Aveva is a "world-class business", says Numis

20th Apr 2015 09:41

A short trading update from engineering software group Aveva received a mixed reaction from the market on Monday, though Numis Securities reiterated its positive rating on the stock.The broker, which maintained an 'add' recommendation, said the company is a "world-class business" with a powerful position and long-term favourable product cycle, despite challenges affecting some markets.Aveva said it expects results for the year to 31 March to be in line with market expectations, which Numis said implies revenues of £208m and a pre-tax profit of £61.5m.While this will be down on the £237.3m and £78.3m reported for last year, respectively, owing to some tough end-market conditions, Numis said "this is an excellent result and testament to the strength of AVEVA's products, customer relationships and staff".It added: "There is no additional detail in the statement, but from talking to management we understand that, reassuringly, the performance was 'balanced' with no particularly exceptional deals."The stock's current valuation "does not feel aggressive to us", Numis said.The broker kept a 1,770p target price for the shares. The stock, which had risen strongly early on, was trading down 0.9% at 1,586p by 10:37.