-year results.
In the year to the end of June 2021, pre-tax profit rose 2% to £88.1m. Group fees fell 8% to £918.1m but the company said trading improved through the year, with strong sequential growth in all regions.
First-half fees were down 24% but second-half fees rose 13%, and the fourth quarter saw a 39% increase. Hays said it saw its strong group fee performance in June since the start of the pandemic.
Private hospital group Mediclinic was also in the rise after HSBC upgraded the shares to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ on Thursday, hiking the price target to 340p from 280p.
The bank said Mediclinic’s South African operations were the least impacted during the first and second waves of Covid-19, which bodes well for the third wave.
“However, it’s the change in strategy that drives our upgrade,” HSBC said. “We finally think the company has moved away from saturating the international markets it operates in with the same type of capacity.”
FTSE 250 – Risers
Hays (HAS) 164.60p 4.84%
Reach (RCH) 424.00p 2.91%
Clarkson (CKN) 3,725.00p 2.62%
Tyman (TYMN) 407.00p 2.52%
TP Icap Group (TCAP) 199.50p 2.31%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 305.00p 2.28%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 377.90p 1.86%
Capita (CPI) 48.15p 1.82%
Genuit Group (GEN) 794.00p 1.79%
Pantheon International (PIN) 2,850.00p 1.79%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 1,814.00p -3.20%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 205.00p -2.84%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 5,032.00p -2.78%
Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) 211.00p -2.54%
Trainline (TRN) 351.20p -2.44%
Volution Group (FAN) 508.00p -2.31%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 380.40p -2.26%
Civitas Social Housing (CSH) 104.80p -2.06%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 322.40p -1.95%
Serco Group (SRP) 131.50p -1.87%
