FTSE 250 movers: Virgin Money UK drops after first-half profit miss

(Sharecast News) - Virgin Money UK was leading the FTSE 250 lower on Thursday after the online banking group missed consensus forecasts with its full-year results, while a host of real estate stocks were weighing on the index after going ex-dividend. Virgin Money UK shares were down nearly 7% after it reported a 42% drop in annual pre-tax profits to £345m, some 20% lower than analysts were estimating, due to worse-than-forecast costs and impairments as well as a £45m unexpected intangible asset write-down on its new mortgage platform.

Analysts at Shore Capital reiterated their 'buy' rating on the stock following the results, due to its weak valuation, but said: "the group's poor track record of meeting expectations means it may struggle to re-rate in the near-term without a change of leadership."

Real estate groups 3i Infrastructure, HICL Infrastructure, Urban Logistics Reit and British Land were also providing a drag on the FTSE 250 after trading without the entitlement to its next dividend payment, along with fund manager Liontrust Asset Management.

Travel stocks TUI and Carnival were also in the red, pulling back after surging the previous session on the back of falling oil prices.

On the up was consumer goods giant PZ Cussons after reporting that its trading performance remained consistent with the outlook provided at its full-year results in September. The company said it expected to report low-single-digit like-for-like revenue growth for the first half of the 2024 financial year, helped by a strong performance in the Nigeria, Australia and New Zealand.

Real estate group LondonMetric Property was higher after it raised its interim dividend following a solid first half in which it swung to a profit on the back of a revaluation of its portfolio, while transport operator FirstGroup fell after swinging to a loss in the first half as it was hit by pension charges.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 89.80p 5.65% Ithaca Energy (ITH) 159.90p 4.37% CAB Payments Holdings (CABP) 64.10p 3.39% PZ Cussons (PZC) 142.40p 3.19% International Distributions Services (IDS) 253.70p 3.00% Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 3,510.00p 2.93% Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 72.30p 2.70% North Atlantic Smaller Companies Inv Trust (NAS) 3,970.00p 2.58% Genus (GNS) 2,108.00p 2.33% CLS Holdings (CLI) 100.00p 2.04%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 146.25p -6.85% Carnival (CCL) 991.40p -4.58% British Land Company (BLND) 348.00p -3.92% Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) 571.50p -3.14% 3i Infrastructure (3IN) 324.50p -3.13% Urban Logistics Reit (SHED) 118.60p -3.10% HICL Infrastructure (HICL) 133.40p -2.77% Ninety One (N91) 175.50p -2.66% easyJet (EZJ) 410.80p -2.65% TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 487.80p -2.63%