IS THE MARKET REACTION TO THE C&W UPDATE JUSTIFIED?

MORTEN SINGLETON COLLINS STEWART“The market has reacted to the downgrade for the full year, but we think this is a great opportunity to buy into Cable & Wireless. There will likely be some uplift after the news of the de-merger, albeit small as it was a well-flagged event, though there was scant detail on the plans.”JONATHAN GROOCOCK INVESTEC“The first-half results are weak, with a particularly poor performance in Caribbean. The demerger is ‘now underway’, but in the absence of a trade buyer, we struggle to see the value created by such a move. Shares are likely to weaken on this.”EITH BOWMAN HARGREAVES LANSDOWN“It was a bit of a mixed bag, with improved earnings in the first half but full-year guidance revised downwards. News of the de-merger didn’t come as a big surprise and it is difficult to tell how far management have come along with their discussions, which added to the disappointment.”