Date: Monday 28 Jun 2010
UK banks are turning the corner, according to Nomura Securities, which has named Lloyds Banking as its preferred stock in the sector.“UK banks are benefiting from a combination of declining impairments, rising margins and strengthened capital bases,” reasons Nomura analyst Robert Law, adding that the domestic banks are trading on valuations at or below book value.
“In the past, UK banking has proved a profitable industry and could be expected to be so again, as long as economic recovery continues, even if future returns are well below those achieved in the past cycle,” Law asserts.
Nomura has kept its “reduce” rating for Lloyd’s fellow part-nationalised operator Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) but has lifted RBS’s target price from 31p to 41p.
Barclays is cut to “neutral” with the price target slashed to 300p from 425p on concerns that the valuation “is likely to remain capped by the business mix and associated regulatory risk.”
Among the Far Eastern banks it prefers Standard Chartered, which it rates a “buy”, to HSBC, which is has downgraded to “neutral”. HSBC’s price target has been cut to 725p from 800p.
A potential bidding war has fuelled spectacular gains at design and engineering consultant Scott Wilson, and that bodes well for rival Hyder.
Engineering group URS unveiled an agreed cash offer worth £161m, or 210p a share, only to be swiftly followed by news that American peer CH2M Hill is also interested.
“With a good chance of this transaction going through, we see Hyder Consulting being the best way to play this sub-sector at present,” said Panmure Gordon Monday.
“Not only could it become a target for large overseas players, but it is also more international than Scott Wilson with 70% of revenues now based overseas and exposure to the UK public sector running less than 10%.”
Better than expected results from Wilson also add spice.
Taylor Wimpey’s trading statement was “just OK” and there seems little to ignite the share price now that the post Budget rally looks to be spent, says KBC Peel Hunt.
The housebuilder reports stable conditions in both UK and US over the past six months, but remains wary over prospects in both markets.
“We see troubles aplenty ahead in the USA and if this means that this operation cannot be sold, the recovery in the UK will continue to be held back,” reckons KBC.“TW is struggling to convince on recovery and so will be destroying shareholders for some time and this needs to be reflected in a heavy discount to NAV. So, 30p share price versus 47p NAV is still our view of fair value.”
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