FTSE 250 movers: Computacenter says yes; Rathbones slumps

(Sharecast News) - FTSE 250 22,269.22 -179.05 (-0.80%) Rathbones was also under the cosh after Jefferies initiated coverage of the stock at 'underperform'.

"This is a solid business, but higher growth and operational gearing are available elsewhere in the wealth sector, and we fear traditional discretionary fund managers will be squeezed by advice businesses, platforms and upmarket players," the bank said.

Jefferies said the dividend yield is quite attractive but it does not expect revenues or operating margins to expand much.

Renewable energy firm Drax has signed an agreement with Apatura to acquire three battery energy storage system projects, which will provide capacity totalling 260MW when fully commissioned.

Drax said on Thursday that it will pay a fixed amount of £157.2m in staged payments between 2025 and 2028, reflecting construction milestones and including payments to Apatura linked to their delivery of the projects.

The FTSE 250-listed firm stated completion of the acquisition of the first two projects was expected to occur in 2025, with completion of the third project expected in Q126.

Chief executive Will Gardiner said: "This acquisition is our first investment in short duration storage as part of our FlexGen portfolio, supporting UK energy security and a clean power system.

"As the UK's network increases its reliance on intermittent renewables, more dispatchable and reliable generation will be required to help keep the lights on when the wind isn't blowing or the sun isn't shining."

Computacenter said on Thursday that it was "comfortably ahead" ahead of the prior year's trading following a strong performance in the third quarter.

In an update for the quarter to 30 September, the company said it continued "to execute well".

The group said it maintained strong momentum in North America, driven by continued volume growth with both enterprise and hyperscale customers, while the UK delivered further improvement.

After a more subdued first half, Germany returned to growth in Q3 with indications towards the end of September of the expected recovery in public sector activity in the fourth quarter.

As expected, trading in France remained challenging, largely due to significant political and economic uncertainty.

Technology Sourcing revenue increased strongly in Q3, driven mainly by North America and the UK. Computacenter said revenues in the services segment grew solidly, driven by strong growth in Professional Services, especially in the UK and North America, partly offset by a modest decline in Managed Services.

"Looking to the full year, as usual Q4 is our largest quarter of the year and we remain mindful of the ongoing uncertain geopolitical and macroeconomic backdrop," it said.

"While we also face a tough comparative following a strong finish to 2024, we are encouraged both by our progress year to date and our committed product order backlog, which remains healthy in all geographies. The current backlog is ahead of both the position a year ago and at the end of the first half. As a result, we continue to expect full year adjusted operating profit in FY 2025 to be ahead of the prior year.

"Looking further ahead, the combination of the strength of our integrated Technology Sourcing and Services model and our geographic diversity, gives us continued confidence in our long-term growth prospects."

FTSE 250 - Risers

Computacenter (CCC) 2,856.00p 4.39% Harbour Energy (HBR) 224.80p 3.40% Drax Group (DRX) 746.50p 1.98% Me Group International (MEGP) 187.20p 1.74% Kainos Group (KNOS) 948.00p 1.55% Carnival (CCL) 1,969.50p 1.52% Ithaca Energy (ITH) 210.50p 1.45% Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 371.80p 1.42% Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 673.00p 1.36% Ibstock (IBST) 137.20p 1.03%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited (BSIF) 76.60p -5.78% Rathbones Group (RAT) 1,802.00p -5.56% Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 288.40p -4.19% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 61.70p -4.12% Foresight Solar Fund Limited (FSFL) 77.10p -3.99% Playtech (PTEC) 272.50p -3.88% Ocado Group (OCDO) 222.80p -3.76% Dunelm Group (DNLM) 1,125.00p -3.52% C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 134.20p -3.45% QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 478.60p -3.35%