BEST OF THE BROKERS
BLACKS LEISURE
Seymour Pierce yesterday upgraded to “Outperform” from “Sell” its rating on Blacks Leisure. It said the approval of a Company Voluntary Arrangement eighteen months into turnaround plans at the company was the catalyst for the upgrade. The terms return financial stability to the store’s portfolio, Seymour Pierce said, leaving it in substantially better shape for management to focus on strengthening itself.
UBS
S&P Equity Research made adjustments to its model on UBS following an investor day last week, but said it had left its overall investment thesis unchanged, along with its “Hold” recommendation. It said the bank announced several medium-term targets during its investor day, including a pre-tax profit of 15bn Swiss francs, and total assets of 1.5 trillion Swiss francs. S&P said the targets are fairly optimistic.
BT
Cost-cutting is delivering at BT, Investec said yesterday, but added it was unclear if this could be sustained given severe pressure on the top line. Investec’s analysis shows there is scope for outperformance if indirect job cuts are extended. Investec raised 2010 earnings per share forecasts by 13.5 per cent and its target price to 150p, but said some investors should probably take profits.