FTSE 250 movers: Aston Martin, Computacenter out of favour

Computacenter warned on first-half profits on Wednesday, citing strong prior-year comparatives and challenging UK markets.

In an update for the first quarter, the company said it expects to make further progress this year, as it has performed broadly in line with its expectations. Germany and North America delivered "solid" underlying performances, but the UK "remained challenging", it said.

As expected, Q1 revenue from the technology sourcing business returned to more normal levels versus the same period last year, which benefitted from a small number of exceptional contracts.

"The performance in the quarter largely reflected the normalisation of higher-volume, lower-margin technology sourcing contracts in North America and the excellent growth achieved in Germany in the prior year," it said.

Towards the end of Q1, it won a "significant" new contract in technology sourcing with a large customer in North America, which it expects to start fulfilling towards the end of the second quarter. Computacenter said it has a strong and growing pipeline of technology sourcing opportunities in North America for the rest of the year.

Meanwhile, revenue from the services segment was below the prior year, as expected, with continued growth in professional services outweighed by the expiry of certain managed services contracts.

At the start of the second quarter, it began a large four-year public sector contract in the UK which was secured at the start of the year. Computacenter said its pipeline of professional services opportunities across the group is also encouraging.

"For the full year in 2024 we expect to make further progress, while continuing to invest in future growth," it said.

"Given the first half comparison we have previously highlighted, adjusted profit before tax for the first half is expected to be below the equivalent in 2023. The strength of our integrated technology sourcing and services model, our committed product order backlog and pipeline of opportunities, give us confidence in delivering a stronger performance with growth weighted to the second half of the year, underpinning our expectations of further progress for the full year."

Luxury carmaker Aston Martin Lagonda saw a double-digit drop in revenues and adjusted profits in the first quarter, but said that the launch of four new models should drive "significant growth" in the second half and beyond.

As a result, the company held on to its full-year guidance of improved profitability and EBITDA, an improvement in gross margins to 40% and high single-digit percentage wholesale volume growth.

Revenues were down 10% year-on-year in the first quarter at £267.7m, driven by a 26% drop in wholesale volumes to 945.

The gross margin improved by 280 basis points to 37.2%, leading to just a 2% reduction in gross profit to £99.7m. However, adjusted EBITDA dropped by 34% to £19.9m due to a big increase in net financing expenses and a slight increase in operating expenses.

"2024 is a year of immense product transformation at Aston Martin, with the introduction of four new models to the market before the end of the year," said executive chair Lawrence Stroll.

"Our first quarter performance reflects this expected period of transition, as we ceased production and delivery of our outgoing core models ahead of the ramp up in production of the new Vantage, upgraded DBX707 and our upcoming V12 flagship sports car which we've confirmed today. As part of our ongoing programme of ultra-exclusive models, we will deliver a new Special in the fourth quarter of the year."

On the upside, shares in financial investment platform AJ Bell gained 2.77% in a weak market.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 - Risers

AJ Bell (AJB) 332.50p 2.78%
FirstGroup (FGP) 166.70p 2.77%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 770.00p 2.26%
Chemring Group (CHG) 382.50p 2.00%
Balfour Beatty (BBY) 371.00p 1.98%
Ninety One (N91) 171.70p 1.78%
Volution Group (FAN) 443.00p 1.72%
Pennon Group (PNN) 676.50p 1.65%
Vistry Group (VTY) 1,216.00p 1.50%
Hammerson (HMSO) 27.62p 1.40%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 139.50p -5.87%
Computacenter (CCC) 2,478.00p -4.03%
Playtech (PTEC) 511.00p -3.58%
Carnival (CCL) 1,057.00p -2.58%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,172.00p -2.43%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 185.60p -2.42%
Jlen Environmental Assets Group Limited NPV (JLEN) 90.80p -2.05%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 1,103.00p -2.04%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 135.80p -2.02%
Genus (GNS) 1,768.00p -2.00%