Ford Equity International Rating and Forecast Report

Ford Equity International Research Reports cover 60 countries with over 30,000 stocks traded on international exchanges. A proprietary quantitative system compares each company to its peers on proven measures of business value, growth characteristics, and investor behavior. Ford's three recommendation ratings buy, hold and sell, represent each stock’s return potential relative to its own country market.. The rating reports which are generated each week, include the fundamental details behind each recommendation and reflect the fundamental and price data as of the last trading day of the we...

Update: Mixed H1, to regain momentum in H2

Lower profitability in Entu's H115 results has been well explained, as have the reasons for expecting an improvement in H2 and beyond. We believe that momentum in commercial contracts should ultimately outweigh limited drag from changes to industry incentives. However, in the current year, we have elected to lower EPS by 4.3%. Ahead of demonstrating regained momentum in H2, the 7% prospective yield should appeal to investors.

Institutional Comment: Daily comment

Norcros - Sale of Johnson Tiles UK agreed

Norcros’s disposal of Johnson Tiles is the latest strategic activity taken by management to better allocate capital to fit with priorities. Last year it closed its UK adhesives operation. Norcros has a compelling investment case, where its new product development initiatives, market positioning and self-help initiatives allow it to take market share in both the UK and South Africa. Its rating is low at 6.0x FY24e P/E, which is attractive, especially when compared to its yield of 5.4% on its well-covered dividend. We retain our estimates and value the shares at 246p, implying c 30% upside.

Henderson Far East Income - Repositioning to raise total returns

Henderson Far East Income (HFEL) has consistently delivered on its objective to provide a rising dividend. However, like many investors, HFEL’s managers overestimated the potential for a post-pandemic rebound in China. The trust’s resultant overweight to Chinese consumer and other cyclicals led to a fall in portfolio revenues and underperformance in the financial year ended 31 August 2023 (FY23). With a view to improving future returns, HFEL’s board has since indicated an increased willingness to use reserves when necessary to support dividend payments, which it did in FY23. This reduces the r...

Freelancer - AI to drive return to growth

Freelancer’s Q124 results were mixed. Operationally, the company is seeing rising demand for AI specialists as customers seek affordable ways to develop proprietary AI. Notably, in Enterprise, the company delivered a large-scale AI pilot for a tech giant, sourcing 20,000 freelancers in 24 hours across 52 languages. This impressive achievement could lead to a substantial multi-year contract. Major initiatives across Loadshift and Escrow with leading organisations are set to be deployed over the coming months, potentially catalysing performance and diversifying revenue streams. We revise our for...