Broker tips: British Land, ICAP, Umeco

23rd May 2011 12:52

Peel Hunt has issued property firm British Land with a downgrade, from 'buy' to 'hold', saying that its final results - while "commendable" - were lower than expected."Unlike leader peer Land Securities, British Land has a broader UK exposure to commercial property and is less endowed to special situations that boosted Land Securities last week," the broker said. While the rating is cut, the target price is kept the same at 610p.ICAP has had its rating upped from 'underperform' to 'outperform' by Credit Suisse, who says that the group is "attractively postioned over the long-term" with the recent share price weakness providing a good entry point. ICAP, the world's largest interdealer broker, reported its full-year results on 18 May which were in line with the Credit Suisse's expectations."We have raised our target price from 530p to 550p given the increasing proportion of profits from higher PE [price-to-earnings ratio] electronic broking and post-trade services," said analyst Rupak Ghose.Specialist engineering firm Umeco sold its supply chain unit, Pattonair, on Friday, leading to a one day broker downgrade event, however UBS has bucked the trend to keep its positive stance on the stock.UBS said that while the disposal is disappointing - with cash proceeds of £102m from the sale being lower than expected (enterprise value of £146m) - "the immediate disappointment on disposal proceeds is offset by a much more positive long term view."However, UBS makes small adjustments to its earnings forecasts as a result of the disposal, and trims its target price from 600p to 550p.---BC