Canaccord Genuity raises target price on Kitwave

Analysts at Canaccord Genuity slightly raised their target price on wholesale Kitwave from 240.0p to 255.0p on Monday, stating a "positive start" to the 2022 trading year had driven further upgrades for the stock.

Canaccord Genuity said Kitwave had delivered "a solid set of FY21 results", in line with upgraded forecasts, as trading rebounded strongly across the second half as Covid-19 pandemic trading restrictions eased and resulted in annual group revenues of £380.7m and adjusted underlying earnings of £15.1m.

The Canadian bank, which has a 'buy' rating on the stock, highlighted that Kitwave had navigated "the challenging backdrop of the pandemic and widespread supply chain/availability issues" well, given its in-house established delivery fleet and strong relationships with its large network of branded suppliers.

Canaccord also said trading across the start of 2022 had been slightly ahead of expectations and virtually back at pre-pandemic levels, leaving its analysts encouraged that Kitwave was carrying "strong momentum" as trading conditions continue to normalise, despite ongoing inflationary cost pressures on wages/fuel.

"The positive start to the year prompts a further upgrade to forecasts, which were recently upgraded for the acquisition of MJ Baker. We see scope for the shares to re-rate further following today's positive update and outlook, and believe they look good value on just 9.5x CY22E PER," concluded Canaccord.