Jefferies says ALS's profit forecast upgrade is 'no surprise'

ALS

01/03/2022 21:19

** Brokerage Jefferies believes testing services provider
ALS Ltd's  ALQ.AX  guidance upgrade is no surprise as key macro
trends are positive
    ** Co on Tuesday upgraded https://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20220301/pdf/456kyksd2g66sx.pdf
 its FY22 underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) forecast to
between A$260 mln ($188.42 mln) and A$265 mln from between A$242
million and A$252 million
    ** Jefferies expects a strong recovery for ALS in FY22 after
a COVID-impacted FY21 and increases FY22-24 EBIT and NPAT
estimates by 3-4% 
    ** Says it expects exploration volumes to continue to
increase in the near term as the capital from junior mining
equity raisings is deployed
    ** Adds that it expects management to pursue additional 
acquisitive growth to meet the five-year strategic growth
targets set in FY17
    ** Five of 11 analysts rate the stock "buy" or higher, six
rate it "hold", their median PT is A$13.79 - Refinitiv data
    ** As of last close, stock has lost 5.4% this year

($1 = 1.3799 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru)
 ((Himanshi.Akhand@thomsonreuters.com;))