FTSE 250: Indivior dives, Marston’s bubbles up

Along with its larger sister index, London's FTSE 250 index finished lower on Friday, led by a big fall for drug developer Indivior.

Indivior tumbled 22% as its main revenue-generating product, Suboxone film, came under pressure overnight as rival Dr Reddy’s Labs won regulatory approval to its generic version of the sublingual film. Assuming a 40% net price reduction in the second half of 2018 and with generic film taking an 11% share in the second half, Jefferies analysts estimated that EPS in 2018 could be impacted by as much as 50%.

But with Indivior possessing substantial cash and having launched its monthly Sublocade, for which the cheaper generic versions of the daily film "do not change" the ultimate need, analysts at Numis and RBC Capital Market told clients saw the share price fall was a "buying opportunity".

Alfa Financial Software was down 7% after a group of directors the previous day sold off a quarter of their beneficial shares in the first release occasion following the company's IPO in June last year.

Gold miner Hochschild Mining was down as the gold price fell over the afternoon. The metal started to lose ground shortly after the US announced it is imposing 25% tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese goods.

"Protectionist policies often cause inflation to rise, and this could be contributing to the pressure on gold," said David Madden at CMC Markets. "If the metal breaks below $1,282, it could target $1,270."

Specialist information company Ascential ticked down after announcing the acquisition of global digital subscription business WARC for up to £24m.

BTG was also weaker after an advisory committee told US regulators to reject a pre-market approval application its severe emphysema treatment.

Stobart Group, the owner of Southend Airport, retreated as it wrote to its shareholders to urge them to back chairman Iain Ferguson, after it sacked director and former chief executive Andrew Tinkler on Thursday for trying to oust him.

Pub group Marston’s frothed higher as Shore Capital said in a note that an all-share merger, especially with a comparable drinks business, "arguably provides the best solution to addressing the issues". The brokerage said it sees "significant value" in a tie-up with Magners owner C&C, for example.

Similarly, retailer Superdry was upgraded to 'buy' from 'hold' by broker Liberum, with the recent share price fall offering better value. The shares have fallen 33% over the past 6 months, with the shares on a multiple of 12.2 current full year EPS, very close to its five-year trough rating. Liberum's forecasts imply a three-year EPS compound annual growth rate of 11.1% and the balance sheet is "very strong" with a net cash position and scope for further special dividends

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,664.18 -1.31%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,055.57 -1.26%
techMARK (TASX) 3,553.78 -1.37%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Purecircle Limited (DI) (PURE) 409.00p 4.87%
Marston's (MARS) 102.10p 3.34%
Synthomer (SYNT) 557.50p 2.86%
Superdry (SDRY) 1,200.00p 2.65%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,418.00p 2.46%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 282.00p 2.17%
Workspace Group (WKP) 1,147.00p 1.77%
Greencore Group (GNC) 179.90p 1.67%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 124.70p 1.46%
Intu Properties (INTU) 195.65p 1.43%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Indivior (INDV) 382.00p -22.75%
Alfa Financial Software Holdings (ALFA) 186.00p -7.00%
Genus (GNS) 2,476.00p -6.57%
Playtech (PTEC) 760.60p -6.21%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 208.00p -6.05%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 192.45p -5.71%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,678.00p -5.57%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 538.00p -5.20%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 912.60p -4.70%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 231.60p -4.49%