FTSE 250 movers: Acacia Gold shines, Funding Circle falters

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 250 was up 0.35% at 19,604.19 in afternoon trade on Friday, with Acacia Gold leading the index higher.
The gold miner's shares surged as it agreed to be bought by Barrick Gold in a deal that values the UK gold miner at about £951m and concludes two months of fractious talks between the companies.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "The protracted saga over Barrick Gold's takeover of Acacia Mining seems to have come to an end today.

"As a majority shareholder Barrick was in a strong bargaining position so Acacia has done well to squeeze a bit more out of its suitor. Investors may be relieved too given the difficulties

"Acacia has encountered of late with the authorities in Tanzania, problems which it is hoped this transaction will go some way to solving."

Miners were on the rise due to a jump in copper prices, with Kaz Minerals racking up strong gains.

Aston Martin Lagonda was also a high riser as its biggest shareholder, Strategic European Investment Group, offered to buy a further 3% stake in the car maker.

Dunelm rose after its chief executive and chief financial officer snapped up some shares in the retailer, while SSP inched higher after stating that its third quarter revenue rose 9.2% on a constant currency basis.

Funding Circle led the fallers at the other end of the index, while merchant bank Close Brothers was close behind as it said it delivered lower trading volumes in its securities arm amid "mixed" trading conditions.

Analysts from Shore Capital said: "Overall the group is said to have delivered a 'solid performance' despite 'mixed trading conditions'.

"However, the general tone of the statement read cautiously and, consequently, we trim our profit forecasts by 1-2%, with a slightly larger downgrade anticipated to consensus, which appears to have been a little slower to respond to the disappointing Q3 update published in May."

Moneysupermarket slipped lower a day after reporting a slowdown in sales growth, with analysts at Berenberg stating that they expect the deceleration in growth to continue due to a challenging outlook and even tougher comparatives in the second half of the year.

Finally, Ted Baker dipped after being initiated at 'equalweight' by analysts at Morgan Stanley, who raised concerns over the resignation of founder Ray Kelvin in March along with a lack of potential positive catalysts.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,604.19 0.35%


FTSE 250 - Risers

Acacia Mining (ACA) 222.80p 19.40%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 579.20p 6.08%
Marston's (MARS) 125.31p 3.05%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 992.19p 3.03%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 629.30p 3.00%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 16.33p 2.91%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 441.40p 2.89%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 211.00p 2.83%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 914.00p 2.52%
SSP Group (SSPG) 698.00p 2.50%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Funding Circle Holdings (FCH) 118.60p -4.20%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 1,393.00p -4.00%
Amigo Holdings (AMGO) 166.12p -2.85%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 360.30p -2.36%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 106.50p -2.29%
Ted Baker (TED) 825.00p -1.96%
Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 1,151.00p -1.79%
IP Group (IPO) 68.75p -1.78%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 247.30p -1.51%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 273.60p -1.51%