Broker Upgrades and Downgrades & Key UK Corporate Snapshots 19 May 2016

UK Broker Upgrades / Downgrades

 

 

Code Company Broker Recomm. From Recomm. To Price From Price To
Upgrades
ADM Admiral Group Plc JP Morgan Cazenove Underweight Neutral
CPG Compass Group Plc Jefferies International Buy Buy 1375 1450
CPG Compass Group Plc Credit Suisse Underperform Neutral 1140 1340
ELA Eland Oil & Gas Plc Peel Hunt Buy Buy 70 76
POLY Polymetal International Plc Deutsche Bank Hold Hold 550 610
SSPG SSP Group Plc Citigroup Buy Buy 350 370
Downgrades
BRBY Burberry Group Plc Macquarie Outperform Neutral
BRBY Burberry Group Plc Credit Suisse Underperform Underperform 1100 1000
CWK Cranswick Plc Liberum Capital Buy Hold
FRES Fresnillo Plc Citigroup Sell
Initiate/Neutral/Unchanged
AZN AstraZeneca Plc Deutsche Bank Buy Buy 5600 5600
BME B&M European Value Retail Jefferies International Buy Buy 315 315
BP. BP Plc Deutsche Bank Buy Buy
BRBY Burberry Group Plc Exane BNP Paribas Neutral Neutral 1325 1325
BRBY Burberry Group Plc Jefferies International Hold Hold 1240 1240
CSP Countryside Properties Plc Peel Hunt Buy Buy 290 290
MKS Marks & Spencer Group Plc Jefferies International Hold Hold 410 410
POLY Polymetal International Plc Jefferies International Underperform Underperform 520 520
SSE SSE Plc Deutsche Bank Hold Hold 1480 1480
VED Vedanta Resources Plc Goldman Sachs Neutral 400

 

US Broker Upgrades / Downgrades

 

 

Code Company Broker Recomm. From Recomm. To Price From Price To
Upgrades
CEO CNOOC Ltd Nomura Neutral  Buy
EVER EverBank Financial Sandler O’Neill Hold  Buy
XOM Exxon Mobil Argus Hold  Buy
HFC HollyFrontier Scotia Howard Weil Sector Perform  Sector Outperform
HST Host Hotels & Resorts Raymond James Underperform  Market Perform
IVR Invesco Mortgage Capital Nomura Neutral  Buy $16 $16
RWT Redwood Trust Nomura Neutral  Buy $16 $16
STAA STAAR Surgical The Benchmark Company Hold  Buy $6 $6
SNX SYNNEX Raymond James Underperform  Outperform
TSLA Tesla Motors Goldman Sachs Neutral  Buy $250 $250
PLCE The Children’s Place Goldman Sachs Neutral  Buy
Downgrades
DCT DCT Industrial Trust CapitalOne Overweight  Equal weight
DISCA Discovery Communications Citigroup Neutral  Sell $30 $27
SAAS inContact Lake Street Buy  Hold $13 $14
NRZ New Residential Investment Compass Point Buy  Neutral $15 $15
PLD Prologis CapitalOne Overweight  Equal weight
SNI Scripps Networks Interactive Citigroup Neutral  Sell
VIPS Vipshop Holdings JP Morgan Overweight  Neutral
Initiated
FOLD Amicus Therapeutics BofA Merrill Lynch Buy $10
ACBI Atlantic Capital Bancshares FBR Capital Market Perform $16
BATS Bats Global Markets Deutsche Bank Hold $26
BBRY BlackBerry Macquarie Underperform
BRCD Brocade Communications Systems BofA Merrill Lynch Buy $10
CLS Celestica Macquarie Outperform
CLH Clean Harbors Barclays Overweight $58
LION Fidelity Southern FBR Capital Market Perform $18
NCOM National Commerce FBR Capital Market Perform $27
SHOP Shopify Macquarie Outperform $37
SHO Sunstone Hotel Investors BB&T Capital Markets Hold
ECOL US Ecology Barclays Equal weight $48
XTLY Xactly Lake Street Buy $12

