The Week UK 21.03.2020

Shares CITY 55

21 March 2020 THE WEEK

Experian
InvestorsChronicle
Theglobalinformationservices
firmgathers,managesand
analysesdataforpersonal
credit-scoringandbusiness-to-
businessoperations.Margins
arerisingsteadilyasitexpands
intonewsectorsandterritories.
Buy.£24.70.

Hill&Smith
TheDailyTelegraph
Hill&Smithmakesgalvanised
roadbarriersandhasa“very
profitable”businessrenting
themout.Awell-run,stellar
performerwithastrong
balancesheetthat’s“broadly
immune”fromthe
coronavirus.Buy.£ 13 .10.

PolymetalInternational

TheSundayTelegraph

SharesintheFTSE 1 00’sonly

preciousmetalsminerare

risingwiththepriceofgold.

Costsandoutputshould

remainsteady,butexposure

toRussiameansgeopolitical

uncertainty.Risky,butyields

5%.Buy.£12.23.

StModwenProperties

TheDailyTelegraph

The“brownfield”regeneration

specialisthasrepositionedits

commercialportfoliotowards

industrialandlogisticalassets.

Littleexposuretoretailand

lowdebtshouldguardagainst

toughertimes.Nowata 1 2%

discount.Buy.445p.

TTElectronics

InvestorsChronicle

Theelectronicsengineer’s

rebalancetowardsaerospace,

defenceandmedicalrevenue

hashelpeditweather

macroeconomicchallenges.

Capexandrestructuring

shouldboostmarginsand

bringcostbenefits.Buy.1 97 p.

WHSmith

TheSundayTimes

Thenewsagent’scrucial

travelbusinesshasbeenhit

byvirus-relatedtravelbans,

causingsharestoplummet.

ButSmithscanrideoutthe

storm,andsharesmaysoon

represent“somethingofa

bargain”.Buy.£11.19.

Who’s tipping what

Theweek’sbest shares

...and some to hold, avoid or sell

Capita
InvestorsChronicle
The outsourcer is shifting
towards higher-margin
consultancy,digitalservices
andsoftware provision. But
theturnaround hasbeen
slower andmorecostly
than anticipated anddebt
hassoared.Sell. 78p.

DerwentLondon
The DailyTelegraph
Thisreal-estateinvestment
trusthas hada“superrun”,
havingcut vacanciesand
increasedrental incomewith
“a nicespread” of tenants.No
longerabargain,butasolid
playonthe Londonproperty
market.Hold.£39.20.

Devro

InvestorsChronicle

Thesausage-casingprovider’s

decline in itskey mature

markets (UK, Japan and

Europe)isworrying.But it

continuestocut costs and

the targeted growth strategy

in emerging markets is

promising.Hold. 151p.

IAG

The Times

Basedonleverage andcash,

the airline group shouldn’t be

in jeopardy. Butsuspended,

reducedandcancelled flights

willhit profits and revenues

as tourism andbusiness travel

worriesabound andlookto

be long-lasting.Avoid. 334p.

Kier Group

InvestorsChronicle

Theconstructionservices

grouphas madeprogresswith

cost savings and reducing its

supply chainfinancing. Butit

remains inthered andwon’t

reap its£1bnHS2rewarduntil

constructionbegins in earnest.

Sell. 121p.

Lookers

InvestorsChronicle

Thebeleagueredcarretailer,

whichis subjecttoanongoing

FCA probe,has postponed

results after uncovering

“potentiallyfraudulent

transactions”.Thisraises

serious questions about its

financialcontrols.Sell. 28.3p.

Directors’ dealings

LondonStock

ExchangeGroup

Waqas Samad,director of

informationservices, has

thrown confidencetothe wind

selling shares worth £1.65m

amidashort-lived rally.There

are risk sassociatedwiththe

Refinitivdeal, butthe LSE has

long-term momentum.

Form guide

Shares tipped 12 weeks ago

Best tip

Pets at Home

The Daily Telegraph

down 20.36% to 198.3p

Worst tip

Asos

The Daily Telegraph

down 66.85% to £10.42

Market view

“We’re almost inaworld-war

type situation. Even in a

global recession, you don’t

normally have an environ-

ment where businesses

completely shut down.”

Alastair Gunn of Jupiter

Asset Management. Quoted

in The Times

SOURCE

:INVESTORS CHRONICLE

Market summary

6-monthmovement in the FTSE100index

17 Mar 2020 Week before Change (%)

FTSE 100 5294.90 5960.23 –11.16%

FTSE All-share UK 2894.32 3332.98 –13.16%

Dow Jones 20933.90 23861.73 –12.27%

NASDAQ 7280.50 7995.67 –8.94%

Nikkei 225 17011.53 19867.12 –14.37%

Hang Seng 23263.73 25392.51 –8.38%

Gold 1487.70 1672.50 –11.05%

Brent Crude Oil 29.53 37.06 –20.32%

DIVIDEND YIELD(FTSE 100) 6.28% 5.57%

UK 10-year gilts yield 0.56 0.24

US 10-year Treasuries 0.89 0.64

UK ECONOMIC DATA

Latest CPI (yoy) 1.8% (Jan) 1.3% (Dec)

2.2% (Dec)

+4.1% (Jan)

Latest RPI (yoy) 2.7% (Jan)

Halifax house price (yoy) +2.8% (Feb)

£1 STERLING $1.185 E1.080 ¥127.252

Key numbers for investors Best and worst performing shares Following the Footsie

WEEK’S CHANGE, FTSE 100 STOCKS

RISES Price %change

Ocado Group 1361.00 +26.31

Spirax-Sarco Engr. 9055.00 +8.97

Hargreaves Lansdown 1449.50 +8.50

Admiral Group 2232.00 +7.41

Takeaway Com 6560.00 +6.67

FALLS

JD Sports Fashion 342.30 –46.38

Carnival 942.60 –43.05

Intl.Cons.Airl.Gp. 239.20 –43.02

Tui (Lon) 280.40 –42.54

easyJet 595.80 –40.48

BEST AND WORST UK STOCKS OVERALL

Redx Pharma 15.00 +130.77

Ashley (Laura) 0.31 –78.60

Source: Datastream (not adjusted for dividends). Prices on 17 Mar (pm)

5,000

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

7,000

6,000

8,000

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

7,500

8,500

8,000

7,000

6,500

Director

sells 20,890