Wickes jumps up to FTSE 250 as National Express owner axed
Wickes is set to be promoted to the FTSE 250 amid a reshuffle by the London Stock Exchange, while firms such as Mobico, the owner of National Express, and Ferrexpo are expected to be relegated.
Wickes has entered the index after its stock price has soared 35 per cent in the last three months, launching a £20m share buyback programme and seeing a recovery in big ticket sales.
Gamma Communications will also join the FTSE 250 after moving over to the main market from the London Stock Exchange’s junior AIM market.
Shares in the UK-based business call services provider have actually fallen nine per cent over the last three months.
Two investment trusts are also set to be promoted to the FTSE 250: Ashoka India Equity Investment Trust and Pantheon Infrastructure, which have both seen their share prices jump 10 per cent over the last three months.
Changes will come into effect after market close on 20 June.
FTSE 250 eliminations
The four movements into the FTSE 250 have pushed down Ferrexpo, Mobico and Bellevue Healthcare Trust into the FTSE Smallcap index.
Mobico now sits more than 100 places below the cut-off for the FTSE 250.
The operator announced plans to sell its North American school bus business in April for less than had been expected, sending shares cratering.
Meanwhile, Bellevue Healthcare Trust has been hit with investor withdrawals, as over a third of its shareholders said last year that they wanted to pull their cash from the fund, shrinking the size of the trust and pushing it into the FTSE Smallcap.
Embattled mining firm Ferrexpo was also eliminated from the index after struggling through legal fights and problems around its Ukrainian subsidiary.
No changes were made to the FTSE 100.
Deutsche Numis analyst Ewan Lovett-Turner argued that the most significant changes will come from the range companies entering the FTSE Smallcap index that had not been included in any index, such as the addition of Rockwood Strategic investment trust.
“It is difficult to know the precise impact, but we typically expect buying in the region of eight to 10 per cent of share capital over time, although timing of buying varies with some market participants try to trade based on potential changes, others when announced or effective, whilst others may take time for smaller positions,” he said.
Lovett-Turner explained that there was generally less money tracking the FTSE 250, leaving movement between it “generally less significant,” though being part of the index tends to put companies on the radar of more investors.