FTSE 250 movers: Airlines down on Mid-East tensions; Babcock in favour

FTSE 250 19,331.04, -0.93%

Hungary-based budget airline Wizz Air reported a strong rise in December passenger numbers as demand continued to rebound from the Covid pandemic.

The company on Wednesday said it carried 4,964,857 passengers, an 18.8% increase year on year. For the year as a whole numbers rose by 26.1% to 66.4 million.

December’s load factor, which measures how full an airline’s planes are, fell 2.4 percentage points to 82.1% year on year.

The airline also said it had cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv up until March as the conflict between Hamas and Israel continued. It had previously paused flights to and from Israel until the end of January.

Rival carrier easyJet was also lower on the sentiment as Middle East tensions increased.

Defence manufacturer Babcock made strong gains for the same reason.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Babcock International Group (BAB) 437.20p 4.10%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 193.60p 1.89%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 315.20p 1.61%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 88.00p 1.50%
Coats Group (COA) 75.40p 1.48%
Target Healthcare Reit Ltd (THRL) 88.00p 1.27%
Future (FUTR) 788.00p 1.16%
HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited A Shs (HVPE) 2,390.00p 1.06%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 669.50p 0.83%
Moonpig Group (MOON) 153.40p 0.79%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Carnival (CCL) 1,196.50p -5.53%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 213.40p -5.16%
Hill and Smith (HILS) 1,812.00p -4.13%
Tyman (TYMN) 304.50p -4.09%
easyJet (EZJ) 483.00p -4.09%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,130.00p -3.88%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 117.80p -3.84%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 464.00p -3.53%
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 425.00p -3.52%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,059.00p -3.29%