UK100

UK 100 equity research

Explore the most viewed and latest equity research and media content for the top 100 largest listed companies in the UK.

UK 100 Equity Research

Broker research, valuations, & analysis on the UK 100

02 Apr 20

BAT joins the virus vaccine race

In an industry that remains resilient during the COVID-19 crisis, BAT joins the virus vaccine race, (paradoxally) boosting its ESG credentials.

Companies: British American Tobacco

08 Jan 20

UK Housebuilding Sector: 2020 vision: Sharpness and clarity for industry prospects

For fighter pilots, it is a minimum requirement. But having 20/20 ‘visual acuity’ (correct term) does not necessarily mean you have perfect vision (as convention assumes); instead, it indicates sharpness and clarity of vision at a distance. It is measured by a Snellen Chart, which displays letters of progressively smaller size and whereby 20/20 means that the test subject sees the same line of letters at 20 feet that a person with normal vision sees at 20 feet (or 6 metres; but 6/6 simply didn’t catch on).

Companies: ABBY BDEV BWY BKG VTY CRN CSP CRST GLE GLV INL MCS PSN RDW SPR TW/ WJG

05 Mar 20

No big issues for 2020

Aviva announced an operating profit of £3,184m (up 6% yoy) and an IFRS profit after tax at £2,663m, better than expected. The main source of operating earnings improvement was the reduction in net expenses in the UK digital business by £165m regarding 2018. The cash remittance reached £2,597m, and the insurer is on the right track to deliver one of the key 2022 targets: remitting £8.5-9bn over 2019-22. We keep our positive opinion on the stock.

Companies: Aviva Plc

30 Jan 20

Expenses that still don't pay off

No real surprise with BT’s Q3 trading update but we get the feeling that recovery will not come into force soon. The group remains highly discounted vs. its peers with in particular an 8.5% dividend yield which suggests however that the dividend may be lowered in the near future. For the first 9m BT’s free cash flow was indeed down £737m to £1,000m due to increased capex and the deposit for UEFA club football rights.

Companies: BT Group

30 Jan 20

Is the worst over?

Q4 was weak but finally less than we expected. While the end of the year was marked by many concerns, improvements are expected, especially in H2 FY20. The group maintained its 20% operating margin target for 2020, while we become more and more confident about its success following the announcement of the tea strategic review.

Companies: Unilever

20 Feb 20

Lowered costs and impairments guidance at the rescue

The group released a mixed set of quarterly results, characterised by a fall in the tangible book value and a reduced capital usage. Management’s guidance for this is reassuring: the group is expected to meet expectations thanks to stronger cost control and lower cost of risk.

Companies: Lloyds Banking Group

13 Mar 20

High risk in TV advertising with the Coronavirus outbreak

In 2019, total advertising was better than expected and decreased by -1.5% (vs guidance of c.-2%). Lower group adjusted EBITA margin was attributable to Broadcasting, which had to support higher investments in the businesses, including the launch of BritBox UK, which were not completely offset by cost savings. The outlook for 2020 is uncertain due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Essentially, there should be a significant negative effect on TV advertising.

Companies: ITV

12 Nov 19

Guidance confirmed

The decrease in total advertising revenue slowed in 9 months 19 (-3% vs -5% in H1 19), reflecting a positive trend in Q3 19 (+1%) and corresponding to the high range of guidance (-1/+1%). Online revenue grew significantly (+23% in 9 months 19 vs +18% in H1 19). As expected, ITV Studios benefited from high deliveries of programmes, in particular from ITV America. The 2019 guidance is confirmed and a dividend of at least 8.0p/share was reiterated.

Companies: ITV

13 Nov 19

H1: increase in the EPS guidance

SSE realised a good set of H1 19 results, driven by new renewables capacity and favourable weather conditions. However, the transmission and distribution activites decreased sharply, but were partially compensated by the good results in gas distribution. The group increased by 3.6% the mid-point of the FY20e EPS guidance.

Companies: SSE

21 Nov 19

Battery materials' position of points

JMAT’s H1 results were positively impacted by the good demand for car and truck catalysts, but profitability suffered. The top-line of New Markets was helped by the strong demand for battery materials, but profitability suffered from the investments in the next generation battery material eLNO, which came in more pronounced than expected. Due to the good performance in all other divisions, JMAT’s figures were a notch higher than expected from us, but consensus was met.

Companies: Johnson Matthey

12 Feb 20

Sales momentum decelerates in Q4; margin to remain under pressure

Despite the pick-up in sales in the vaccines segment, GSK’s Q4 19 organic revenue growth decelerated to +2% due to a poor show in the pharmaceuticals segment – weighed down by generic and competitive pressure. Profitability was impacted by higher R&D spend and further pressure is on the cards as GSK tries to push new drugs into the market. The consumer healthcare JV restructuring programme should also be a short-term dampener, however, an IPO could help in unlocking value in the mid-term.

Companies: GlaxoSmithKline

13 Feb 20

Another good year for RELX

The FY19 results were sound and globally in line with expectations. The group once again managed to improve its adjusted operating margin (31.6% from 31.3%) on underlying revenue rising by 4%. All in all, a satisfactory performance. RELX anticipates more or less the same positive trends over FY20e, although the Coronavirus impact on the exhibitions division is still highly uncertain. Not coming as a surprise, the Chairman of the Board Mr Habgood (74 years old) will retire once a successor is appointed.

Companies: Relx

25 Mar 20

Capital Access' Hot Off The Wires - The Day Ahead

Today's news & views, plus announcements from UU, PSN, DCC, MGGT, BWY, SSPG, MCS, DFS, KLR, KWS, SUMO, SRC

Companies: Persimmon

14 Jun 16

Results in line; outlook positive

We said in February that be felt that Halma would outperform strongly in these challenging market conditions and that has proven to be the case. We await the analyst presentation but expect to make no material change to numbers. We increase our price target from 792p to 921p and remain at Hold.

