RBC Capital downgrades Intertek to ‘sector perform’

"Intertek has performed well versus the wider sector year to date and now trades at what we deem to be fair value, taking into account recent FX movements and, we think, a less certain outlook for FY25," the bank said. "Thus we lower our rating to sector perform."

RBC said Intertek has struggled to shake off its reputation for overpaying for M&A historically, but it thinks attractive regional exposures, improved capital discipline and the lowest proportionate restructuring costs compared to peers historically, still hold their attractions for longer term investors.

"We still see ITRK as attractively positioned for the medium to longer term, but would wait for a better entry point after decent share price performance year to date."

At 1050 BST, the shares were down 3.2% at 4,954p.