 

Key UK Corporate Snapshots Today

3i Group Plc (III.L)  Announced, in its results for the year ended 31 March 2016, that gross investment returns rose to £1069 million from £805 million posted in the preceding year. The company’s profit before tax stood at £830 million, compared to a profit of £673 million reported in the previous year. The basic earnings per share stood at 85.6p compared to earnings of 73.9p reported in the previous year. The company further stated that the board has proposed a final dividend of 16.0p per share, subject to shareholders’ approval. The company separately announced that it has authorised with immediate effect a bond buy-back programme pursuant to which the company may from time to time purchase, through open market purchases or private transactions of various securities.

Augean Plc (AUG.L)  Announced that it has acquired the entire issued share capital of specialist industrial services provider, Colt Holdings Limited and its wholly owned subsidiary, Colt Industrial Services Limited. The initial consideration of the acquisition is of £9.2 million, out of which £4.5 million is to be paid in cash. It is liable to pay additional earn-out based payments of up to £4.75 million, subject to Colt securing certain contracts.

Balfour Beatty Plc (BBY.L)  Announced, in its annual general meeting, that the company continues to make good progress on the Build to Last transformation programme, with overall trading remaining in line with expectations. The Group order book is expected to show some growth in the first half due to good order intake in the US, whilst the UK construction order book is expected to be broadly stable.

Booker Group Plc (BOK.L)  Announced, in its final results for the year ended 25 March 2016, that its reported revenue stood at £4991.5 million, compared to £4753.0 million in the preceding year. Operating profit stood at £152.8 million, compared to £140.3 million. Profit after tax was £127.8 million compared to £117.7 million. The company’s diluted earnings per share was 7.15p, compared to 6.63p.

Brewin Dolphin Holdings Plc (BRW.L)  Announced, in its interim management report for the half year ended 31 March 2016, that revenue stood at £136.03 million, compared to £141.20 million in the same period last year. Operating profit stood at £21.37 million, compared to £27.24 million. Profit after tax was £17.16 million, compared to £29.63 million. Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations stood at 6.1p, compared to 10.5p. The board declares an interim dividend of 3.85p per share (2015 interim: 3.75p per share).

Britvic Plc (BVIC.L)  Announced, in its interim results for the 28 weeks ended 10 April 2016, that revenue stood at £678.0 million, compared to £650.3 million in the same period last year. Operating profit stood at £66.8 million, compared to £61.3 million. Profit after tax was £40.6 million, compared to £37.9 million. Diluted earnings per share stood at 15.4p, compared to 15.3p. The board to declares an interim dividend of 7.0p (2015: 6.7p).

Cairn Energy Plc (CNE.L)  Announced, in its Senegal Appraisal Well result, that the SNE-4 appraisal well operations have been safely and successfully completed following drilling, coring and logging. The well is now plugged and abandoned. The results confirmed the extension of reservoirs in the eastern extent of the SNE field, more than 5 kilometres (km) to the east and down dip of SNE-3. It also confirmed the oil bearing Upper Reservoir sands of similar quality to those encountered as gas bearing elsewhere in the field. The uppermost gas sands first encountered in SNE-3 and BEL-1 were also present and gas bearing in SNE-4.

Caledonia Investments Plc (CLDN.L)  Announced, in its final results for the year ended 31 March 2016, that its reported revenue stood at £64.1 million, compared to £227.9 million in the preceding year. Profit after tax was £41.1 million compared to £207.7 million. The company’s diluted earnings per share was 73.1p, compared to 371.1p.

