FTSE 250 shares round-up: B&M, Persimmon, WH Smith, Dr Martens

A stunning session for B&M European Value Retail (LSE:BME) that left shares double May's level today contrasted with setbacks for other turnaround stories WH Smith (LSE:SMWH) and Dr. Martens  Ordinary Shares (LSE:DOCS).

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On a packed day for mid-cap updates, Premier Foods (LSE:PFD) declared its first dividend in two decades and housebuilder Persimmon offered more evidence of a market leading performance.

The FTSE 250 index was led by B&M, which jumped 55.8p to its highest level since May 2025 at 334.8p after boss Tjeerd Jegen said his Back to B&M Basics plan was starting to deliver.

He has sharpened pricing, improved on-shelf availability of best-selling brands and revamped in store promotions, leading to UK like-for-like sales growth of 3.2% in the second quarter to the end of September.

This was much better than City forecasts of about 0.8% as B&M reported half-year underlying revenue growth across all three of its divisions of the UK, Heron Foods and B&M France.

Amid a positive start to the company's Golden Quarter, B&M said it expected a full-year adjusted profit of between £280 million and £330 million in the financial year. This compares with 2025/26's £284 million and the City consensus of £295 million.

The shares, which were more than 600p at the end of December and 260p when Jegen took the helm in June 2025, fell as far as 157p in May this year.

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Barclays analysts said today: “We had called out the first half as a turning point for the company on growing conviction in the strategic turnaround and an expected return to positive UK like-for-like sales growth in the second quarter.

“B&M has delivered, with a better-than-expected half year outcome, solid cash outcome, and encouraging initial guidance.” An interim dividend of 3.6p a share is due to be paid on 18 December.

The challenges facing travel retailer WH Smith were laid bare in annual results as headline profit fell to £76 million in the year ended 31 August, down from £108 million the year before.

Bloomberg Intelligence said the top end of guidance for this year of between £75 million and £85 million was in line with consensus, but with the midpoint implying a 4% cut.

It added: “Like-for-like sales trends are muted and cost inflation is continuing, so this target appears to lean too heavily on efficiency benefits from the transformation, which are uncertain.

“Our view remains that the company is in the midst of a difficult turnaround, with likely headwinds to earnings at least in the near term.”

Shares today reversed 25p to 402.2p, which compares with more than 1,100p prior to last year's disclosure of a £30 million profit overstatement in North America. WH Smith’s market value peaked at £3 billion when shares were 2,600p just before the pandemic.

Former Balfour Beatty boss Leo Quinn, who is leading the turnaround effort, needs the share price to hit 1,300p to realise £24.5 million as part of a five-year incentive structure put in place at his appointment earlier this year.

In June, the company generated proceeds of more than £100 million by issuing new shares at a price of 410p.

The capital raise enabled the company to launch a self-help programme focused on restructuring the cost base, improving cash generation and accelerating store portfolio rationalisation. The company did not declare a dividend with today's results.

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Dr Martens propped up the FTSE 250 after below-forecast interim results caused shares to slump by 10.3p to their lowest level since May 2025 at 53.1p. They were 428p at the end of 2021.

Half-year revenues fell 9.8% to £290 million, which the company said reflected a challenging period for its core boots category due to the impact of hot summer weather.

Shoes and sandals delivered a resilient performance as chief executive Ije Nwokorie said a good gross margin performance and continued tight cost controls limited the bottom-line impact.

An adjusted loss before tax of £13.7 million was still £9 million worse than Peel Hunt's forecast, although the interim dividend payable on 7 April has been maintained at 0.85p.

The City firm cut its price target to 70p after reducing its underlying earnings estimate for the financial year by £20 million to £42.3 million.

It said: “Docs is heavily weighted to peak trading over November to January. US margins and profits were up in the first half, a trend we expect to continue for the full year.

“While there is all to play for now that the weather has normalised, we have taken a cautious view on peak trading for the UK, assuming a 16% decline year-on-year in the second half.”

Persimmon shares rose 65.5p to 1,318p after it said a 3% year-on-year improvement in its private forward sales position to £2.15 billion left it well positioned to deliver its planned growth in 2026 to about.12,500 homes.

Chief executive Dean Finch said: “Our clear strategy has allowed the group to increase both sales and planning approvals at a time when the overall sector is declining.”

Peel Hunt retained its Buy recommendation and price target of 1,420p on the shares, which are up 27% since late April and trade with a prospective 5.1% dividend yield.

The City bank added: “Persimmon remains the best placed of the major builders for the current market, in our view, both from a geographic and product perspective.”

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The shares of Premier Foods fell 6.4p to 196.6p, even though the company behind brands including Mr Kipling, Bisto, Oxo and Sharwood's said full-year profits will be at the top end of expectations.

The upgrade, which reflected the impact of lower financing costs, came as Premier said its branded products overcame hot weather to deliver a 3.2% sales rise to £467.3 million in the 26 weeks to 26 September. Adjusted profit rose by 3.8% to £64.7 million.

Highlights in the half year included another strong performance by the Mr Kipling-led Sweet Treats division, which has now recorded 12 consecutive quarters of revenue growth.

A dividend payment of 1.12p on 18 December will be the first in 19 years, a decision Premier said reflected “strong cash generation, low leverage and confidence in its medium-term outlook”

Shares went into today's results 17% higher than a year earlier, with City firm Jefferies confident of more upside based on a new price target of 240p.