BBA Aviation's shares rise after Investec retains 'buy' and lifts target price

BBA Aviation’s shares rose on Friday as Investec retained its ‘buy’ rating on the stock and increased its target price to 235p from 225p.

Investec said the company’s full year results were 1% ahead of its expectations.

The aviation services giant reported a 1% drop in underlying pre-tax profit to $170m (£120.8m) and a 7% fall in revenue to $2.12bn in the year to 31 December 2015.

BBA said the decrease in revenue reflected lower fuel prices and foreign exchange headwinds.

However, growth in its flight support business offset a disappointing performance of its aftermarket services, specifically in engine repair and overhaul.

The robust results in flight support were driven by the Signature business, which supplies support for business and general aviation travel, refueling, hangar and office rentals, and other technical services.

The company expanded its flight support network with the acquisition of Landmark Aviation, completed on 5 February.

“While we make no substantial changes to our forecasts, the strong Signature performance and positive outlook further enhances our confidence in the group’s prospects,” Investec analyst Sam Bland said.

“We also believe potential revenue synergies from the Landmark acquisition are substantial, and may provide further upside to our forecasts.”

Shares increased 6.72% to 205p at 1032 GMT.