LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 250 was higher by 0.26% at 21,008.02 in afternoon trade on Thursday, with shares of Virgin Money UK leading the index higher.

The Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank owner surged even as it said full-year losses had widened and scrapped its dividend.

AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould said: "Expectations were pitched fairly low heading into today's announcement so the company's solid if unspectacular performance across several metrics has been treated with a sigh of relief.

"While the lack of a dividend is disappointing, given that many people invest in banks purely for income, it may also be prudent given that Virgin Money faced a big last minute surge in PPI claims and it also incurred larger than expected restructuring costs during the period."

UK residential landlord Grainger was also in the green after it agreed to forward fund a 132-home private development in London's Canning Town for £55.5m.

Pets at Home rose after analysts at Liberum lifted the stock's price target to 300p from 240p following the pet supplies retailer's interim results earlier in the week.

Payment services company PayPoint climbed after reporting an increase in interim revenue, though profit declined on the back of increased costs.

Down at the other end of the index, Future continued to lead the fallers after the publisher's senior management on trimmed their holdings in the media firm as part of a £44.0m share sale on Wednesday.

Online gaming and sports betting software company Playtech suffered heavy losses on the back of price target cuts from JPMorgan, UBS and Deutsche Bank.

Micro Focus and Bellway were both lower after going ex dividend, while Go-Ahead Group fell after it said the performance of regional bus operations has been "slightly weaker" than expected in recent months.

Marine services company James Fisher dropped after stating it expected full year profits to be "modestly below" expectations but ahead of last year's £56.1m.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,008.02 0.26%


FTSE 250 - Risers

Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 173.60p 21.40%
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 954.00p 4.38%
Grainger (GRI) 293.40p 4.12%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 232.50p 4.03%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 77.35p 3.90%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 257.60p 3.87%
PayPoint (PAY) 1,016.00p 3.36%
UDG Healthcare Public Limited Company (UDG) 835.00p 3.09%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 284.00p 3.09%
Royal Mail (RMG) 217.80p 2.69%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Future (FUTR) 1,358.00p -6.09%
Playtech (PTEC) 375.80p -5.91%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,114.80p -2.93%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 2,216.00p -2.72%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 657.80p -2.55%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 866.60p -2.52%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 612.00p -1.92%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 2,092.00p -1.88%
Bellway (BWY) 3,413.00p -1.78%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,896.00p -1.76%

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