Broker snap: Nomura prefers Barclays to UK peers

23rd Apr 2012 11:01

Nomura has retained its neutral stance and 268p target price for UK lender Barclays ahead of its first-quarter statement due on Thursday April 26th.Despite its cautious view, Nomura does say that it prefers Barclays to its Eurozone peers, "given the headwinds faced by continental European economies from austerity in a low growth and deleveraging environment." Furthermore, the broker says that it sees limited asset quality issues at Barclays, particularly compared with peers Lloyds and RBS "unless the Eurozone breaks down".Nomura is expecting Barclays to report a pre-tax profit of £1,939m (company-compiled consensus: £2,006m) in the first quarter of 2012."We retain our neutral rating on the name as we think additional upside will require a rerating of BarCap ROEs [return on equity targets], which we see as difficult to achieve in an environment of low interest rate and sluggish growth."BC