London’s FTSE 250 was up 0.4% at 21,233.13 in afternoon trade on Friday.
Private equity firm Bridgepoint was up after Citi upgraded it to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’ as it said the share price fall was overdone.
The bank noted that in its initiation report, it observed the strong growth opportunity available to Bridgepoint in the mid-market private asset space, but argued the valuation was rich relative to peers.
“The subsequent fall in the share price means this is no longer the case,” it said. “Even after the bounce following the FY21 earnings beat the stock is still only trading on 23x 2023E price-to-earnings, so we see this as a more attractive entry point.”
Lancashire Holdings was also trading higher after an upgrade to ‘buy’ at Citi.
Going the other way, subprime lender Provident Financial was the biggest loser, having rallied on Thursday after it reinstated its dividend and said it returned to annual profit after bad debt provisions fell.
FTSE 250 – Risers
888 Holdings (888) 194.60p 5.47%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 195.60p 4.88%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 367.40p 4.52%
Moonpig Group (MOON) 234.00p 4.46%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 661.50p 4.34%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 262.00p 3.97%
Currys (CURY) 94.15p 3.58%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 447.00p 3.47%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 289.60p 3.43%
Rathbone Group (RAT) 2,045.00p 3.28%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
Provident Financial (PFG) 290.00p -5.41%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 646.00p -4.15%
Morgan Sindall Group (MGNS) 2,355.00p -2.48%
Ascential (ASCL) 338.40p -2.37%
Volution Group (FAN) 411.00p -2.03%
Drax Group (DRX) 771.50p -1.84%
Hammerson (HMSO) 32.44p -1.76%
Centrica (CNA) 78.72p -1.70%
Polymetal International (POLY) 303.00p -1.40%
Spectris (SXS) 2,564.00p -1.35%
