ANALYST VIEWS: HOW IS TULLETT PREBON PERFORMING?
JAMES HAMILTON | NUMIS SECURITIES
“Tullett retains a strong balance sheet. The firm remains cheap, and having avoided the substantial profit decline we forecast the profit and loss account has remained relatively resilient through the recession. As a stand-alone business likely to be valued at seven times earnings, the group is a clear buy. With a recovery in equity markets we would not rule out the bidder returning. Should that happen, so much the better.”
ROBIN SAVAGE | COLLINS STEWART
“Revenue and operating profits from the European division materially beat our expectations. We are particularly impressed by the 24.1 per cent operating margin [we had expected 21 per cent]. However, the US division was hit harder by the defections than we had expected. The major difference between headline results and our forecasts were the financing costs, which were £2m less than we expected.”
KEITH BAIRD | ORIEL SECURITIES
“June and July have been subdued compared to earlier in the year, but Tullett expects markets to remain volatile. On the back of the first half our full-year revenue estimate has been raised from £910m to £921m and earnings per share from 44p to 48p. There will be some office closures in the US which will help reduce overheads offset by £3m in exceptional costs.”