FTSE 250 movers: Drax powers ahead after results; Computacenter falls

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 250 was 2% higher at 21,320.40 in afternoon trade on Friday. Drax rallied after saying that full-year adjusted EBITDA was set to be at the "top end" of analysts' consensus estimates of £881m to £996m following a strong performance in the first half.

Babcock International gained after it posted a jump in full-year profit as it continued to be boosted by a "sustained uplift" in global defence budgets, with a strong performance in Nuclear, Land and Aviation.

In the 12 months to the end of March, underlying operating profit rose 34% from a year earlier to £238m, with revenue nudging down to £4.39bn from £4.44bn.

Babcock said the contract backlog grew 9% to £10.3bn, driven by Nuclear and Marine.

Computacenter lost ground as it said it was expecting to report a decline in first-half profit due to the delay of the fulfilment of some orders in North America, but also announced a £200m share buyback programme.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Drax Group (DRX) 635.50p 12.18% Babcock International Group (BAB) 529.00p 8.45% Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 88.00p 6.67% Marshalls (MSLH) 352.00p 4.61% Ocado Group (OCDO) 445.00p 4.58% CMC Markets (CMCX) 315.00p 4.30% Elementis (ELM) 151.00p 4.14% Grafton Group Ut (CDI) (GFTU) 1,055.60p 4.02% Future (FUTR) 1,115.00p 4.01% Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,118.00p 3.90%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Discoverie Group (DSCV) 711.00p -2.47% Bellevue Healthcare Trust (Red) (BBH) 146.60p -1.87% Spirent Communications (SPT) 174.30p -1.53% Computacenter (CCC) 2,614.00p -1.51% Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) 364.50p -1.22% Tyman (TYMN) 400.00p -0.87% HICL Infrastructure (HICL) 123.00p -0.81% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 161.60p -0.80% JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust (JFJ) 525.00p -0.57% Tate & Lyle (TATE) 649.50p -0.54%