FTSE 250 movers: Wizz, Close Brothers and Aston Martin drop
By Benjamin Chiou
Date: Friday 28 Mar 2025
(Sharecast News) - Wizz Air, Close Brothers and Aston Martin Lagonda Global were among the worst performers on the FTSE 250 on Friday, with the second-tier index trading around 0.5% lower by mid-afternoon.
Wizz was falling along with other airline stocks after Heathrow's boss warned that the cost of upgrading the airport to a new power system - in order to avoid a similar power outage as last Friday - could cost upwards of £1bn, with airlines having to foot the bill through landing charges.
Close Brothers dropped last week after the merchant banker revealed that it had swung to a £104m first-half loss, from a £88m profit a year earlier, as it put aside £165m to cover motor finance payouts. Shares had since recovered over the past few days, but took a big plunge again on Friday.
Aston Martin Lagonda Global was hit, along with the rest of the sector, by Donald Trump's latest tariff decisions. Auto stocks worldwide were falling sharply after the US president slapped a 25% tariff on fully-assembled vehicles being imported into the country.
WH Smith was in the red on the news it has sold its UK high street business to Modella Capital for an enterprise value of £76m in a deal that will see the chain rebranded as TGJones. "Ahead of the deal with Modella, there was speculation it would get £100 million for the stores. A £76 million enterprise value is disappointing, yet something is better than nothing for WH Smith," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
Burberry was also out of favour after RBC Capital Markets cut its price target to 1,200p from 1,300p as cut next year's profit forecasts. Nevertheless, RBC still rates the shares at 'outperform', speculative risk.
Among the risers was B&M European Value Retail after Citi reiterated its 'buy' rating on the stock, saying that the recent de-rating was overdone and "not commensurate with the earnings growth potential of a business that has structurally higher sales densities and quicker store paybacks post pandemic".
Housebuilding and real estate stocks were also performing well, including British Land, Supermarket Income REIT, Crest Nicholson and Derwent London, after positive economic data out on Friday. Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the economy grew more strongly than initially thought last year, with real annual GDP growing 1.1% instead of the 0.9% initially reported.
FTSE 250 - Risers
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 177.80p 3.37%
British Land Company (BLND) 373.20p 3.09%
Supermarket Income Reit (SUPR) 77.10p 2.66%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 174.10p 2.65%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 109.60p 2.43%
Derwent London (DLN) 1,854.00p 2.15%
Harworth Group (HWG) 173.50p 2.06%
NCC Group (NCC) 140.60p 2.03%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,822.00p 1.96%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 265.80p 1.80%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 299.80p -9.37%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 235.00p -6.19%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 58.20p -4.59%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,589.00p -4.56%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 65.75p -4.29%
Carnival (CCL) 1,388.00p -3.88%
Chemring Group (CHG) 372.00p -3.75%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 270.00p -3.40%
Senior (SNR) 153.60p -3.03%
WH Smith (SMWH) 1,057.00p -3.03%
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