Among business services, look at ESG players, inflation beneficiaries, BofA says
18/01/2022 13:20
** BofA Global Research sees business services fundamentals remaining solid in 2022, as
it looks for emerging ESG plays and inflation beneficiaries
** The sector's players are asset-light and labour-cost heavy, BofA says, adding it will
be 'critical' to identify those with supportive pricing, contracts with indexation clauses,
or those exposed to North America with its talent shortages, wage inflation
** It continues to see testing, inspection and certification (TIC) as the most visible
ESG beneficiary from increasing investments in green tech
** BofA names Teleperformance TEPRF.PA and Spie SPIE.PA (both "buy") as top picks,
expecting the former's ongoing shift to digital customer experience to boost growth and
rating, while seeing the latter as "an emerging and still underappreciated ESG-enabler"
** BofA cuts staffing group Randstad RAND.AS to "underperform", pointing to a risk of
de-rating given limited consensus upgrades ahead and slowing PMI momentum
** It prefers peer Adecco ADEN.S ("neutral"), as it should benefit in 2022 from a
rebound in autos and the French staffing market
BofA's Business Services Coverage Overview
RATING buy neutral underperform
COMPANY NAMES Teleperformance, Spie, Adecco, Bunzl Randstad, SGS SGSN.S
Bureau Veritas BVI.PA , BNZL.L , Experian
Brenntag BNRGn.DE , Elis EXPN.L , ISS ISS.CO
ELIS.PA , Intertek
ITRK.L , Majorel MAJ.AS ,
Rentokil RTO.L
(Reporting by Juliette Portala)
((juliette.portala@tr.com))