FTSE 250 movers: Unite slumps on update; Close Brothers rallies.


London’s FTSE 250 was 0.1% lower at 21,980.42 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.

Close Brothers

Source: Sharecast

Student accommodation provider Unite Group slumped as it said that 95.2% of beds for the 2025/26 academic year were now sold, down from 97.5% at the same time a year earlier.

Empiric Student Property, which agreed in August to be bought by Unite, also fell sharply.

Quilter racked up strong gains for the second day in a row after RBC Capital Markets said in a note on Tuesday that it could be a potential takeover target for Lloyds.

Close Brothers advanced after the Financial Conduct Authority’s motor finance redress scheme came in lower than expected.

The FCA said late on Tuesday that it expects payouts on 14m finance agreements where there were "widespread failings" in how lenders disclosed commission payments to brokers, to start next year, with customers receiving around an average £700 in compensation per agreement.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, pointed out that this was lower than the previous indicated amount of £950.

IP Group was also in the black after it said that portfolio company Monolith was being bought by Nasdaq-listed CoreWeave. No financial details were disclosed.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Quilter (QLT) 173.50p 5.02%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 1,040.00p 3.79%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 381.60p 3.25%
Energean (ENOG) 860.50p 3.05%
Avon Technologies (AVON) 2,125.00p 2.91%
Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 214.00p 2.88%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 509.00p 2.41%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 383.60p 2.29%
IP Group (IPO) 54.00p 2.27%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,035.00p 2.26%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Unite Group (UTG) 643.50p -8.92%
Empiric Student Property (ESP) 85.00p -5.56%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 67.55p -4.18%
Pinewood Technologies Group (PINE) 403.50p -3.24%
Coats Group (COA) 79.00p -3.07%
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 149.00p -2.23%
Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 671.50p -1.68%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 983.00p -1.60%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 100.00p -1.57%
Target Healthcare Reit Ltd (THRL) 94.20p -1.57%

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