FTSE 250 movers: ITV hit by MS downgrade; Plus500 on the rise

(Sharecast News) - FTSE 250: 19,460.44, -0.10% at 1433. ITV was the worst performer on the FTSE 250 after Morgan Stanley cut its price target on shares of the broadcaster.

IT infrastructure and services provider Softcat was under the cosh on Tuesday after UBS downgraded the shares to 'sell' from 'neutral' and cut the price target to 1,070p from 1,220p.

UBS said the UK's weaker economic outlook within Europe and its high SME exposure present enhanced insolvency risks and while the shares fell 34% in 2022 the European reseller peer group fell 37% in GBP terms, so it has not underperformed.

"Softcat also faces a higher cost base due to the return of T&E expenses and higher personnel costs," it said.

"With services representing only 13% of gross invoiced income (GII), we see additional long-term risks to margins from the shift to the cloud and the rise of cloud-based marketplaces where customers can directly procure software.

"The combination of the macro uncertainty, high SME exposure with continued pressure on margins provides an unattractive risk/reward in our view, and we see risks of guidance cuts."

Games Workshop Group reported a rise in revenue in its first-half on Tuesday, although its licensing revenue and profit fell.

The FTSE 250 maker of miniature wargames said revenue for the 26 weeks to 27 November totalled £226.6m, up from £211.6m year-on-year.

Of that, core revenue improved to £212.3m from £191.5m, although licensing revenue fell to £14.3m from £20.1m.

It recorded an operating profit of £83.6m, down from £88.5m, while its profit before tax slipped to £83.6m from £88.2m.

Its net increase in cash, before dividends paid, was £68.1m, rising from £41.4m in the year-before period.

Games Workshop said earnings per share fell to 202.4p from 217.2p, while it declared a dividend of 165p per share in the period, up from 100p.

"Games Workshop and the Warhammer hobby are in great shape," said chief executive officer Kevin Rountree.

"Another rewarding and successful period for the global team with core sales for the six months of over £200m for the first time.

"We will continue to focus on making the best miniatures in the world, sign new licensing contracts with partners to exploit our intellectual property outside of our core business and support our staff."

Fintech group Plus500 said on Tuesday that it had delivered "an excellent operational and financial performance" during 2022, in line with market expectations.

Plus500 stated full-year group revenues grew to approximately $832.0m, up from $718.7m in 2021, supported by |a strong level of customer income" at roughly $639.0m The group's customer trading performance was about $193.0m, with Plus500 continuing to expect the unit's contribution to be broadly neutral over time.

The strong revenue performance, together with the group's "efficient and flexible cost base", contributed to "strong growth" in underlying earnings from $387.1m to approximately $454.m. Basic earnings per share for 2022 were expected to be about $3.80, up from $3.06 a year earlier.

Plus500 said its solid performance was achieved despite lower levels of activity across financial markets towards the end of the year, fundamentally driven by its "proven business model", as well as its "market-leading proprietary technology" and its ongoing ability to attract and retain higher value, long term customers.

Chief executive David Zruia said: "2022 was another excellent year for Plus500, providing further clear evidence of our continued successful execution against our strategic roadmap and key operational objectives. The group's strategic, operational and financial traction continues to be primarily driven by the power of our market-leading proprietary technology and our ongoing ability to attract and retain higher-value customers over the long term.

"We continue to diversify and develop our business as a global multi-asset fintech group, supported by ongoing growth investments in a number of areas, ensuring Plus500 remains well-positioned to deliver sustainable growth over the medium to long-term."

FTSE 250 - Risers

Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 1,777.00p 3.86% Savills (SVS) 834.00p 2.70% Harbour Energy (HBR) 315.00p 2.54% SSP Group (SSPG) 246.00p 2.50% Drax Group (DRX) 646.50p 2.45% Essentra (ESNT) 217.50p 2.35% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,602.00p 2.35% Indivior (INDV) 1,937.00p 2.32% BBGI Global Infrastructure S.A. NPV (DI) (BBGI) 159.00p 2.05% Darktrace (DARK) 290.00p 2.04%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

ITV (ITV) 75.80p -6.87% Pagegroup (PAGE) 442.60p -6.29% International Distributions Services (IDS) 220.30p -5.94% Hays (HAS) 113.90p -5.85% Clarkson (CKN) 2,985.00p -5.81% Games Workshop Group (GAW) 8,715.00p -4.49% Moonpig Group (MOON) 118.50p -3.81% Synthomer (SYNT) 150.70p -3.52% Softcat (SCT) 1,200.00p -3.46% Molten Ventures (GROW) 382.40p -3.19%