Broker snap: Prime Markets keeps sell rating on Britvic

21st Jul 2011 12:32

After a sharp fall in both sales and value recently for Britvic, broker Prime Markets maintained its sell rating for the soft drinks firm."Britvic [...] this morning provided an update on Q3 trading, and said that despite weakening consumer spending the soft drinks market performed in line with expectations until the impact of below average weather which has resulted in the GB and Ireland soft drink markets contracting sharply in both volume and value in the last four weeks," said head of dealing Richard Curr.Curr noted that the group has been a "solid performer" since the end of the Credit Crunch, trebling its value at one stage from the low of 150p at the end of 2008.However, "shares have tailed off this year though, and while the sharp downturn in sales and value over the past 4 weeks is arguably reflected in the chart, with shares having come such a long way, the current valuation after the falls is still toppy," he said.The broker added that until Britvic can show that recent trends have reversed to prevent further weakness in the shares, then a sell recommendation and 345p price target will stay in place.BC