Cineworld Group Plc (CINE.L)  Announced, in its trading update for the 19 week period ended 12 May 2016, that solid revenue growth of 9.8% for the group was achieved, with increased constant currency box office revenues of 7.6%. Admissions grew in both the UK & Ireland and ROW. The growth in retail revenues of 12.1% was driven by both the nature of the film mix and the extension of retail offerings, including Starbucks. The increased attendances for the year to date supported the Other Income line (which grew by 17.8%), with screen advertising revenues for the year to date particularly strong across the group. The company has continued the group’s strategic expansion with two new sites opened in April; Yate with 6 screens (UK) and Timishoara Nepi with 13 screens (Romania). In May another two sites are scheduled to open, Loughborough with 8 screens (UK) and Beer Sheeva with 18 screens (Israel). The company has pro-actively focussed on its estate management, with the refurbishment programme progressing well. One six-screen site in the UK, Hammersmith, was closed during the period. The company is currently contracted to open a further 8 cinemas across the group during the year, 3 in the UK and 5 in ROW. The interim results for the period to 30 June 2016 will be announced on 11 August 2016.

Dairy Crest Group Plc (DCG.L)  Announced, in its final results for the year ended 31 March 2016, that its reported revenue stood at £422.3 million, compared to £448.2 million in the preceding year. Net loss after tax was £113.0 million compared to profit after tax £20.5 million. The company’s diluted loss per share was 81.3p, compared to earnings per share of 14.90p.

Electrocomponents Plc (ECM.L)  Announced, in its audited results for the year ended 31 March 2016, that revenues rose to £1,291.1 million from £1,266.2 million recorded in the previous year. Profit after tax narrowed to £21.9 million from £70.3 million. The board maintained its full year dividend at 11.75p.

Euromoney Institutional Investor Plc (ERM.L)  Announced, in its interim results for the six months ended 31 March 2016, that revenues declined to £194.2 million from £197.7 million recorded in the same period a year ago. Profit after tax narrowed to £17.2 million from £80.1 million. The interim dividend remained unchanged at 7p.

Fevertree Drinks Plc (FEVR.L)  Announced, in its trading update for the four months to the end of April 2016, that momentum seen in 2015 has continued into the start of 2016. The company has outperformed expectations in the first four months of the year as the premium mixed drink movement continues to grow. This strong performance, alongside a currently favourable foreign exchange environment, has also driven gross margin improvements. Given the strong sales in the period to date, the Board anticipates that the results for the full year ending 31 December 2016 will be materially ahead of market expectations.

Formation Group Plc (FRM.L)  Announced, interim results for the six months ended 29 February 2016, that revenues fell to £10.2 million from £10.8 million posted in the same period preceding year. The company’s profit before tax stood at £1.3 million, compared to a profit of £0.266 million reported in the previous year. The basic earnings per share stood at 0.61p compared to earnings of 0.12p reported in the previous year. The Board has not declared any dividend for the period.

Gateley (Holdings) Plc (GTLY.L)  Announced, in its trading update for the financial year ended 30 April 2016, that trading in the second half of the year has been strong and the Group’s maiden results continue to demonstrate strong organic growth within the business. The Board is pleased to report results that, subject to audit, include revenue for the financial year ended 30 April 2016 being not less than £66 million and Adjusted EBITDA being not less than £12.6 million. The Board expects to recommend a dividend in line with market expectations in the Group’s results for the year ended 30 April 2016, which will be announced in July 2016.

Grainger Plc (GRI.L)  Announced, in its half year results for the six months ended 31 March 2016, that group revenue stood at £109.0 million, compared to £103.0 million in the same period last year. Operating profit after net valuation gains on investment property stood at £54.1 million, compared to £47.1 million. Profit after tax rom continuing operations was £30.4 million, compared to £20.9 million. Basic earnings per share from continuing operations stood at 7.3p, compared to 5.1p. Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations was 7.3p, compared to 5.0p. The Board has declared an interim dividend of 1.45p per share (HY15: 0.64p). The estimated full year dividend is expected to be around 4p per share (FY15: 2.75p). The interim dividend will be paid on 1 July 2016 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 2 June 2016.

