FTSE 250 movers: Pets at Home, Inchcape retreat after updates

London’s FTSE 250 was up 0.5% at 16,446.41 in afternoon trade on Thursday.

Pets at Home fell as it said full-year revenue topped £1bn for the first time but warned that first-half pre-tax profit will take a hit from the coronavirus.

In the year to 26 March 2020, total revenue rose 10.2% to £1.06bn, with group like-for-like revenue growth of 9%. Underlying pre-tax profit was up 11% to £99.5m on a pre-IFRS16 basis.

However, the company cautioned over its first half as the coronavirus lockdown is set to take its toll.

Elsewhere, car dealership Inchcape was in the red as it posted a 32% decline in revenue for the four months to the end of April and a 76% slump in like-for-like revenues in April, mainly due to Covid-19 disruption.

Underwriter Sabre Insurance lost ground as it warned that premium volumes continued to be "extremely volatile" amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sabre said premiums were down 5% year-on-year at £43.7m over the twelve months ended 31 March as a result of the initial impact of Covid-19, while new business quotes were down 25% since the coronavirus lockdowns began in late-March.

FTSE 250 - Risers

BMO Commercial Property Trust Limited (BCPT) 67.30p 9.43%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 60.85p 7.04%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 452.40p 6.95%
Rank Group (RNK) 138.80p 6.77%
Future (FUTR) 1,084.00p 6.48%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 247.50p 6.22%
William Hill (WMH) 133.80p 6.19%
Biffa (BIFF) 224.50p 5.90%
Ascential (ASCL) 271.80p 5.68%
McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 67.40p 5.64%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Pets at Home Group (PETS) 208.60p -9.23%
Inchcape (INCH) 465.40p -6.09%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 207.00p -4.61%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 36.84p -4.41%
Great Portland Estates (GPOR) 611.00p -3.14%
Avast (AVST) 484.80p -3.14%
Countryside Properties (CSP) 279.80p -2.98%
Aggreko (AGK) 466.60p -2.91%
IWG (IWG) 214.80p -2.89%
Sabre Insurance Group (SBRE) 272.00p -2.68%