FTSE 250 movers: Helios Towers surges on results; Clarksons slips

(Sharecast News) - FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,955.56 0.54% Helios Towers raised its 2026 guidance after a strong first quarter on Thursday, as tenancy growth drove double-digit increases in revenue and adjusted EBITDA.

The FTSE 250 mobile tower company said revenue rose 12% to $229.2m in the three months ended 31 March, from $203.8m a year earlier.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 14% to $127.2m from $111.1m, while the adjusted EBITDA margin improved by one percentage point to 56%, supported by tenancy ratio expansion.

Shares were further boosted after analysts at Berenberg hiked their target price on the stock to 275p from 230p.

Berenberg said Helios had delivered "outstanding tenancy additions", which drove a material adjusted underlying earnings beat in the quarter, and also noted that it had made "a significant upgrade" to its full year expectations for tenancy additions, adjusted EBITDA and recurring free cash flow, as well as a requisite increase in discretionary capex.

"We upgrade our FY26, FY27 and FY28 forecasts for recurring free cash flow by 7%, 4% and 5% respectively," said Berenberg.

Clarksons said on Thursday it had an "excellent start" to 2026, helped by good market fundamentals and increasing demand for industry expertise despite geopolitical uncertainty.

The company, which provides maritime consultancy and shipping services, said it was mindful that the situation in the Middle East is constantly evolving and could impact trading dynamics, but it the current momentum has "enhanced the board's confidence in its expectations for the year".

"Our recent acquisitions of Link, Serpac and Zuma highlight our continued focus on expanding and enhancing the business and we remain well positioned to take advantage of further opportunities in a trading environment that continues to support growth," the firm said.

While the Middle East conflict has increased "complexity" across the global shipping industry, it has pushed up rates in certain areas of each of Clarksons' businesses.

AG Barr and Ibstock were in the red as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.

Pan African Resources, Hochschild and Endeavour Mining were all up on higher gold prices.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Helios Towers (HTWS) 239.00p 17.72% TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 4,794.00p 6.44% Pan African Resources (PAF) 157.00p 5.74% Johnson Service Group (JSG) 138.25p 5.11% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 4,915.00p 5.07% Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 118.90p 4.75% Pagegroup (PAGE) 140.30p 4.62% Hochschild Mining (HOC) 670.00p 4.49% Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 333.00p 4.40% Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 721.75p 4.23%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Ibstock (IBST) 102.90p -2.48% Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 618.00p -2.44% Ocado Group (OCDO) 196.75p -2.36% Supermarket Income Reit (SUPR) 82.80p -2.13% Elementis (ELM) 144.00p -1.64% B&M European Value Retail (BME) 171.50p -1.61% Grainger (GRI) 162.10p -1.58% Inchcape (INCH) 827.20p -1.50% Clarkson (CKN) 4,890.00p -1.45% QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 441.30p -1.39%