BEST of the BROKERS
J SAINSBURY
Shore Capital rates the retailer “hold” with a target price of 288p ahead of the firm’s first quarter trading statement on Wednesday. The update will provide the first glimpse of how the big supermarkets fared during the Diamond Jubilee, and the broker suggests that the wet weather could have dampened the expected sales boost. Shore expects like-for-like sales growth to slide to one to 1.5 per cent, excluding fuel.
LLOYDS BANKING GROUP
Liberum Capital has started covering the bank with a speculative “buy” rating and a target price of 29p. The broker has initiated coverage of a number of UK banks, pointing out that due to the instability in the Eurozone the likes of Lloyds, Barclays and RBS are currently un-investable. These banks’ exposures to the struggle PIIGS nations are beyond their entire market caps, Liberum warns.
CHIME COMMUNICATIONS
Canaccord Genuity rates the media group “buy” but has cut its target price to 205p following the sale of Bell Pottinger for a bigger-than-expected price tag of £19.6m. The broker has lowered its forecasts for earnings before tax and interest by £3m to reflect the disposal, but expects the firm to use the proceeds of the sale to snap up other companies to bump up its earnings beyond these forecasts.