Broker snap: Jefferies and Seymour Pierce disagree on N Brown

16th Oct 2012 12:15

Catalogue and home shopping firm N Brown has received a "Buy" rating from Jefferies and a "Hold" rating from Seymour Pierce, following its first half results.Seymour Pierce has maintained its "hold" rating with a price target of 250p, saying: "growth has been relatively pedestrian in the last two years and is expected to remain so with the current strategy. This is reflected in its valuation, we believe, with the share trading on a full year price earnings ratio of 9.9 times on our forecast for full year 2013 pre-tax profits of £98.9m, earnings per share of 27.4p (consensus £96m) and full year pre-tax profits of £104.5m, earnings per share of 28.8p (consensus £101.5m)."It adds that it is conscious that Lord Alliance stepping down with other management changes could act as a catalyst for more exciting growth or interesting strategic changes. However, when and if this will happen is unpredictable.Jefferies, joint house broker to N Brown, has a "Buy" rating on the stock with a price target of 280p. It comments: "We expect the market to favourably focus on accelerating like-for-like sales since the July update in the first half 2013 results. But we'd also highlight the return to growth in the active established customer base as positive for the longer term outlook."