FTSE 250 movers: PayPoint surges on IDS news; AG Barr loses its fizz

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 250 was up 0.6% at 22,006.29 in afternoon trade on Tuesday. PayPoint surged to the top of the index as it said that Royal Mail owner International Distribution Services has taken a 49% stake in Collect+ for £43.9m and announced a special dividend as a result of the deal.

Collect+ currently has a network of more than 14,000 Out of Home locations in the UK, of which almost 8,000 offer Royal Mail collect, send and return parcel services today.

PayPoint said that as part of the next stage in the partnership with IDS, an initial 500 of these sites have been upgraded to deliver Royal Mail over the counter services, enabling customers to buy postage in store with effect from Tuesday, as part of almost 8,000 sites which will have Royal Mail Shop branding rolled out from October.

Over the next 12 months, the company plans to expand the rollout of Royal Mail over the counter services through the network, including the launch of self-service kiosks in the first quarter of next year.

AG Barr was in the red even as the Irn-Bru maker backed its full-year expectations and hailed a strong first half, with a jump in revenue and profit underpinned by a solid performance from the soft drinks business, in particular Boost.

Broker Peel Hunt, which rates the shares at 'buy' with a 750p price target, said: "Given the strength of the first half an upgrade might have been expected, but the increased marketing spend in 2H is set to hold this back.

"Management flagged that the market is seeing that promotional activity has intensified, in the grocery multiple channel in particular, and consumer confidence remains subdued.

"However, it remains confident in guidance and the long-term opportunity. The shares are trading on 16x January 2026E PE and 8.6x EV/EBITDA."