Companies: Halma

19 Nov 15

Upgrading price target and recommendation

As we have frequently stated, Halma is one of, if not the, highest quality companies in the broad industrials sector. We previously had a Sell recommendation, based on valuation concerns, but following the resilient interims earlier this week we feel that Halma will outperform strongly in these challenging market conditions. We increase our target price to 792p and move to Hold.

Companies: Halma

13 Feb 20

Morning Update: City watchdog probing Barclays CEO links to sex offender Epstein

28 Feb 20

Morning Report: BA owner IAG takes hit as it cuts back on more flights due to coronavirus

24 Sep 19

Investor Update: TUI delivers solid fourth quarter update

26 Mar 19

Healthcare - Rebate reform could be just what the doctor ordered

Premium

09 Sep 15

Alkane Energy - Interim Results

05 Feb 19

Consumer Staples: Our Best Ideas We expect sector rotation into defensives: Buy ABI, Imperial, Reckitt

Premium

04 Jul 14

Executive Interview - Rolls-Royce

25 Jan 19

Capital Goods Value trap – 2019 Outlook

Premium

03 Jun 15

Clinova - ELITE at London Stock Exchange

05 Jun 17

London Stock Exchange - 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain

19 Mar 20

Morning Report: Ocado struggles to deal with upsurge in demand during coronavirus pandemic

20 Apr 17

Geoff Drabble, Ashtead Group CEO

Premium

25 Mar 20

Morning Report: FTSE 100 opens higher again on reports of US$2trn US stimulus bill

14 Feb 17

London Stock Exchange Group - Your Guide to ESG Reporting

31 Mar 20

Morning Report: Smiths Group halts planned demerger of medical arm

Latest Content

BAT joins the virus vaccine race

In an industry that remains resilient during the COVID-19 crisis, BAT joins the virus vaccine race, (paradoxally) boosting its ESG credentials.

British American Tobacco

02 Apr 20
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SP Angel . Morning View

Ariana Resources* (AAU LN) – Due diligence completed | Botswana Diamonds (BOD LN)* – New exploration licences in Botswana | Caledonia Mining* (CMCL LN) – Deferral of dividend | Central Asia Metals (CAML LN) – 2019 results and decision to forego a dividend distribution | Gem Diamonds (GEMD LN) – Diamond sale | Glencore (GLEN LN) defers $2.6bn dividend decision.| Greatland Gold (GGP LN) –Newcrest exploration achieves 40% interest in the Havieron project | Strategic Minerals* (SML LN) – Experiencing little impact from Covid19 | Scotgold Resources* (SGZ LN) – Interims | Vast Resources* (VAST LN) – Chiadzwa Community Diamond Project update

AAU BOD CMCL CAML GEMD GLEN GGP SML SGZ VAST

01 Apr 20
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Morning Report: Smiths Group halts planned demerger of medical arm

Smiths Group

31 Mar 20

SP Angel . Morning View

Anglo American (AAL LN) – De Beers diamond sales | Atalaya Mining (ATYM LN) –Operations suspended at Proyecto Riotinto | Caledonia Mining* (CMCL LN) – Seeking exemption from virus mitigation measures | Cora Gold* (CORA LN) 4.5p, Mkt Cap £5.9m – Commencement of drilling at Madina Foulbe, Senegal | Gemfields (GEM LN) – Suspension of operations | Pan African Resources (PAF LN) – Operations under lock-down | Rainbow Rare Earths (RBW LN) 1.5p, Mkt cap £5.7m – Doubling production to 20,000tpa for >20 years reiterated in interim statement

AAL ATYM CMCL CORA GEM PAF RBW

30 Mar 20
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SP Angel . Morning View

Anglo American (AAL LN) – Covid19 mitigation measures | Arkle Resources* (ARK LN) 0.7p, Mkt Cap £1m – Conditional fundraising | Chaarat Gold* (CGH LN) - BUY – 44p – Operations update in the light of the COVID-19 outbreak | Scotgold Resources* (SGZ LN) - BUY – Cononish development update

AAL ARK CGH SGZ

27 Mar 20
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Capital Access' Hot Off The Wires - The Day Ahead

Today's news & views, plus announcements from UU, PSN, DCC, MGGT, BWY, SSPG, MCS, DFS, KLR, KWS, SUMO, SRC

Persimmon

25 Mar 20
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SP Angel Healthcare Conditions

Novacyt (NCYT.L): Agreements struck with Bruker and Yourgene | Polarean Imaging (POLX.L): Change of General Meeting Venue | Silence Therapeutics (SLN.L): Strategic collaboration with AstraZeneca (AZN.L)

NCYT POLX SLN AZN

25 Mar 20
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Morning Report: FTSE 100 opens higher again on reports of US$2trn US stimulus bill

Persimmon

25 Mar 20

SP Angel . Morning View

BlueRock Diamonds* (BRD LN) – Closure of Kareevlei mine for 21 days due to national shutdown | Bushveld Minerals* (BMN LN) – South Africa government orders underground miners and smelters to shutdown for 21 days | Oriole Resources (ORR LN) – Final Results | Rio Tinto (RIO LN) – Production curtailed at Richards Bay for 21 days | Vast Resources* (VAST LN) – Baita PLai and Chiadzwa Community Diamond update

BRD bmn ORR RIO VAST

24 Mar 20
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Standing still in turbulent times

Ocado remains mired by its capacity constraints in the retail business. While the Q1 performance was unsurprising, the company is struggling to cope with the sudden spike in consumer demand due to the outbreak of COVID-19. We remain positive on the strength of the business model but one should wait for a better entry point in the stock.

Ocado Group