BEST OF THE BROKERS October 4, 2009 CHIME COMMUNICATIONSKBC Peel Hunt said that Chime’s takeover of Essentially Group – to form one of the world’s most powerful full-service sports marketing organisations – is a good deal but not one without elements of risk. The broker indicated the potential upgrade that might result if and when the deal completes, and upgraded the stock [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS September 30, 2009 DATATECInvestec said that Datatec is on track to meet its full-year guidance, but that a technicality on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange mandates an update. The broker made no changes to its forecasts but increased its target price to 210p and downgraded its recommendation to “hold”, purely on valuation grounds. COMPASSEvolution Securities nudged up its Compass [...]
ARE YOU ENCOURAGED BY DMGT’S TRADING UPDATE? September 29, 2009 ANDY VINER BDO STOY HAYWARD“DMGT is also benefiting from having reacted early to the downturn with a cost control programme of around 15 per cent of its workforce. It was also encouraging to see comments around positive cash flow and continued net debt reduction. It now looks to be boosted by an improved advertising outlook [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS September 28, 2009 ASTRAZENECAJefferies said AstraZeneca faces a series of patent problems throughout its forecast period. While resurgent growth, pipeline delivery and cost savings on its lower cholesterol drug Crestor may help to offset some of the impact, Jefferies see a meagre earnings versus a weighted average of four per cent for the sector. DIAGEODiageo looks set for [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS September 27, 2009 DSG INTERNATIONALMorgan Stanley downgraded DSG International to “underweight” and recommended investors take profits following the 50 per cent price increase over the last three months. The broker said that, although it believes that DSGI offers more leveraged upside in a consumer recovery than any other stock it covers, its bull case scenario playing out looks [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS September 24, 2009 HALFORDS GROUPAhead of Halfords’ second-quarter trading update on 8 October, Investec upgraded its forecasts and its target price to 435p, from 400p. The broker believes a combination of better weather and more “staycations” than last year will deliver a more robust performance than previously expected, and says “buy”. WM MORRISONJefferies International upped its target price [...]
Builders tap the market September 23, 2009 HOUSEBUILDER Barratt yesterday unveiled its widely tipped £750m fundraising through a rights issue and share placing in a bid to repair its battered balance sheet. The group said it would raise £545.5m in a rights issues and £175m through a placing. Chief executive Mark Clare said the 1.3 for one rights issue would be priced [...]
HORSES FOR COURSES FOR CITY RACING SET September 22, 2009 IT SEEMS barely a moment since the end of the horseracing season, but the City is already gearing up for the bevy of racehorse auction sales coming up over the next few weeks, starting with the Goffs Orby Sale in Ireland next week. Racing buffs might recall that sellers at the spring sales teamed up [...]
BUILDERS GO CAP IN HAND FOR 850M September 22, 2009 HOUSEBUILDERS Barratt and Redrow are today expected to tap shareholders for a total of £850m to shore up balance sheets that have been battered by the property slump. Barratt is set to unveil plans to raise £700m in a placing and open offer through its house broker UBS. And rival Redrow is expected to launch [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS September 20, 2009 JD WETHERSPOONInvestec Securities has reiterated its buy recommendation for JD Wetherspoon, noting that potential obstacles should be overcome by the company’s strong cash generation and market share gains. The planned VAT increase is not expected to damage JD Wetherspoon, with price increases and accentuated value relative to peers predicted to compensate.ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLANDEvolution Securities [...]