FTSE 250 movers: Investors greet Moonpig; Miners out of favour

(Sharecast News) - FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,626.83 0.63%

Online greeting cards and gift retailer Moonpig surged as it said it was on track to deliver its FY26 guidance as group trading momentum has continued through the start of the year, in line with expectations.

In a trading statement ahead of its annual general meeting, the online greeting cards and gift retailer said it continues to deliver consistent revenue growth at about 10% year-on-year.

Greetz trading has improved sequentially, it said, with revenue now showing modest year-on-year growth on both a reported and constant currency basis.

The company, which operates in the UK and the Netherlands, said growth in orders is underpinned by the continued expansion of its active customer base.

"Customers are increasingly embracing our innovative personalisation features to express themselves, with adoption continuing to rise - around 50% of all cards now including options such as AI-generated stickers, audio or video messages, or personalised handwriting," it said.

Moonpig and Greetz Plus subscriptions have now exceeded one million members, with numbers continuing to grow each month, it said.

For FY26, the company continues to expect group adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to grow at a mid-single digit percentage rate and growth in adjusted earnings per share at between 8% and 12%.

Moonpig said strong free cash flow generation is expected to fund both ongoing investment in its growth strategy and returns to shareholders. Medium-term targets were unchanged.

Chief executive Nickyl Raithatha said: "We have had a good start to the year, demonstrating the continuing power of the Moonpig proposition. With strong growth in the Moonpig brand and a return to year on year growth for Greetz, we are on track to deliver our FY26 guidance.

"We continue to use technology, AI and data to enable our customers to connect with their loved ones in new and creative ways. AI generated Stickers have quickly become our most widely adopted innovation, with customers now creating two million personalised images every month, demonstrating the resonance of our proposition and the scalability of our technology platform."

PRS Reit pushed higher as it agreed non-binding heads of terms to sell its main operating subsidiary, which holds its entire property portfolio, to a vehicle backed by Waypoint Asset Management in a deal expected to deliver about £633m in net proceeds to shareholders.

The FTSE 250 real estate investment trust said the proposed sale of PRS REIT Holding Company Limited to a Waypoint-advised fund would be for cash consideration of around £646.2m, with proceeds net of costs and tax estimated at £633.2m.

Shareholders would also be entitled to receive a dividend of up to 1.1p per share for the first quarter of the 2026 financial year, payable in November, without any reduction in the sale consideration.

The transaction remained subject to confirmatory due diligence by Waypoint, the signing of a sale and purchase agreement, and shareholder approval by special resolution at a general meeting.

PRS said the parties aimed to complete by 30 November, after which the board intended to seek shareholder approval to place the company into voluntary liquidation and return its net assets to investors.

The company said it had engaged with several potential bidders during its ongoing strategic review and formal sale process but had not received any superior written proposals, or any equivalent offers that were not conditional on securing further funding.

Its board said it believed the Waypoint deal "provides the greatest certainty and cash return to shareholders of any of the proposals received".

Waypoint is a London-based real estate investment and asset management firm overseeing more than £3bn of assets for UK pension schemes, institutional investors and other clients.

The capital for the deal would be provided by a co-mingled discretionary fund managed by Waypoint whose investors include leading UK local government pension funds.

Housebuilders Vistry and Crest Nicholson gained after FTSE 100 peer Barratt Redrow delivered annual profits ahead of forecasts despite completions missing its initial guidance range.

Miners were out of favour on the back of weaker oil and precious metals prices, with Diversified Energy, Energean, Hochschild and Harbour Energy all lower.