Thursday tips round-up: Super Group and Centrica

15th Dec 2011 07:17

The Telegraph's Questor column looks at Centrica, the owners of British Gas. It issued a profit warning last month on reduced gas consumption caused by the mild winter. It also has a troubles with the government which is demanding a more simple charging structure so customers can actually understand how their bills are calculated. This, Questor believes has unfairly dampened the share price.In Centrica's favour are several purchases of production assets, notably in Canada, to shield the firm from price shocks.Centrica would like to grow its upstream business by 50% next year. It has also signed a huge deal with Qatar for 2.4m tonnes of liquified natural gas so meeting demand should not be a problem.With current vale at 11.1 times earnings and falling next year and a yield of of 5.8% rising to 6.2%, Questor believes Centrica is a buy.The Time's Tempus column looks at the phenomenon that is Super Group, the clothing retailer behind the Superdry brand of clothes that rapidly became extremely popular.After listing last March the share price went up like a rocket on the perception the brand was going to become a major player in the fashion market. Earlier this year however Super Group experienced significant problems at a new warehouse it had built to cope with rising demand and shares began to slide. They are now roughly were they were at the original offering in 2010.The firm's latest numbers show revenues growing by 51% in the six months to the end of October but pre-tax profits down £500,000 at £13m following the warehouse problem. On a like-for-like basis Super Group was up 4% although the second quarter saw a slump of 3.3%.Tempus argues that the real opportunity for this company is growth in India and Japan and suggests holding off until we see exactly how its 20 UK stores and 50 overseas branches do over the crucial Christmas period. 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.