FTSE 250 movers: Provident Financial stands out; Ted Baker drops on results

London's FTSE 250 was down 1.6% to 19,354.93 in afternoon trade on Thursday, mirroring broader losses in the market following the latest policy announcement from the Bank of England and amid growing worries about a US trade war.

Doorstep lender Provident Financial - which has issued several profit warnings, cut its dividend and seen its CEO depart - was the standout gainer as its rights issue shares started trading on the LSE.

IG Group rallied as it said trading revenues surged 30% in a record quarter for the online broker thanks to a high level of client activity. Net trading revenue of £152.9m was swelled by 35% growth in UK over-the-counter leveraged trading, 25% from Europe, Middle East and Africa and 29% from the Asia Pacific region.

On the downside, fashion retailer Ted Baker slid after it reported a 12% jump in full-year pre-tax profit as revenue grew but warned that "external" trading conditions will remain challenging.

In the year to 27 January 2018, pre-tax profit rose to £68.8m from £61.3m on revenue of £591.7m, up 11% from the previous year despite a challenging backdrop. However, the group also said recent unseasonal weather across Europea and the East Coast of the US had affected the early part of its spring/summer and that it expects external trading conditions to remain challenging across many of its global markets.

Ferrexo was trading down as Citi maintained its 'sell' rating on the stock. "Citi's house view remains for lower medium term iron ore prices and pellet premiums versus current levels, against which it'll be extremely hard for the share price to maintain its strength," the bank said.

Metro Bank was on the back foot as Berenberg maintained its 'sell' rating on the stock.

"We believe the bank will continue to disappoint on profitability, such that growth must be supported by additional capital, diluting returns to existing shareholders," it said.

Centamin and Meggitt were in the red as their stock went ex-dividend.

Risers

Provident Financial (PFG) 676.00p 3.51%
888 Holdings (888) 278.40p 3.11%
Softcat (SCT) 607.00p 3.06%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 838.58p 2.58%
Ladbrokes Coral Group (LCL) 176.65p 1.96%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 354.30p 1.87%
Rank Group (RNK) 218.50p 1.86%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 514.80p 1.70%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 254.00p 1.60%
Intu Properties (INTU) 209.80p 1.50%

Fallers

Ted Baker (TED) 2,686.00p -8.51%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 288.00p -5.45%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 147.80p -5.26%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 877.60p -4.84%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 709.20p -4.68%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 564.00p -4.41%
Bellway (BWY) 3,006.00p -4.30%
Meggitt (MGGT) 424.70p -4.22%
Metro Bank (MTRO) 3,762.00p -3.74%
Fidelity European Values (FEV) 207.00p -3.72%