FTSE 250 movers: Sabre climbs, Sirius drops

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 250 was 0.13% higher at 20,065.98 in afternoon trade on Wednesday, with Sabre Insurance leading the index upward.
Miniature war game manufacturer Games Workshop climbed after it reported trading in line with the expectations and declared a dividend of 35p a share.

Analysts at Peel Hunt said: "There is a lot of positive momentum in the business, with increases in the number of trade accounts and hobby stores, new product launches and developments in live action and animation. The company is increasing the level of engagement with hobbyists and adding to both production and distribution capacity."

Wizz Air climbed for a second successive session as fears that higher oil prices could impact on margins continued to alleviate as prices receded.

Down at the other end of the index, Sirius Minerals kept its place as the top faller as analysts from Liberum slashed the stock's price target to 9p from 40p a day after the company pulled a $500m bond sale that was crucial to unlocking a vital $2.5bn credit facility from JPMorgan.

"Clearly the risks have increased, but there are also plausible solutions that could deliver a 40-50p net present value/share (down from 68p) and which we believe look highly attractive to potential strategic investors," said analysts.

Premier Oil, Weir Group, Petrofac and Hunting were all lower as oil prices continued to diminish from the highs reached on Monday.

Weir Group was also hampered after analysts at JPMorgan Cazenove downgraded the stock to 'neutral' from 'overweight', cutting the price target to 1,500p from 1,650p as they said oil & gas challenges were set to persist.

Finally, Mediclinic International edged lower on the back of a downgrade from 'hold' to 'reduce' by analysts at HSBC.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,065.98 0.13%


FTSE 250 - Risers

Sabre Insurance Group (SBRE) 287.00p 3.42%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 3,528.00p 3.19%
Playtech (PTEC) 440.00p 3.04%
Sanne Group (SNN) 559.00p 2.95%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 214.00p 2.88%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 129.25p 2.82%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 4,806.00p 2.82%
Quilter (QLT) 140.95p 2.70%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 1,548.00p 2.65%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 450.50p 2.57%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Sirius Minerals (SXX) 4.36p -6.47%
Premier Oil (PMO) 85.76p -4.94%
CYBG (CYBG) 119.85p -3.70%
AJ Bell (AJB) 400.50p -3.38%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,509.00p -3.24%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 428.47p -2.75%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,365.50p -2.39%
Hunting (HTG) 495.80p -2.21%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 351.90p -2.14%
Amigo Holdings (AMGO) 73.20p -2.14%