BUY: Mattioli Woods (MTW)
The specialist wealth supervisor seems to have ridden out the worst of the autumn monetary storms, writes Julian Hofmann.
The trials and tribulations in asset administration are nicely documented over the previous 12 months. Whereas the massive corporations have struggled, smaller gamers corresponding to Mattioli Woods have held the road in opposition to wholesale asset value falls and buyer withdrawals, although even MTW recorded a 2 per cent fall in consumer property to £14.6bn. In such a tough market, the important thing differentiator appears to be whether or not asset managers additionally class themselves as normal wealth managers, as this market section has proved to be way more steady.
Mattioli Woods is not any completely different on this regard. The corporate’s foremost energy continues to be the recurring charges from managing consumer cash stashed in pensions, or discretionary investments. Recurring revenues made up practically 90 per cent of whole gross sales, up from 88 per cent final yr. This was optimistic on condition that the half encompassed among the worst of the market turmoil triggered by final autumn’s “mini” Funds. The rising rate of interest atmosphere can be fascinating for the corporate, which has the choice of deploying its capital within the cash broking market and incomes higher curiosity, whereas doing the identical for its Sipp clients.
Administration attributes this to the corporate with the ability to earn charges from discretionary recommendation when markets are unhealthy, whereas nonetheless being pulling clients to its platform through referrals. Acquisitions have additionally performed their half, with the corporate incomes £20mn of income from companies acquired for the reason that finish of 2021.
Mattioli presents an fascinating mixture of inherent operational gearing and resilient income streams by way of its advisory companies. The shares have eased again barely for the reason that summer time however the ahead value/earnings ratio of 13, based mostly on FactSet consensus, is unchanged.
HOLD: Barratt Developments (BDEV)
The housebuilder carried out nicely within the second half of final yr, however difficulties lie forward, writes Mitchell Labiak.
Barratt Developments ended final yr with a bang. In its results for the six months to December 31, revenues and earnings jumped regardless of one other bang rumbling within the distance — the pullback in home costs. They’re of their longest interval of decline since 2008 with some consultants predicting they’ll have fallen 10 per cent by the top of 2023.
That is already hurting Barratt. Ahead gross sales slumped by 31 per cent by quantity and 35 per cent by worth in comparison with the identical level final yr (end-January), underlining that the corporate’s subsequent set of outcomes is not going to be as rosy. The phased discount of its dividend protection from 2.25 final monetary yr to 1.75 by 2024, in addition to its decreased dividend fee for this half-year interval, is a recognition from Barratt of the rocky highway forward. Unhealthy information for revenue buyers who ought to anticipate much less going ahead.
Then there may be the continuing situation of fireside security prices post-Grenfell. The corporate took an enormous hit final yr, however there have been no such funds for this reporting interval and Barratt insists there can be no extra prices to pay “ought to it signal the proposed contract” which the federal government unveiled on the finish of final month. Builders have been given a deadline of March to signal or face “important penalties”, but the wording from Barratt is much from a pledge that it’ll signal the contract, setting the stage for a possible stand-off with the federal government on the problem.
The corporate prompted some trigger for optimism, nonetheless, when it stated that it had seen “early indicators of enchancment” in January buying and selling. Its internet non-public reservation charge (per energetic outlet per week) rose to 0.49 final month, up from 0.3 within the closing six weeks of 2022.
That uptick helped sparked a mini-rally in housebuilder shares, however Barratt’s outcomes must be understood within the context of the challenges forward.
HOLD: PZ Cussons (PZC)
Administration pointed to “restricted quantity declines” as internet debt elevated, writes Christopher Akers.
PZ Cussons’ shares have been marked down by 6 per cent on the again of a combined set of outcomes. The buyer items firm, which owns Carex and Imperial Leather-based, stored its full-year steering and dividend regular, however this wasn’t sufficient to forestall market jitters round demand pressures and better internet debt.
It was in Africa the place the best top-line pleasure was discovered, regardless of that market driving the 5 per cent decline in total volumes within the interval (which wasn’t a horrible end result given the buyer spending atmosphere). Like-for-like (LFL) revenues have been up there by 16 per cent, with distribution features and value will increase behind the efficiency. An adjusted working margin uplift of 370 foundation factors outstripped efficiency in different locales.
Outcomes elsewhere have been much less spectacular. LFL revenues rose by 8 per cent in Asia Pacific and contracted by 6 per cent in Europe and the Americas. The latter market — the place earnings plunged — was hit by the persevering with normalisation of handwash demand. On condition that Carex gross sales are nonetheless up by a fifth in opposition to the pre-Covid baseline, there’s a query right here of simply how a lot additional they must fall because the hyper-conscious pandemic angle in direction of germs fades.
Administration expects an improved margin efficiency within the second half of the yr. And long-term income and margin targets have been maintained. Promising stuff. However a chunky improve in adjusted internet debt from £10mn to £36mn within the half raised some eyebrows.
Metropolis analysts worth the shares at their five-year common of 17 occasions ahead earnings, based on the consensus place on FactSet. That is undemanding, if not precisely low cost. We predict the long-term outlook nonetheless seems to be promising for the corporate, because it invests extra in key manufacturers and adapts to a altering market.
