Friday tips round up: Tesco, Premier Farnell, Shire

16th Mar 2012 06:53

Questor in the Telegraph ponders Tesco and the surprise departure of its UK boss, Richard Brasher, announced yesterday. The column's conclusion is that it implies a disagreement over strategy as the company faces pressure to explain how it will turn around the UK operation following poor results and falling market share. As Questor points out, the UK is Tesco's cash cow, if that cash dries up then it cannot invest overseas. Trading at 9.4 times earnings and with a yield of 4.7% Questor thinks you'd be best off waiting for the big strategic announcement on April 18th before wading in. Hold.Premier Farnell gets a turn in the Times's Tempus column. As the paper points out the company is a fascinating "bellwether" of the world economy because people order its electrical components "on demand". It has virtually no forward orders. In other words, what is happening to Premier Farnell is happening to the global economy. Would you buy the global economy right now? Probably not thinks Tempus. Premier trades at roughly 12 times expected 2012 earnings and yields perhaps 4.7%. Not bad, but not going anywhere. Leave.Shire, the pharmaceutical company is also given the once over by Tempus. Quite a busy day for the company. It pulled out of an application to sell its Fabry disease treatment, Replagal, in the US after a misunderstanding with the Food and Drug Administration. It then announced a $100m purchase of FerroKin BioSciences, a company which makes treatments for excess iron following blood transfusions. The company had a storming 2011 and Tempus thinks despite a turbulent Thursday, the stock is worth buying on any weakness.BSPlease 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.