BEST OF THE BROKERS
DE LA RUE
A softening order book prompted UBS to downgrade De La Rue to “sell”. The broker said that the state of the order book is key to the firm, and that it believes that 2011 could shape up to be a tough year. Given limited catalysts and a likely slowing in earnings momentum, UBS expects the stock to underperform.
YEL GROUP
Citigroup analysts said that Yell is “still going, but still concerned”, following a directors’ warning about the company’s status as a going concern. Citi rates the stock as a “hold” with a target price of 70p, saying that the absence of quick fixes on the capital structure side makes a sustained rerating difficult to justify.
ITV
JP Morgan said that ITV’s current share price is pricing in a negative scenario on advertising, but not the positive impact of additional cost reductions of £40m from 2010. The broker has an “overweight” recommendation on the stock and a target price of 49p, saying the company is still too pessimistic on 2010.
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