Gusbourne Plc (GUS.L)  Announced, in its final results for the year ended 31 December 2015, that its reported revenue stood at £0.4 million, compared to £0.4 million in the preceding year. Net loss after tax was £1.4 million compared to loss of £1.0 million. The company’s diluted loss per share was 6.83p, compared to loss per share of 7.00p.

Hargreaves Lansdown Plc (HL..L)  Announced, in its trading update covering the period from 1 January 2016 to 18 May 2016, including trading data for the four and ten months ended 30 April 2016, that net inflows was £2.30 billion in the four months to 30 April 2016 (four months to 30 April 2015: £2.75 billion). Cumulative total net inflows came in at £5.07 billion in the ten months to 30 April 2016 (ten months to 30 April 2015: £5.00 billion). There was 9% increase in AUA to £60.3 billion compared to 30 April 2015 (31 December 2015: £58.8 billion). Net new active Vantage clients were up 38,000 in the four months (four months to 30 April 2015: 40,000). Total active clients as at 30 April 2016 were 822,000 (30 April 2015: 715,000), up 107,000 (+15%) from one year ago. There was continued high client and asset retention rates of 94.3% and 93.4% respectively for the ten months to 30 April 2016. Year-to-date total net revenue was £268.9 million (ten months to 30 April 2015: £241.0 million), up 12%.

Hays Plc (HAS.L)  Announced that PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP has been appointed as the company’s auditor for the financial year commencing 1 July 2016, after the formal tender process was completed by its Audit Committee.

Hydro International Plc (HYD.L)  Announced that it will be holding its Annual General Meeting today at 12 noon at the group’s headquarters located at Shearwater House, Clevedon Hall Estate, Victoria Road, Clevedon, BS21 7RD. At the meeting, the board will make the following statement that during 2016 the company has continued to build on the substantial progress made in 2015 in implementing our strategic plans to create a global business capable of delivering profitable sustainable growth. In March, the group took another important strategic step in extending our core capabilities with the acquisition of Hydro-Logic Limited and the business of Hydro-Logic Services LLP (collectively Hydro-Logic). During the first quarter of 2016, order intake momentum has continued, showing solid double-digit growth over the equivalent levels for 2015. The group will release interim results for the six months ending 30 June 2016 on Tuesday 6 September 2016.

IndigoVision Group Plc (IND.L)  Announced, in its AGM trading update, that revenues are a little behind last year, but operating performance is ahead as a result of action taken to adjust to market conditions. Efficiencies continue to be realised, cash balances are strong, and currency movements have benefited the Group in the year to date. Pricing pressure continues to be evident in the marketplace, but this has been ameliorated by higher sales volumes year on year and by product cost reductions aimed at maintaining gross margins. The board continues to expect that 2016 as a whole will see improvements over last year.

Informa Plc (INF.L)  Announced, in its trading update, that with a strong performance from the Top 20 shows on Exhibitor revenue, visitor numbers and rebooking rates it remains confident in delivering another year of strong organic growth in 2016. The focus on subscription management and customer retention continues to deliver results. A consistent performance in Academic Journals and continued strength in e-books has been balanced by ongoing softness in physical books. The launch of a simplified operating model, vertical focus and portfolio rationalisation is driving momentum, particularly amongst large, branded events, with increased audience reach and improving delegate numbers delivering good revenue growth across the Top 25 events run to date in 2016.

Investec Plc (INVP.L)  Announced, in its financial results for the year ended 31 March 2016, that net interest income rose to £571.9 million from £539.0 million recorded the previous year. Adjusted attributable earnings to ordinary shareholders widened to £423.1 million from £409.9 million. The board proposed a final dividend of 11.5p per ordinary share equating to a full year dividend of 21.0p (2015: 20.0p).

