London’s FTSE 250 was down 1% at 17,124.58 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
JD Wetherspoon was the standout loser on the index. On Tuesday, the pub group said it had put 32 pubs across England on the market. Wetherspoons, which operates around 800 pubs in the UK and Ireland, said it was a “commercial decision” amid the rising cost of staff wages and repairs.
Going the other way, Hikma Pharmaceuticals shot to the top of the index. A trader noted it has been a “massive underperformer”, adding that the earnings per share trend for the company is upwards and pointing out that 62% of its revenues come from the US.
Biotechnology group PureTech Health was also a high riser, while merchant bank Close Brothers gained a day after posting a decline in full-year operating profit as its Winterflood business was hit by a slowdown in trading activity.
FTSE 250 – Risers
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,363.00p 9.83%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 227.00p 6.57%
Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited (BSIF) 124.50p 2.89%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 186.00p 2.48%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 931.00p 1.97%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,859.50p 1.92%
LondonMetric Property (LMP) 165.80p 1.91%
Victrex plc (VCT) 1,659.00p 1.90%
Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 68.60p 1.63%
NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited Red (NESF) 103.60p 1.57%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 409.60p -8.69%
Molten Ventures (GROW) 293.40p -6.92%
Just Group (JUST) 60.05p -6.90%
Jlen Environmental Assets Group Limited NPV (JLEN) 105.60p -6.88%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 689.50p -6.64%
The Global Smaller Companies Trust (GSCT) 123.20p -6.10%
888 Holdings (DI) (888) 101.60p -5.93%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 6,045.00p -5.91%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 124.40p -5.90%
Coats Group (COA) 52.70p -5.89%
