FTSE 250 movers: WH Smith tanks; Tritax Big Box jumps

(Sharecast News) - FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,945.78 0.47% WH Smith cut profits guidance for the second time this year on Wednesday, sending shares in the retailer tumbling, as war in the Middle East curtailed travel and weighed on consumer demand.

Updating on trading in the 14 weeks to 5 June, the British retailer - which has around 1,300 shops in airports, rail stations, hospitals and resorts worldwide - saw global sales rise 2% on a like-for-like basis.

Weighing on the figure were British airport sales, which eased 1%, and ongoing issues in its troubled North America division, where a 9% slide in resorts saw overall like-for-like sales in the region weaken 1%.

WH Smith sold its high street division last year to Hobbycraft-owner Modella Capital to refocus exclusively on its travel business.

However, it then emerged that accounting errors in its US arm had gone on for years, prompting chief executive Carl Cowling to quit and forcing the retailer to restate earnings. War in the Middle East has also dampened international travel, with airlines cutting capacity, reignited inflationary pressures and rocked consumer confidence.

Shares in Tritax Big Box jumped on Wednesday after the government approved planning permission for its data centre outside London after months of delays.

Tritax in 2025 applied for planning permission to build the 147MW center campus at the 74-acre Manor Farm, a part-greenfield and part-brownfield site, near Heathrow airport.

However, the local authority argued that the proposal should be rejected because of the parcel's 'green belt' designation which protects it from certain kinds of development.

The matter was then taken up by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government, Steve Reed, who said the project carried significant advantages for the government's industrial strategy. Shares in the company jumped 3.6% in a falling market.

Clean energy technology firm Ceres Power said on Wednesday that it had raised £103m through a non‑pre‑emptive share placing and retail offer.

Ceres Power placed 17.79m new shares with institutional investors at 570p each, raising around £101m, with the offer price representing a 6.5% discount to Monday's 609.5p closing price.

The FTSE 250-listed firm stated a further 180,000 shares were taken up by retail investors via the RetailBook platform, while directors subscribed for 31,051 shares.

In total, 18m new shares will be issued, equivalent to 9.2% of the company's existing share capital. Admission of the new shares to the London Stock Exchange was expected to take place on 12 June. Following admission, Ceres will have 213.79m shares in issue.

Pennon said on Wednesday that it swung to a full-year profit, as it conceded that it needs to "rebuild trust" following a parasitic outbreak in Devon.

In the year to the end of March, the South West Water owner swung to a statutory pre-tax profit of £114m from a loss of £72.7m the year before. The underlying pre-tax profit was £135.1m, versus a loss of £35.1m a year earlier.

Revenue rose to £1.3bn from £1.0bn and underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation grew 55% to £519.2m.

Pennon said water revenue rose by 24.6%, mainly driven by the benefit of increased regulatory allowances and higher consumption. "This uplift reflects revised tariff structures and enhanced service obligations under the regulatory framework, supporting our long-term investment and service delivery plans," it said.

FTSE 250 - Risers

FirstGroup (FGP) 170.50p 4.76% Grainger (GRI) 166.40p 4.45% Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 646.00p 4.03% Tritax Big Box Reit (BBOX) 149.40p 3.96% Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,888.00p 3.22% Keller Group (KLR) 2,526.00p 2.93% C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 97.30p 2.75% Energean (ENOG) 738.50p 2.71% Harbour Energy (HBR) 263.40p 2.57% Hammerson (HMSO) 336.20p 2.43%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

WH Smith (SMWH) 409.80p -16.09% Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 849.00p -10.47% Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 566.50p -5.25% Pennon Group (PNN) 491.00p -3.05% Pan African Resources (PAF) 101.50p -3.05% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 989.50p -2.98% Applied Nutrition (APN) 281.75p -2.51% SSP Group (SSPG) 162.60p -2.22% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 3,721.00p -2.13% Pacific Horizon Inv Trust (PHI) 1,070.00p -2.01%