John Laing Infrastructure Fund Limited (JLIF.L)  Announced, in its full year results for the year ended 31 December 2015, that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a 100% interest in Project Service LLC, the provider of 23 highway service areas in the State of Connecticut (USA), between New York and Boston. The acquisition is JLIF’s first entry into the US P3 market and will take the total number of assets within JLIF’s portfolio to 61. The equity value is the US Dollar equivalent of approximately £72 million and will be funded using JLIF’s multi-currency revolving credit facility. JLIF expects the acquisition to complete in the coming weeks subject to the satisfaction of the conditions as agreed between the parties. The discount rate applied for the valuation of the project was within the range used for the valuation of JLIF’s portfolio as at 31 December 2015.

LMS Capital Plc (LMS.L)  Announced, in its following statement ahead of the annual general meeting of the company which is being held today, that the company’s unaudited net asset value at 31 March 2016 was £92.1 million (31 December 2015: £95.1 million), equivalent to 89p per share, a decrease of 3p from 92p at 31 December 2015. The company had cash of £5.6 million at 31 March 2016 (31 December 2015: £6.1 million). Proceeds from realisations in the first quarter were £0.6 million, of which £0.3 million was distributions from funds; in the same period calls from our outstanding fund commitments were £0.1 million. Uncalled commitments to funds at 31 March 2016 were £4.1 million.

Merlin Entertainments Plc (MERL.L)  Announced, in its trading statement, that market conditions in London remain challenging despite recent favourable movements in foreign exchange rates. New rides and features opened so far this season, as well as a three new Midway attractions, have been well received. The development of new accommodation is progressing well, with the expansion of the LEGOLAND Deutschland Holiday Village already open, and further offerings at Gardaland, Chessington World of Adventures and Warwick Castle on schedule to open over the coming weeks.

Mitchells & Butlers Plc (MAB.L)  Announced, in its interim results for the six months ended 9 April 2016, that revenues fell to £1,096 million from £1,113 million recorded in the same period a year ago. Profit after tax widened to £76 million from £59 million. The board approved an interim dividend of 2.5p.

National Grid Plc (NG..L)  Announced, in its financial results for the year ended 31 March 2016, that revenues declined marginally to £15,115 million from £15,201 million recorded in the previous year. Profit after tax widened to £2,594 million from £2,011 million. The board recommended a full year dividend up 1.1% to 43.34p (2015: 42.87p).

Pendragon Plc (PDG.L)  Announced the appointment of Berenberg as a joint Corporate Broker.

Portmeirion Group Plc (PMP.L)  Announced, in its AGM Statement, that the US and the UK markets have performed better than during the same period last year but sales to South Korea have not recovered as we had expected. As a result total sales for the four months to the end of April were 2% below the corresponding period last year. It experienced an unexpected decrease in demand from some Asian markets. The firm is taking action in response to the decrease in demand and is confident that this, combined with the recent acquisition of Wax Lyrical, will provide overall growth for the Group this year. Consequently, it expects profit before tax to be in line with market expectations for the full year.

ProPhotonix Limited (PPIX.L)  Announced that it is holding its AGM at 2:00pm today, at which the President and CEO, Tim Losik, will make the following statement, 2015 was a successful year for the company even in the face of strong economic and foreign exchange headwinds. The company had its first full year of positive net income since 1994, also achieved five consecutive half-yearly periods of positive EBITDA and three consecutive half-yearly periods of positive operating income. During 2015, operating income increased sevenfold and EBITDA increased by 84%. In addition, the company’s team has been diligently pursuing new customers and new product and market initiatives, which has resulted in an encouraging 2016 to date. The company received production orders from three customers who had signed three year supply agreements during 2015. The company has also enlarged its UV product family to include the COBRA Cure FX1 and the COBRA Cure FX2, innovative UV LED Curing systems. The board remains positive about the business pipeline and confident in our ability to achieve continued positive momentum toward our profitability objectives.

