Quarto’s $9.8m acquisition of the becker&mayer publishing assets is in line with its strategy of expanding in the US and in children’s publishing and should be usefully earnings enhancing in 2017e. Interim results showed positive progress, with revenue up by 8%. We have increased our revenue and profit forecasts to reflect the acquisition (2017e EPS up 4%). The balance sheet continues to strengthen, with H116 net debt reduced by US$8.5m to $72.5m. Despite a strong relative share price performance over the past 12 months, the 2016e P/E is still undemanding at 6.5x.
