Friday tips round-up: Premier Oil, M&C Saatchi, Ted Baker...

25th Mar 2011 06:51

Premier Oil's 2009 purchase of Oilexco looks like an increasingly lucky deal as each day passes. It brought some useful assets, at a time when the oil price was $40 a barrel. It brought $1.2bn of tax losses that mean Premier is a long way off paying tax in the UK.Premier shares are close to the top of their trading range and added 4% to £19.87½ yesterday. This is about 80% of the latest net asset value figure for proven and probable assets, in line with the sector. But further progress should not be ruled out. At least hold, buy on any weakness or if you are bullish about the oil price, the Times suggests.M&C Saatchi, which, of the two founding brothers still includes Maurice, has been repeating their strategy in the 1980s of building an agency with global reach, but on a necessarily smaller scale. Saatchi shares crashed to as low as 26p in 2009 but have recovered sharply, up 6 ½p to 145 ½p yesterday. This puts them on a little more than ten times this year's earnings, a discount to the sector, such as it is. The growth story is convincing enough; buy if you can find them says the Times.The ad agency is in a strong financial position with cash double that of 2009 at £31m and group debt almost halved to £2.3m. At around 10 times forward earnings, the shares also look like a good bet. Buy adds the Independent.Ted Baker appears to inhabit a microcosm largely immune to normal retail trends. The fashion brand aimed at younger consumers famous for not advertising is perched somewhere below the luxury level, about equivalent to Hugo Boss or Katharine Hamnett. Total UK revenues last year to end-January, including the Christmas season, grew by 8.2% to £158.3m, while across the group they rose 14.7% to £187.7m. The UK accounts for the majority of the business, but international expansion into Asia and the Middle East suggests this could be a 50-50 split in three or four years' time. None of this comes cheap; the shares are on about 15 times this year's earnings, which feels about right. Hold says the Times.Please note: Digital Look provides a round-up of news, tips and information that is impacting share prices and the market. Digital Look cannot take any responsibility for information provided by third parties. This is for your general information only as not intended to be relied upon by users in making an investment decision or any other decision. Please obtain a copy of the relevant publication and carry out your own research before considering acting on any of this information.