FTSE 250 shares round-up: Computacenter, Senior, Wickes

Records were broken in this trading session as a number of companies hit all-time highs for a multi-year best. Graeme Evans reports on all the action.

22nd January 2026 15:32

by Graeme Evans from interactive investor

Share on

A return to form by the FTSE 250 index today featured a record high for Computacenter (LSE:CCC) shares alongside a multi-year peak for Senior (LSE:SNR) and more progress by DIY chain Wickes Group (LSE:WIX).

Invest with ii: Top UK Shares | Share Tips & Ideas | Cashback Offers

The mid-cap benchmark jumped 1.4% to return to the four-year high seen before the Greenland crisis, with Wizz Air Holdings (LSE:WIZZ), Currys (LSE:CURY) and Hochschild Mining (LSE:HOC) among other stocks in demand.

Source: TradingView. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

Computacenter, which has been a staple of the FTSE 250 since 2009, surged 300p to 3,360p after reporting strong growth in North America and improved trading in the UK and Germany.

The IT services provider, which works on behalf of both large corporates and public sector organisations, provides a route to market for many of the world’s leading technology vendors including NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA), Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO).

It pulled forward a trading update that had been planned for 28 January in order to announce that annual adjusted profit will be better than City expected at not less than £270 million. That compares with £254 million in 2024.

Today’s statement included a forecast-beating 32% jump in full-year gross invoiced income and strong cash flow as net funds finished the year "extremely strong” at £600 million.

Order intake continues to offer encouragement, particularly in North America as Computacenter benefits from strong demand from both enterprise and hyperscale customers.

While mindful of the political environment and hardware component shortages currently affecting the IT industry, the Hatfield-based company said it expects to make further strategic and financial progress in 2026.

City bank Jefferies, which has a price target of 3,800p, said Computacenter remains one of the cheapest companies in the sector with one of the strongest balance sheets.

JPMorgan Cazenove bolstered its earnings estimates by between 4% and 5% and increased its price target to 3,500p from 3,300p previously.

A second upgrade to profit guidance in as many months meant Senior shares also posted a double-digit percentage share price advance.

It said annual results on 2 March will be comfortably above previous expectations, boosted by further strong trading in the division that provides commercial and defence aerospace customers with components for fluid conveyance and thermal management.

Sales growth had been 9.4% in the most recent update, up from the first half rate of 7.2% as Senior benefited from increasing production of commercial aircraft, higher defence spending and improved pricing.

The earlier profit upgrade in November failed to lift shares as investors focused on the Flexonics division, which provides high technology products and systems for demanding applications.

While demand in the nuclear and downstream oil and gas sector was reported to be robust, land vehicle markets softened and were set to stay that way in 2026. Since that update, Senior said it had taken action by reducing the cost base in certain Flexonics operations.

The company has also completed the sale of its aerostructures businesses after the regulatory approval process was impacted by the US government shutdown.

The proceeds and strong cash generation mean that net debt is expected to be below £80 million at the end of 2025, down from £153 million a year earlier.

Wickes shares continued their strong run since June 2024 as the DIY chain reported that revenues rose 5.9% to £1.64 billion in 2025. This included a stronger second half, up 6.3% to £788 million for a like-for-like improvement of 5.3%.

The performance in the Retail arm was led by TradePro after 8% sales growth, while the project-based Design & Installation division continued its momentum with revenues up 6.9%.

Chief executive David Wood said: “This has been another period of good sales growth for Wickes, underlining a year of strong progress against our strategy. Pleasingly, growth has been volume-driven across the business.”

The group expects pre-tax profits for the year to be in line with current consensus of £48.4 million, which follows the previous year’s decline from £52 million to £43.6 million.

The shares rose 7p to 232p, having rallied by 47% in the past year. Peel Hunt increased its price target from 235p to 265p and retained its Buy rating, believing the shares have further to re-rate as the group delivers against the strategy and the market recovers.

These articles are provided for information purposes only. Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties. The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.

Full performance can be found on the company or index summary page on the interactive investor website. Simply click on the company's or index name highlighted in the article.

Get more news and expert articles direct to your inbox