Broker snap: Investec stays a buyer of ITE after full-year beat

4th Dec 2012 15:59

Investec has reiterated its 'buy' recommendation and 247p target price for conference and exhibition organiser ITE Group after the company managed to beat forecasts in a tough year.Full-year profit before tax and earnings per share (EPS) were slightly ahead of estimates, Investec said, in spite of "acquisition consolidation, Mosbuild [its construction event] competition and biennial negative skew."On the back of the full-year 'beat' and positive outlook, the broker has raised its EPS forecasts of 2-3%.The market reaction to the results on Tuesday was bullish, with shares up 8.47% at 213.9p before the close.Analyst Steve Liechti said: "Shares de-rated on adverse FX, but look attractive given B2B exhibition growth/strategic positioning."He said that the valuation - the stock is trading at 11.4 times current-year earnings - is now at the low end versus its B2B peers.BC