Source: Sharecast
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group surged after announcing a share buyback programme of up to £70m.
The company - which owns Sports Direct, House of Fraser and Jack Wills, among others - has entered into an agreement with Barclays to buy up to 10m ordinary shares. The buyback is expected to be completed on 24 April 2026.
The sole purpose of the share purchases is to reduce the company's share capital, Frasers said.
Ocado and B&M both gained after Jefferies adjusted its ratings on a host of FTSE 100 rival retail stocks, having updated its consumer disposable spend forecasts for 26/27. The bank said the update shows a potential mismatch developing between consensus like-for-like sales and a more muted spending environment.
"This more cautious view prevents us arguing for further multiples expansion at Tesco/Next after their justifiable year-to-date rerating," it said, referring to the supermarket and clothing retailer.
Oxford Biomedica led the FTSE 250 fallers, down 4%.
FTSE 250 - Risers
Frasers Group (FRAS) 676.50p 7.47%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 163.85p 4.46%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 232.70p 3.19%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,232.00p 3.18%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 470.40p 3.07%
Genus (GNS) 2,570.00p 3.01%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 286.20p 2.88%
Kier Group (KIE) 220.00p 2.56%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 3,628.00p 2.54%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 3,840.00p 2.54%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 600.00p -4.15%
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 122.40p -1.92%
Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 268.40p -1.47%
W.A.G Payment Solutions (EWG) 96.80p -1.22%
Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited (BSIF) 66.10p -1.20%
Currys (CURY) 126.20p -1.10%
THG (THG) 45.10p -1.01%
NCC Group (NCC) 137.40p -1.01%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 157.60p -0.88%
Playtech (PTEC) 289.50p -0.86%