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(Sharecast News) - FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,749.55 -0.19%
Drax surged after saying it had signed an agreement to develop a strategic partnership with Brookfield and Radiant, Brookfield's UK-headquartered AI infrastructure platform, to jointly develop, deliver and operate an AI data centre on its power station estate in the north of England.
Drax and Brookfield said they were targeting the development of more than one gigawatt of data centre capacity on the power station estate, with an initial phase of up to 100 megawatts expected to be operational from the first quarter of 2028, subject to planning, regulatory approvals and securing a tenant.
Brookfield said Phase 1 alone could attract around £2.5bn of investment, with the project set to leverage Drax Power Station's four gigawatts of grid access and 2.6 gigawatts of dispatchable generation capacity, positioning the site to capitalise on growing demand for AI and high-performance computing infrastructure.
Under the agreement, Radiant will lead data centre design, customer engagement and commercialisation, while Drax will oversee land, planning and power integration.
A planning application for the first phase was being prepared, with a public consultation expected to begin later in November.
Beyond the initial development, the partners aim to add a further 500 megawatts of capacity between 2028 and 2031 and explore additional expansion after 2031.
Drax said future phases could utilise a "behind-the-meter" power model, supplying electricity directly from the power station under long-term power purchase agreements.
Shares in International Workplace Group rallied after the Regus-owner posted a jump in third-quarter earnings and struck a confident tone for the rest of the year.
The flexible workspace provider, which has a portfolio of managed, franchised and company-owned offices, said system-wide revenues rose 12% in the three months to September end to $1.26bn, while group revenues improved 9% to $1.03bn.
In company-owned properties, revenue per available room was 2% higher at $388, while fee revenues in the managed and franchised division spiked 28% to $45m.
Christian Schmitz, chief executive, said IWG was benefiting from the ongoing popularity of flexible working as well as wider macroeconomic uncertainty, which had seen nervous clients opting for temporary rather than permanent office space.
He continued: "We have reached two significant milestones: our global network now exceeds 5,000 centres and quarterly system-wide revenue has reached $1.26bn, representing over $5bn on an annualised run-rate basis."
Looking ahead to the rest of the year, IWG left its guidance unchanged but tightened its forecast range. It now expects adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to be in the range of $585m and $625m, "with the expectation to trade above current consensus of $599m". It also pointed to company-owned revenue growth of at least 4%, and recurring managed fee revenue of $80m.
FTSE 250 - Risers
International Workplace Group (IWG) 212.20p 7.45%
Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 275.60p 6.04%
Rank Group (RNK) 91.00p 4.94%
Drax Group (DRX) 851.00p 4.70%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 4,678.00p 3.31%
Coats Group (COA) 87.40p 2.40%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 2.34p 2.26%
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 217.20p 2.25%
Rosebank Industries NPV (ROSE) 325.50p 2.03%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 496.20p 1.97%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 401.40p -5.29%
THG (THG) 39.66p -5.29%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 1,026.00p -4.82%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 321.40p -4.05%
Young & Co's Brewery 'A' Shares (YNGA) 1,156.00p -3.66%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 320.00p -2.87%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 3,605.00p -2.76%
B&M European Value Retail (BME) 275.60p -2.75%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 287.60p -2.44%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,262.00p -2.32%