Restaurant Group Plc (RTN.L)  Announced the appointment of Graham Clemett as a Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee as he joins the Board on 1 June 2016.

Revolymer Plc (REVO.L)  Announced, at the annual general meeting, that trading in the first quarter of the current financial year is in line with company’s expectations, and we have continued to make good progress in gaining commercial traction with our product pipeline. Moreover, the company has also secured a renewal and expansion of our contract to supply nicotine gum in Canada, as well as contracting with a new customer in Canada. Further, the commercial progress follows on from company’s milestones in 2015, including two significant licence deals in our Home Care and Industrial business area.

Royal Mail Plc (RMG.L)  Announced, in its audited results for the full year ended 27 March 2016, that revenues fell to £9251 million from £9328 million posted in the preceding year. The company’s profit before tax stood at £538 million, compared to a profit of £569 million reported in the previous year. The basic earnings per share stood at 41.3p compared to earnings of 42.8p reported in the previous year. The Board has recommended a final dividend of 15.1p per share.

Science Group Plc (SAG.L)  Announced, in its trading update, that overall the group performance in the first 4 months of the year is in line with the Board’s expectations. At 30 April 2016, the group had gross cash of £18.4 million and net funds of £10.9 million. Group revenue and adjusted operating profit to date are in line with the Board’s expectations.

Spire Healthcare Group Plc (SPI.L)  Announced, in its trading update for the period from 1 January 2016 to 18 May 2016, that guidance for the financial year ending 31 December 2016 remains in line with management expectations as stated at the Full Year 2015 results on 17 March 2016.

Staffline Group Plc (STAF.L)  Announced that it will hold the Annual General Meeting at 10.00am this morning. At the meeting Andy Hogarth, Chief Executive of the Group, will make the following statement on current trading, that following the transformational year of 2015, the company has continued to make excellent progress in the new financial year. In particular, having entered 2016 with a record new business pipeline, its Staffing division has further built on this momentum, with continued strong performance in the year to date. Demand from our customers for flexible labour has continued unchanged despite the introduction of the National Living Wage in April. In PeoplePlus, the group’s Employability division, we are seeing the benefits of the integration of A4e, completed ahead of schedule last year, deliver tangible improvements in our Work Programme Contract performance. As a result, the company is pleased to confirm current trading is in line with market expectations and the board remains confident of the group’s growth prospects.

Strategic Minerals Plc (SML.L)  Announced, in its trading update for the three months to 31 March 2016, that sales of Cobre operations fell by $0.227 million in Q1 2016 compared to the same period in 2015. The quarterly sales at the Cobre operations witnessed an annual turnover of more than 17,000 tons per annum. The company had cash of $0.641 million as at 31 March 2016. During the March quarter, the Board decided to ceased the Tatu project while it terminated arrangements, transferring the company’s interest in King Country Mining back to the previous owners for a nominal sum. The company also withdrew from a potential involvement in the proposed re-opening of the Wanbao coal mine

Thomas Cook Group Plc (TCG.L)  Announced, in its interim results for the six months ended 31 March 2016, that revenue stood at £2,672 million, compared to £2,742 million in the same period last year. Operating loss stood at £208 million, compared to a loss of £221 million. Loss after tax was £287 million, compared to a loss of £314 million. Diluted loss per share stood at 17.5p, compared to a loss of 20.8p.

UDG Healthcare Plc (UDG.L)  Announced, in its interim results for the six months to 31 March 2016 that revenues rose to €472.4 million from €446.2 million recorded in the same period a year ago. Profit after tax widened to €31.4 million from €21.2 million. The Board has declared an interim dividend of 3.05 cent per share, a 5% increase on the 2015 interim dividend.

Unite Group Plc (UTG.L)  Announced that it has entered into a contract to acquire a new development site in central Birmingham to provide homes for approximately 600 students, subject to obtaining the necessary consents. The total development cost, including the cost of the land, is expected to be £40 million.

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