Inmarsat falls on Barclays downgrade

Despite strong growth forecasts, Barclays has downgraded Inmarsat from ‘equal weight’ to ‘underweight’, but raised its target price from 740p to 1,000p.

The bank said while it had forecast a five-year revenue compound annual growth rate of 8% and earnings per share growth of 6%, it said there were some negative factors to consider, including market expectations it believed were too optimistic.

It also said the execution risk is higher than before.

“GX is a brand new fleet that will require customers to replace their existing antennas; ATG-S is only being built and could face deployment and acceptance issues.”

Barclays also said the competitive environment is getting tougher for the FTSE 100 mobile satellite communications service provider.

“HTS is bringing new players into satellites and blurring the lines between FSS and MSS, with large players in the former specifically targeting some of ISAT’s markets.”

Barclays said while the company has outperformed over the last three years, it doesn’t believe the risks have been priced in to its valuation.

“ISAT is at a premium to fundamentals and historical multiples, leaving little room for error.”

Shares in Inmarsat were down 31.5p (3.09%) to 988.5p at 0952 GMT.