BEST OF THE BROKERS
LEGAL & GENERAL
Nomura has reiterated its “buy” recommendation on Legal & General (L&G) ahead of its results. Nomura expects strong half- year results and have upgraded their earnings dividend forecasts. Nomura said last week there was a positive step towards the removal of a solvency threat to L&G’s annuity book.
WPP
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) said it continues to see WPP as a relatively inexpensive recovery play with good exposure to the US and emerging markets. RBS reiterates its “buy” recommendation on WPP and forecasts growth in the second quarter of 2010. RBS said advertisers appear to be raising advertising and promotion spend.
BAE SYSTEMS
JP Morgan Cazenove maintains its “overweight” stance on BAE Systems. They said they continue to see BAE’s strong balance sheet as giving the group strategic options to move forward. They said the sale of BAE’s 10 per cent stake in SAAB hightlights their options and expect the transaction to be broadly neutral to earnings.
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