BEST OF THE BROKERS
UNILEVER
UBS has upgraded its rating for Unilever from “neutral” to “buy” and said that since the start of April, Unilever has underperformed its US peers. UBS suspects partly this reflects investors seeing Unilever as a proxy for the Eurozone, yet it estimates Unilever ’s exposure to the Eurozone to be only marginally higher than US peers.
DMGT
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has raised its 2010 earnings forecast for Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT) by 11 per cent following interim results. RBS has given DMGT a “buy” rating and said a stronger recovery in national advertising together with good cost control meant that first half operating profit was ahead of its forecast.
CABLE & WIRELESS
Standard & Poor’s Equity Research (S&P) has downgraded Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) from “hold” to “sell” following the group’s 2010 results. S&P said that said cash flow forecasts suggest the generous dividend is only 66 per cent covered by cash generation in 2011, rising to 69 per cent in 2012.
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