BEST OF THE BROKERS
AIR FRANCE
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) retains a “buy” recommendation on Air France-KLM. Notwithstanding the ash-cloud, RBS said the underlying trading is improving, the Amadeus transaction will have boosted the balance sheet and recent sovereign debt woes and scare stories around cargo weakness offer an attractive entry point.
MAN GROUP
Numis has issued a “buy” rating on Man Group. Numis said the headline statistics make the $1.6bn GLG acquisition seem expensive, however, if the company is able to achieve the ongoing $50m of cost synergies it has identified, Numis estimates this has value creation of $500m and the company estimates $400m.
HENNES & MAURITZ
H&M remains one of the more efficient European retailers, according to Citigroup, with international growth prospects, and a business model that is increasingly flexible. Citi gives H&M a “buy” investment code. It expects revenue patterns to improve during 2010, in combination with further half-year gross margin progress.