UK250

UK 250 equity research

Explore the most viewed and latest equity research and media content for the next 250 largest listed companies in the UK.

UK 250 Equity Research

Broker research, valuations, & analysis on the UK 250

14 Mar 19

LIBERUM: Clarkson* - Flooding the digital moat

Research with unrivalled breadth, depth and resources has been a key part of what differentiates Clarkson from its competitors. It has also been a key part of the barriers to entry protecting the group.

Companies: Clarkson

31 Jan 19

Quarterly Research Outlook

The market has not faced quite so many conflicting challenges for a number of years, whether related to global geopolitics, trade wars, ongoing Eurozone issues or the “will they, won’t they” saga of Brexit. In our Best Ideas, we sought to highlight stocks that present investors with interesting opportunities following recent market moves. Those stocks, we believe, warrant investor attention, in many cases for uncorrelated or stockspecific reasons, regardless of the near-to-medium term market direction. These stocks, in general, represent attractive and well-managed businesses or assets, with share price catalysts and where valuations or recent stock performance provide investors with a good entry point.

Companies: 7DIG ABBY AMS ANX ARS ATYM AVON BLVN PIER CGS CAML CALL CSRT TIDE DTG DEMG ELM EMR FPO FST GTLY GENL GRI GEEC HDY HMI HAYD HEAD HILS HTG HUR IBPO IOG INDI JHD JOG KEYS KCT KGH LAM MACF MOD MKLW OXIG PCA PARK PMO RBW RMM REDD RSW RNO RKH RBGP ROR SUS SCPA SHG SOLG TWD TRAK TRI VNET VTC ZTF

14 Mar 19

Greggs - Brand transformation rolls out cash

Greggs’ substantial progress with the brand transformation, backed by savvy use of social media, helped to deliver robust FY18 results, in spite of weather extremes, and an outstanding start to FY19. Consequently we have upgraded our forecasts three times since late November. The company is highly cash generative and likely to distribute part of the substantial cash balance (FY19e: £92.9m) with the H119 dividend.

Companies: Greggs

14 Jan 19

Opportunity knocks

We are introducing our Best Ideas for 2019 and also review the performance of last year’s picks. We suggest ten solidly financed stocks with good business dynamics that ought to be considered for core portfolio holdings and six UK domestically focused stocks that our analysts believe should perform strongly in the event that uncertainties unwind. We also introduce a new style of research from N+1 Singer which presents a Company’s dynamics and metrics in a clear and concise manner and concentrates on the pivotal issues affecting that Company and an investment decision.

Companies: BCA CLIN CLG CBP DNLM EAH FDL FCRM FUTR GTLY INS GLE NICL SDL SPR TRI

13 Mar 19

LIBERUM: CLS Holdings* - Diversified growth at a discount

CLS continues to generate above average returns, aided by its European diversity and income focus. We expect sustained good conditions in Germany and stability in France and the UK to support continued growth in 2019.

Companies: CLS

05 Mar 19

Robust FY18, strong start to FY19

GVC reported robust FY18 results. Pro forma EBITDA came in at £755m, in line with the upper end of the £750-755m range guided in January. More importantly, current trading was strong, with NGR growth of 11% (01/01-24/02) vs +9% in FY18. Current trading was, again, online-led with online NGR growth of 22% vs +9% for EU Retail and -2% in UK Retail. FY19 EBITDA is said to be in line with market expectations. The group guided for 10% DPS growth.

Companies: GVC

07 Mar 19

John Laing Group - JLG beats expectations

John Laing Group (JLG) posted strong growth in FY18 with the principal benchmark, NAV per share, up 15% (18.2% including dividends paid). JLG can now point to a compound growth rate in NAV per share (with dividends) of 15.8% since its IPO in 2015. With a strengthened balance sheet and a geographically diversified business, JLG remains well placed to exploit the growth opportunities provided by a strong global market for infrastructure assets.

Companies: John Laing Group

11 Mar 19

LIBERUM: Kier Group* - Two issues drive higher net debt

Accounting error results in the restatement of £40m of net debt from assets held-for resale to underlying net debt. The Broadmoor contract results in a £25m non-underlying charge in H1 and a £25m reduction in future receipts.

Companies: Kier Group

15 Mar 19

Weaker H1 margins but the top-line momentum continues

H1 margins were softer vs our estimates. FCF surged c.95% due to the favourable timing of supplier payments but should normalise in H2. Although management has announced c.10% lfl growth in the six weeks ended 10 March due to favourable weather conditions in February 2019, this momentum should normalise towards a mid single-digit in our opinion. We continue to believe in the company’s business model but the valuation is still not attractive. No change in the stock recommendation.

Companies: J D Wetherspoon

14 Jan 19

UK Housebuilding Sector in 2018

‘From the deserts of East Ham to the gardens of Cottenham’, the UK Housebuilding Sector was whacked to the tune of 27% in 2018; and not one share price (out of 18) rose on the London Stock Exchange.

