Thursday tips round-up: Icap, ITE, Morgan Crucible

14th Jul 2011 06:48

Another year or more of dithering in Brussels and then a catastrophic implosion that saw Greece, Ireland and Portugal expelled to set up their own volatile currencies is probably the ideal scenario for Icap, the world's biggest inter-dealer broker. The shares now sell on below 12 times this year's profits, a low rate historically, and look set for further advances in due course. Buy for the longer term, says the Times.The Independent also recommends buying the shares. Given its quality, position and record, the 13 times forecast full-year earnings that its shares trade on is undemanding. Some analysts fancy smaller rival Tullett Prebon, trading on just eight times. But then, some pundits fancied David Haye to beat Wladimir Klitschko in their recent boxing match, it says.ITE organises trade exhibitions for industries such as construction. It is keen to diversify out of the former Soviet Union. The price being paid for the owner of the imaginatively titled TurkeyBuild is £16.3 million for 60 per cent, dependent on performance, with the option of buying the rest in due course, or about eight times' earnings. ITE is keen to look further afield, probably into South-East Asia. For now the shares sell on about 14 times' this year's earnings, a bit of a premium to the sector. Hold, says the Times.The troubles at Charter International, and last month's shock profits warning, cast a pall over the engineering sector as analysts feared that they suggested a pending global industrial slowdown. Most engineering bosses said they saw no signs of it. Now Morgan Crucible, which supplies a wide range of industries with materials such as ceramics, has said something similar. The shares still sell on little more than 13 times this year's earnings, which suggests further progress in due course, says the Times.Monitise is a leading player in the fast-growing world of mobile payments, with solutions that allow lenders and the like to offer their customers ways to bank on their mobile phones. And the growth in this market was reflected in the company's pre-close update, which was published yesterday. Buy, says the Independent.Telecom Plus is a multi-utility reseller, providing gas, electricity, phone and broadband to residential and business customers. The group announced its first-quarter numbers yesterday, revealing that it had experienced growth in customers, distributors and services. Peel Hunt has the stock on a price of 20.8 times estimated full-year earnings, which is quite punchy, but, given the visibility on the road ahead, we believe there is more to come, says the Independent, which recommends buying the shares.Outsourcing specialist Capita has an impressive record; over the past 20 years, sales have moved from £20m to £2.7bn, albeit flattered by acquisitions, the most recent being the purchase of Ventura, the third-party customer services arm of Next; Ventura has 8,000 employees in the UK and India. Supported by a prospective yield of more than 3%, the recent period of under-performance could well be an opportunity to take a closer look, says the Scotsman.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.