UBS issues SThree with 'buy' rating
Analysts at Swiss broker UBS issued a 'buy' rating on Friday for shares of London-based recruitment firm SThree together with a target price of 450p.
FTSE All-Share
4,411.85
15:45 15/11/24
FTSE Small Cap
6,802.32
15:45 15/11/24
SThree
349.50p
15:44 15/11/24
Support Services
10,885.48
15:45 15/11/24
UBS pointed out that SThree's recent pre-tax profit of £44.5m represented growth of 4.5% at constant currency and a conversion margin of 15.6%, but noted that current expectations for the group's 2018 trading year looked "conservative".
The analysts noted that consensus pre-tax profit of £49.2m for SThree implied 6% year-on-year growth for a company that was currently tracking at 8%.
"Sthree does not typically disclose trading trends so early in the year, but we expect commentary to confirm strong trading as well: after Q4 growth of +8%, we expect +8% in Q1e.PBT of £44.5m, representing FY17 constant currency growth of 4.5% and conversion margin of 15.6%," the analysts said.
As of 1630 GMT, shares had fallen 4.39% to 370.00p.