FTSE 250 movers: Domino's rallies on buyback; Metro hit by Macquarie note
London's FTSE 250 was up 0.1% to 19,554.71 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
Shares in Domino's Pizza were looking tasty after the company announced a £15m share buyback to be completed by mid-October.
Restaurant Group and Cineworld were on the front foot after the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics showed a spike higher on the back of inflationary pressures and increased sales volumes in August.
Retail sales volumes increased 1% month-on-month in August, much higher than the 0.2% consensus forecast and an improvement on the 0.7% revised figure from a month earlier.
Compared to last year, retail sales were 2.8% higher versus expectation of a 1.4% rise and up from 1.7% in the prior month, the Office for National Statistics said.
Going the other way, Metro Bank was under the cosh as Macquarie cautioned that its rapid growth and margins will begin to decline as it expands into "less wealthy" London suburbs. Macquarie initiated coverage of the stock at 'underperform' and said targets of achieving 14% return on equity by the end of the 2020 financial year through 40% loan growth and lifting net interest margins from 230 basis points to 300bp, "seems optimistic".
Specialist insurer Lancashire Holdings was on the back foot, with traders pointing to the fallout from the earthquake in Mexico.
Risers
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 291.40p 5.93%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 301.80p 3.11%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 637.00p 2.82%
Provident Financial (PFG) 757.00p 2.78%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 257.00p 2.76%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,116.00p 2.67%
Card Factory (CARD) 348.00p 2.35%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 371.90p 2.20%
Aggreko (AGK) 890.50p 2.12%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 638.00p 2.00%
Fallers
Metro Bank (MTRO) 3,343.00p -4.16%
Balfour Beatty (BBY) 257.20p -2.21%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 638.50p -2.15%
Softcat (SCT) 399.00p -1.99%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 290.30p -1.96%
CYBG (CYBG) 293.30p -1.91%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 386.10p -1.86%
Just Group (JUST) 150.60p -1.76%
Rotork (ROR) 253.10p -1.71%
Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 390.20p -1.54%