Best of the Brokers
TUI TRAVEL
Morgan Stanley yesterday downgraded the travel company from “equal weight” to “underweight” with a target price of 250p, expecting seasonal losses to be higher due to an accounting change and poor cash flow. However, the analyst still sees Tui Travel as a “well-managed business, with strong market shares in European tour operating” that will benefit from wet weather in the UK.
SQS SOFTWARE QUALITY
Panmure Gordon has increased its target price for the software company by 25p to 259p and reiterated the “hold” recommendation. The increase comes after SQS announced to have been awarded service contracts and contract extensions and renewals worth €64m (£52m) over the following three years. The analyst predicts the company will “look cheap” in 2013, if it manages to live up to its goals for earnings last year.
ASOS
Jefferies has cut the retailer to “underperform” from “buy”, sensing the valuation seems “too rich” but maintaining its target price at 2,199p. The analyst warns that operations in Russia and China can cause more problems than reflected in the company’s risk profile. ASOS has said it will launch websites in Chinese and Russian in 2013, in order to reach its target of having £1bn of sales in five separate markets by 2015.