FTSE 250 movers: Playtech jumps; Future slips
By Frank Prenesti
Date: Thursday 05 Feb 2026
(Sharecast News) - FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,182.88 -0.64%
Ithaca Energy gained after a well-received full-year update with average production hitting 119,000 barrels of oil per day, in-line with previously upgraded guidance.
Ithaca delivered preliminary adjusted underlying earnings of $2bn, reflecting the group's significantly enhanced cash generation capacity, and cut net unit operating costs to $19 per barrel, while keeping leverage low at 0.56x and maintaining $1.5bn of liquidity.
The FTSE 250-listed firm said its hedge position provided it with "strong coverage" going into 2026 as it took advantage of upside market volatility to build a hedge position of 43.8m barrels of oil equivalent at 31 January, with average oil swap pricing of more than $66 per barrel and average gas swap pricing of 92p per therm, protecting 2026 cash flows in an anticipated weaker commodity price environment.
Ithaca also continued to invest heavily in its Rosebank development to the West of Shetlands, with capex of roughly $224m during the year.
Chairman Yaniv Friedman said: "2025 was a year of great progress as we continued to deliver on our value creation strategy. We fully integrated a number of accretive acquisitions, increased our financial firepower for growth and built on our robust hedge book to secure future investments and distributions.
"We also delivered meaningful increases in production, revenue and EBITDAX whilst reducing costs, all of which drove increased free cashflow, supporting our $500m dividend commitment. We're excited by our prospects for the year ahead and beyond, and we enter the year with a significantly increased production rate."
Playtech was higher as it said full-year adjusted EBITDA was set to be "significantly" above consensus expectations following a strong second half.
The gambling software development company hailed "strong" trading in the second half of 2025, driven by its performance in the US and Mexico in Q4.
As a result, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the year ended 31 December 2025 will be at least €195m. Consensus expectations were for €177m.
As far as 2026 is concerned, Playtech said it remains mindful of ongoing sector headwinds including the scheduled increase to gambling taxes in certain markets such as the UK.
"However, the Q4 revenue trends seen in the Americas mean that Playtech enters 2026 with good momentum, as returns on the company's investments in recent years accelerate," it said.
Playtech also said that given the strong performance and prospects in regulated markets, notably the Americas, it is confident of achieving its medium-term targets of €250m to €300m of adjusted EBITDA and €70m to €100m of free cash flow.
Chief executive Mor Weizer said: "I'm delighted with the strong performance we saw at the end of 2025. We have been steadily investing across our business in the Americas for a number of years, and I'm particularly pleased with our recent progress in the US, as the benefits of our hard work start to accelerate and flow through to profitability.
"We continue to invest selectively into the US and elsewhere in the Americas, where we see additional growth opportunities. While we remain mindful of wider sector headwinds, I am excited by the momentum we are building and the significant growth opportunity ahead."
Future said on Thursday trading in the first four months of its financial year was broadly in line with expectations, leaving the group on track to meet full-year forecasts, with performance again weighted to the second half.
The FTSE 250 publisher said improvement in direct digital advertising in its B2C division, seen in the UK and US in the second half of the prior year, had continued into the current period and was expected to deliver year-on-year growth in both markets in the first half.
Programmatic advertising and eCommerce revenue remained under pressure due to weaker audience trends, while magazines revenue continued to show resilience.
At Go.Compare, the group said revenue declines were starting to moderate compared with the second half of 2025, particularly in car insurance, although profitability was being affected by inflation in pay-per-click advertising costs across the market.
Renewal, its insurance app wallet, was relaunched earlier this month.
In B2B, revenue improved in the second quarter, with performance varying across end markets.
Future said first-half leverage was expected to be higher than a year earlier due to dividend payments, ongoing share buybacks and the acquisition of SheerLuxe.
FTSE 250 - Risers
HGCapital Trust (HGT) 397.00p 4.47%
Playtech (PTEC) 292.00p 4.10%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 192.00p 2.89%
Ithaca Energy (ITH) 184.10p 1.94%
Chemring Group (CHG) 504.00p 1.72%
BH Macro Ltd. GBP Shares (BHMG) 429.50p 1.66%
Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 261.40p 1.63%
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust (FGT) 740.00p 1.51%
Carnival (CCL) 2,377.00p 1.49%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 318.50p 1.43%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 863.00p -5.89%
Future (FUTR) 488.00p -4.31%
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 146.50p -4.00%
Currys (CURY) 145.00p -3.91%
Quilter (QLT) 188.40p -3.24%
Grainger (GRI) 190.40p -3.15%
Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited (BSIF) 74.20p -3.13%
Bellway (BWY) 2,648.00p -2.86%
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust (ASL) 1,656.00p -2.82%
Vistry Group (VTY) 667.20p -2.74%
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