Berenberg lowers target price on Future

Berenberg said its thesis on Future was unchanged after the group's full-year 2022 results came in as expected, with 2023 adjusted underlying earnings guidance in line with the analysts' expectations.

The German bank stated Future continued to "operationally outperform" peers due to its "superior platform" and position in the value chain – a trend it believes will continue in 2023.

"Nevertheless, we do not expect Future's share to move in the right direction with sentiment to be driven by macro-economic factors until this thesis begins to be proven at the H1 results in mid-2023," said Berenberg.

However, longer term, Berenberg continues to believe Future's platform to be "on the right side" of the structural evolution of the advertising landscape, and that its shares offered "good value" at 11.5% free cash flow yield and a 9.1x price-to-earnings ratio.

Berenberg, which reiterated its 'buy' rating on the stock, added that its primary reason for reducing its target price on the stock was due to a higher weighted average cost of capital and lower peer multiples.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com