Wickes rises as retailer posts sales growth, reaffirms profit outlook
** British home improvement retailer Wickes WIX.L rises 3% to 201p; stock among top gainer on the FTSE mid 250 index .FTMC ** Co reports 4.5% rise in H1 like-for-like sales compared to a year ago ** Wickes maintains its forecast for FY25 adjusted pre-tax profit in line with company-compiled consensus of 48.2 million pounds ($65.2 million) ** As of last close, WIX up 29.1% YTD (Reporting by Atharva Singh in Bengaluru) ((Atharva.singh@thomsonreuters.com))