Top of the Street: Kering, Hays, B&M, Nordic mining tools makers

Epiroc AB

23/09/2024 11:31

A round-up of notable broker activity this morning from Europe's
top-ranked* analysts:
    
    ** BofA cuts French luxury goods company Kering  PRTP.PA  to
"neutral" from "buy", pointing to weak demand from China and
predicting muted revenue growth for the sector through 2025
    ** Exane BNP Paribas cuts UK recruitment firm Hays  HAYS.L 
to "underperform" from "neutral" citing the lack of improvement
in market conditions through Q3 and structural challenges for
the business beyond cyclical momentum
    
    INITIATIONS AND REINSTATEMENTS
    ** Jefferies says it expects mining equipment makers to
enter an aftermarket-driven upcycle on the back of higher
production, as it initiates coverage of three Nordic companies
    ** It starts FLSmidth  FLS.CO  with "buy", saying the Danish
group could be the first 100% pure play in the mining equipment
sector with the possible disposal of its cement division
    ** It initiates Sweden's Epiroc  EPIRa.ST  with "buy" as
cyclical headwinds reverse in the high-margin aftermarket
segment
    ** It initiates Metso  METSO.HE  at "hold", saying softening
top-line impacts the Finnish company's ability to expand margins
with ongoing working capital headwinds
    ** UBS initiates British discount chain B&M  BMEB.L  at
"sell", saying its price gap vs Tesco  TSCO.L  and Sainsbury
 SBRY.L  has narrowed to the lowest level since at least 2016,
raising concerns of its mid-term competitiveness especially in
the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) segment
     
    
(*Analyst rankings from Thomson Reuters StarMine. The scale is
from 1-star to 5-star with 5 being the best. Analysts are ranked
on earnings accuracy as well as relative performance of
recommendations over trailing 12-month & 24-month periods.)


 (Reporting by Ozan Ergenay and Elviira Luoma)
 ((ozan.ergenay@thomsonreuters.com))
((elviira.luoma@thomsonreuters.com))