VPRUDENTIAL
Barclays Private Clients is recommending shares in Prudential, the insurance giant. Why? “First, Prudential, with its geographic spread, is well positioned to benefit from a worldwide recovery in the economy and stock markets. Second, we forecast 17 per cent earnings growth for 2005, the strongest growth for that year of any insurance company we cover.”
VMILLENNIUM & COPTHORNE HOTELS
A positive piece on Millennium & Copthorne from CSFB this week. As well as being the strong recovery play in the sector, the broker argues, M&C’s unrivalled expertise and contacts in Asia will enable it to capitalise on opportunities for expansion in the Asian hotels market. The improvement in room-rates in Asia, partly as a result of the recovery from sars, partly just the region’s economic revival, should put a fire under the shares, CSFB says.
VGALEN
The Northern Irish drugs group Galen is a “buy”, thanks to an innovative deal to ward off copycat competition, says Jonathan Senior, at Evolution Beeson Gregory. “Until recently the threat was more acute for Galen [because] several of its products, 35 per cent of our estimate for the company’s revenue in 2004, were facing near- term competition. [But], if the recently announced deal with Barr Labs is approved, the threat to two of the products could disappear for at least three years.”
VALEXON
Alexon’s management team under John Osborn has rewarded investors over the past two years with strong earnings growth and a tripling of the share price. But Altium Capital thinks the market is undervaluing the shares, which the broker rates as a “buy”. Alexon owns Dolcis shoe shops and the Bay Trading chain, both of which will drive future growth.
VMAN GROUP
In an analysis of the three FTSE 100 fund managers by Deutsche Bank this week, the hedge fund manager Man Group came out top. The broker says Man is well placed to cash in on the growing popularity of hedge funds, thanks to its excellent investment track record, its wide range of products and a successful sales infrastructure. In addition, the shares are trading at a large discount to traditional fund managers.
s.foley@independent.co.uk
