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10 Sep 2019
Investec UK Daily: 10/09/2019
Associated British Foods plc (ABF:LON), 2,216 | Admiral Group plc (ADM:LON), 3,340 | ASOS Plc (ASC:LON), 284 | Aviva plc (AV:LON), 655 | B&M European Value Retail SA (BME:LON), 240 | Barclays PLC (BARC:LON), 368 | Beazley Plc (BEZ:LON), 784 | boohoo group Plc (DEBS:LON), 14.0 | Card Factory Plc (CARD:LON), 105 | Greggs plc (GRG:LON), 1,626 | Halfords Group Plc (HFD:LON), 140 | Hiscox Ltd (HSX:LON), 1,285 | JD Sports Fashion Plc (JD:LON), 93.9 | Kingfisher Plc (KGF:LON), 253 | Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE:LON), 589 | Marks and Spencer Group plc (MKS:LON), 342 | Midwich Group Plc (MIDW:LON), 204 | Naked Wines plc (WINE:LON), 84.7 | Nestle (NESN:VTX), 0 | Next plc (NXT:LON), 12,245 | Saga plc (SAGA:LON), 205 | WH Smith PLC (SMWH:LON), 662 | TheWorks.co.uk plc (WRKS:LON), 52.2 | Unilever PLC (ULVR:LON), 4,766 | Watches of Switzerland Group PLC (WOSG:LON), 351

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Investec UK Daily: 10/09/2019
Associated British Foods plc (ABF:LON), 2,216 | Admiral Group plc (ADM:LON), 3,340 | ASOS Plc (ASC:LON), 284 | Aviva plc (AV:LON), 655 | B&M European Value Retail SA (BME:LON), 240 | Barclays PLC (BARC:LON), 368 | Beazley Plc (BEZ:LON), 784 | boohoo group Plc (DEBS:LON), 14.0 | Card Factory Plc (CARD:LON), 105 | Greggs plc (GRG:LON), 1,626 | Halfords Group Plc (HFD:LON), 140 | Hiscox Ltd (HSX:LON), 1,285 | JD Sports Fashion Plc (JD:LON), 93.9 | Kingfisher Plc (KGF:LON), 253 | Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE:LON), 589 | Marks and Spencer Group plc (MKS:LON), 342 | Midwich Group Plc (MIDW:LON), 204 | Naked Wines plc (WINE:LON), 84.7 | Nestle (NESN:VTX), 0 | Next plc (NXT:LON), 12,245 | Saga plc (SAGA:LON), 205 | WH Smith PLC (SMWH:LON), 662 | TheWorks.co.uk plc (WRKS:LON), 52.2 | Unilever PLC (ULVR:LON), 4,766 | Watches of Switzerland Group PLC (WOSG:LON), 351
- Published:
10 Sep 2019 -
Author:
Dr Andrew Whitney | Kellie McAvoy | Ben Hunt, CFA | Kate Calvert | Michael Donnelly | Marc Elliott | Harold Hutchinson | Alicia Forry, CFA | Eddy Hargreaves | Ian Gordon -
Pages:
15 -
Impact of lower bond yields. We put through 20 to 30 basis point reductions in investment yields to update for moves since mid-year. The average impact is low single digit reductions to operating earnings going forward, with higher leverage and longer duration at Aviva, DLG and RSA meaning proportionally the greatest impacts over time. We have also made material cuts to Hiscox and Lancashire earnings after disappointing H1 results.
Technical profits more valuable in lower rate environment. In a low interest rate environment, consistent and growing dividendable earnings that are not overly dependent on investment returns should justify a higher multiple. We have updated our price targets to be based on earnings/return on equity when the full impact of current bond yields is reflected in reported earnings. This has led to lowered ROEs for most companies, which we have balanced by lower cost of equity where the operating performance has been reasonably strong, particularly for the Lloyd’s insurers and Admiral.
More cautious views of dividends. Headwinds as lower investment yields earn through have caused us to lower dividend expectations for DLG and RSA (with the latter on top of cuts made immediately after H1 results), while cuts to Lancashire also reflect lower underwriting profit forecasts. Note the cut to DLG is to special dividend expectations, with regular dividend progression unchanged, while RSA is for the regular dividend – still growing, but more slowly than previously. Admiral is the only company where we have raised dividends, on the assumption the absolute payment is held flat from a higher base after a strong H1.
Recommendation changes. We upgrade Admiral from Reduce to Buy, given resilient earnings through the low-point of the UK motor cycle with low sensitivity to investment income, and downgrade for RSA from Buy to Sell, on lowered earnings and dividend forecasts, with the most material risks of the non-life stocks we cover from lower bond yields. In addition, we have lowered our price targets for Aviva, DLG and Hiscox and raised them for Beazley and Lancashire.
Lloyd’s insurers – remainder of the Hurricane season and industry news from Monte Carlo – we would not see Dorian as likely to be a market changing event, with Reinsurance dynamics less positive than Specialty.
Personal lines - the FCA has delayed its interim report on customer loyalty until October – we would expect this to be the next event to review expectations. Our central case remains a gradual improvement in Motor pricing, but we have not assumed an improvement in margins into 2020/21E. Risks remain that inflation remains elevated or increases in H2 (Sterling weakness is not helpful) with Hastings the most exposed.