FTSE 250 movers: Cineworld rallies; Assura slides after placing

London’s FTSE 250 was up 6.7% at 15,801.68 in afternoon trade on Tuesday.

Cineworld was the standout riser as the company deferred dividends and directors' pay to conserve cash after closing all its cinemas during the Covid-19 crisis. The international cinema chain suspended payment of the 2019 fourth quarter dividend of 4.25 cents a share and upcoming 2020 payouts.

After being forced to close all 787 cinemas in 10 countries, Cineworld's executive and non-executive directors agreed to defer their pay until there is greater clarity about the effects of the crisis.

Shares of Cineworld have fallen sharply in the last few weeks amid concerns about the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Shopping centre owner Hammerson was also in the green, along with Virgin Money and doorstep lender Provident Financial.

Going the other way, Assura slid after saying it had raised around £185m in a placing to fund the development and acquisition of a pipeline that will deliver future GP surgery, primary care and community healthcare buildings for the NHS.

The healthcare property developer placed just over 240m new ordinary shares at 77p each. The placing represents a discount of approximately 7.8% to the closing share price on Monday.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Cineworld Group (CINE) 57.98p 46.38%
Hammerson (HMSO) 77.00p 34.71%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 76.82p 25.73%
Provident Financial (PFG) 190.60p 24.98%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 929.80p 19.17%
Vistry Group (VTY) 707.50p 18.11%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 222.40p 17.36%
National Express Group (NEX) 234.80p 16.82%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 211.00p 16.45%
Ascential (ASCL) 205.40p 16.37%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Assura (AGR) 76.90p -7.90%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 126.00p -4.40%
Avast (AVST) 390.00p -2.26%
Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 179.80p -2.02%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 85.55p -1.78%
Gamesys Group (GYS) 796.00p -1.73%
Cranswick (CWK) 3,644.00p -0.98%
Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 76.00p -0.52%
Rank Group (RNK) 134.40p -0.44%
Genus (GNS) 3,114.00p -0.32%