Broker tips: Aviva, Ocado, TUI Travel

9th Aug 2012 12:41

Investec has maintained its positive stance on insurance giant Aviva despite first-half operating profits falling well short of consensus forecasts.Operating profit dropped 10% in the six months to June 30th to £935m, under estimates of £1,119m and slightly below Investec's £996m forecast. "In the absence of the restructuring costs, operating profit would have been £1,121m. We view this as a creditable result in a difficult trading environment," said analyst Kevin Ryan.A 'buy' rating and 517p target price is maintained.UBS has downgraded its recommendation for online grocery group Ocado from 'neutral' to 'sell', saying that consensus expectations for next year are 'too bullish' and demand growth is slowing.UBS's own forecast for EBITDA [earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) is some 25% under consensus.The target price is more than halved from 110p to just 51p.Jefferies has maintained its 'buy' rating and 300p target price for package tour operator TUI Travel, saying that upgrades to consensus underlying forecasts may be in order."TUI Travel's 3Q12 IMS provides reassurance over full-year earnings, but also (more importantly) over the strengths of the business model. Progress on the Summer programme is encouraging and we think consensus upgrades would be in the offing, if not for a negative FX impact," the broker said on Thursday.BC