FTSE 250 movers: Firstgroup rallies on results; Hochschild loses its shine

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 250 closed up 0.5% at 21,389.46 on Tuesday.

FirstGroup racked up strong gains as the train and bus operator announced a new £50m buyback and said the outlook for the current year remains in line with expectations, though rail results will be lower due to South Western Railway (SWR) transferring into public ownership.

Bellway rallied as it said trading had been "robust" through the spring selling season and lifted its full-year outlook for completion volumes and average prices. Fellow housebuilder Vistry also advanced.

Aberdeen was among the risers as JPMorgan Cazenove upgraded the stock to 'overweight' from 'neutral' and placed shares of the asset manager on 'positive catalyst watch' ahead of results.

The bank said its analysis suggests that flows in the Adviser vector might soon turn positive thanks to a new competitive pricing structure and improving customer satisfaction.

"Furthermore, we expect that the strong momentum recorded by interactive investor (ii) in recent quarters will accelerate further, and that the platform will continue to win market share thanks to its best-in-class pricing and compelling offering," JPM said.

On the downside, Hochschild Mining tumbled as it said it expects a "significant reduction" to output guidance at its Mara Rosa gold mine in Brazil due to a processing shutdown caused by heavier-than-usual seasonal rainfall over the past few months and "contractor performance issues".

FTSE 250 - Risers

FirstGroup (FGP) 217.20p 12.07% Vistry Group (VTY) 654.00p 9.40% Bellway (BWY) 2,884.00p 7.85% Close Brothers Group (CBG) 360.00p 7.46% Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 667.00p 6.89% Abrdn (ABDN) 195.70p 6.36% ITV (ITV) 80.85p 5.96% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 87.20p 5.95% SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 47.60p 4.85% Dr. Martens (DOCS) 81.05p 4.65%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 232.20p -22.91% QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 513.00p -6.73% Just Group (JUST) 144.60p -4.99% B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 265.70p -4.08% Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 3,372.00p -2.99% Lion Finance Group (BGEO) 6,740.00p -2.95% Senior (SNR) 168.80p -2.65% Chemring Group (CHG) 562.00p -2.60% Renishaw (RSW) 2,735.00p -2.51% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 2,222.00p -2.37%