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Wednesday tips round-up: VT, Aer Lingus, Babcock

12 November 2008 06:36:00

Change is in the air at VT Group. In its previous incarnation as Vosper Thornycroft, the company has a rich history as one of the UK's premier naval ship builders. In the next three years, however it is set to drop shipbuilding altogether in favour of outsourcing.

VT should be applauded for its full steam ahead move to outsourcing, but perhaps there are better punts available in the sector today. Hold for now says the Independent.

Aer Lingus, the Irish flag carrier concedes that things are "exceptionally tough" both for the industry and for the company specifically. It is tricky to see why buyers would want to hold anything in the industry at all. The flight to quality that investors traditionally seek in a downturn should not include Aer Lingus, or any other carrier. Sell says the Independent.

This month, the video game maker SCI Entertainment will launch the latest instalment of its series of Tomb Raider games. The shares are cheap compared with others in the sector, and Time Warner has been building a stake in the company, but wait to discover what sales figures from the group's eggs-in-one basket Tomb Raider. Hold for now says the Independent.

Peter Rogers, chief executive of Babcock International, clearly thinks that his company's shares are too cheap - he bought £103,000 worth yesterday - and the stock market seems to agree. On ten times 2009 earnings, Babcock is good value for a company that can see so far ahead. Follow the boss and buy on weakness says the Times.

With a £5.2bn order book visibility is no issue for Babcock. Its debt position is solid - having access to £600m worth of committed revolving credit facilities that are due to mature in 2012. With a forward price-earnings multiple of 10 times, strong order book and reliable customers, buy says the Telegraph.

For the past two years, Aveva has posted better than expected results and yesterday's interim update from the software company revealed more of the same. The environment could become more uncertain for Aveva, especially in the marine sector, which makes up roughly a third of revenues. But with Dresdner Kleinwort publishing a £16.35 price target on the shares, and house broker RBS stating the shares look undervalued, investors should buy says the Telegraph.

Insurance broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson says it has not seen any "sustained evidence" of a sharp change in prices. It described the market as "very competitive" against a backdrop of "very difficult economic conditions". While JLT insists it remains on track to "deliver sustainable profitable growth in 2008", quicker returns could be found elsewhere in the sector. Hold says the Telegraph.

Playtech, the online gaming software developer and the biggest constituent of AIM, is not the easiest company to comprehend. Having been founded in Israel, it is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, headquartered in the Isle of Man, does the bulk of its software development in Estonia, has a share price in sterling and reports its figures in US dollars. On the ground that investors should invest only in what it understands, Playtech's shares - at 365p, or seven times 2009 earnings - are best left on the shelf says the Times.

Some 60% of Penna's fee income is derived from "career transition services" - human resources jargon for helping sacked workers to find new jobs. Penna has net cash and is the biggest British player in a niche that should grow by at least 20 per cent a year for the foreseeable future. At 157½p, or 13 times 2009 earnings, its contra-cyclical rally has farther to run says the Times.
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