Companies: BWY CRST BDEV WJG PSN RDW TW/ MCS CSP TEF BKG ABBY GLE

05 Mar 19

Guidance abandoned | New indicative forecasts

Debenhams announcement today that its guidance of full year profits (to August 2019) in line with market expectation no longer being supported by the company leaves the markets view of the company even more in limbo than it was previously in our view.

Companies: Debenhams

11 Mar 19

LIBERUM: Clarkson* - FY slightly ahead but cautious outlook for the Financial division

Slightly better than expected results comprised a much better than expected performance in Broking, which ended flat having been sharply lower in H1, offset by further weakness in the Financial division and higher central costs on elevated IT spending. The latter reflects efforts to begin offering new digital services to clients, although we have not assumed material incremental revenue at this stage.

Companies: Clarkson

10 Jan 19

Numbers slip exposes premium valuation

B&M has reported 3Q UK B&M stores LFL of -1.6% against our expectation of +2% and total UK sales growth of +4.4% (WH +9.5%). This is worse than expectation in our view and compares with underlying +3.6% in 1Q and -1.6% in 2Q, and comparatives 1-3Q 2017/18 of +6.3%, +7.7% and +3.9% (1Q figures in each year adjusted to exclude Easter timing differences). The company points to the exit rate of UK LFL being better at +1.2% and continuation of this rate into 4Q (where the comparative will weaken over the quarter).

Companies: B&M European Value Retail

21 Jan 19

Trading update

EBITA for FY18 expected to be c. £234m, -15% YoY, and in line with expectations (guidance £225m - £245m). Online delivered a good performance, growth in the US was excellent where the US business was broadly at break-even and retail reduced YoY (no YoY revenue performance metrics released). Cash offer for MR Green (MRG) for 92% of shares completed today, and offer for remaining 8% extended to 31 Jan, though all conditions for acquisition were met.

Companies: William Hill

23 Jan 19

LIBERUM: Brewin Dolphin Holdings* - Markets fall, discretionary flows remain

The group was able to deliver annualised net discretionary flows of 5.3%, above their target of 5%, even in this turbulent quarter. The fall in markets hit FUM, however, down 7.7%.

Companies: Brewin Dolphin

22 Aug 18

Grafton Group - Interim Results 2018

18 Mar 19

Bitesize briefing – Euromoney

28 Nov 18

LondonMetric Property PLC - Half Year Results 2018/19 interview

08 Mar 19

LS Holdings CEO, Fredrik Widlund*

Premium

28 Feb 19

Grafton Group - Full year results 2018

11 Feb 19

Acacia Mining - Preliminary results 2018

20 Nov 18

Entertainment One (ETO) H1 results interview November 2018

25 Jan 19

Capital Goods Value trap – 2019 Outlook

Premium

22 Nov 18

Assura - Half Year Results 2018

23 Jan 19

Contact General Retailers - Rating recovery amidst downgrades

Premium

23 May 18

Assura - Full Year Results 2018

27 Nov 18

Shaftesbury - Full Year Results 2018

11 May 18

Harbourvest - 10 years of success and the future of Private Equity

20 Nov 18

Entertainment One (ETO) H1 results presentation November 2018

09 Jul 18

Genus PLC - Capital Markets day 2018

Latest Content

Euromoney Institutional Investor

Bitesize briefing – Euromoney

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18 Mar 19

HICL Infrastructure Company Primary Health Properties

Fidante Daily Digest

HICL Infrastructure – Interserve and new investment | US Solar Fund – IPO update | Primary Health Properties – Forward funding acquisition

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18 Mar 19
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J D Wetherspoon

Weaker H1 margins but the top-line momentum continues

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15 Mar 19
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Clarkson

LIBERUM: Clarkson* - Flooding the digital moat

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14 Mar 19
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Greggs

Greggs - Brand transformation rolls out cash

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14 Mar 19
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HICL Infrastructure Company John Laing Environmental Assets Group Lt

Fidante Daily Digest

HICL Infrastructure – Preferred bidder | John Laing Environmental Assets – Results of share sale

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14 Mar 19
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Allied Minds

Bitesize briefing - Allied Minds

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bitesize-briefing-allied-minds-13-03-2019

13 Mar 19

CLS

LIBERUM: CLS Holdings* - Diversified growth at a discount

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13 Mar 19
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Euromoney Institutional Investor

Euromoney Institutional Investor - Market information

Euromoney has established a strong base from which to grow, particularly in the Pricing, data and market intelligence segment where its tools and products are increasingly built into client workflows. Continued challenging trading in Asset management is factored into our numbers, which have been lifted to reflect the completion of the BoardEx acquisition (PBT, EPS +7% FY19, +8% FY20). The group has plenty of firepower to fund further acquisitions. The proposed distribution of the DMGT shareholding removes the constraint on liquidity and should allow the rating to reflect the attractive cash flow characteristics and high quality of earnings.

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