London’s FTSE 250 was down 1.4% at 18,441.30 in afternoon trade on Thursday.
Playtech tumbled after TTB Partners said it wouldn’t be making a bid for the company due to “challenging underlying market conditions”.
Direct Line lost ground after motor insurer Sabre Insurance said it expects to pay out a smaller dividend for 2022 as it warned over the impact of claims inflation. Sabre shares were down a whopping 40%.
Ninety One and CMC Markets were both in the red as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.
Housebuilder Redrow rallied after it announced the launch of a £100m share buyback. The company said that it will purchase shares of 10.5p each as it looks to return excess capital to shareholders.
Hays also gained as the recruiter said it had delivered a record end to the year after the heightened demand for labour worldwide boosted fees. It also said that group operating profit for FY22 is now expected to come in around £210m, at top end of guidance, as a result.
FTSE 250 – Risers
Mitie Group (MTO) 62.10p 4.72%
Redrow (RDW) 511.00p 3.86%
888 Holdings (DI) (888) 151.60p 3.76%
BH Macro Ltd. GBP Shares (BHMG) 4,660.00p 3.67%
Abrdn Private Equity Opportunities Trust (APEO) 415.00p 2.47%
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited NPV (SONG) 110.80p 2.40%
Hays (HAS) 119.70p 2.05%
Diploma (DPLM) 2,338.00p 2.01%
Molten Ventures (GROW) 399.20p 1.63%
Schroder Oriental Income Fund Ltd. (SOI) 258.00p 1.57%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
Playtech (PTEC) 423.80p -17.87%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 210.50p -10.96%
Polymetal International (POLY) 160.00p -8.60%
Ninety One (N91) 184.00p -5.83%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 194.20p -5.27%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 272.50p -5.22%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 549.00p -4.94%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 876.00p -4.60%
Computacenter (CCC) 2,338.00p -4.49%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 164.20p -3.92%
