FTSE 100 Closes Tuesday Up 0.2% Lifted by -2-

MARKET TALK:

Compass Group Upside Potential Fades, Says Liberum

0925 GMT - Compass Group issued a solid 3Q trading update confirming its strong structural outlook, but there are other, more undervalued structural growth stocks to pick, Liberum analysts Anna Barnfather and Nishant Dahad write in a research note. The U.K. catering contractor maintained strong organic revenue growth despite a tough comparable, and the company has exceeded revenue expectations and recovered margins faster than anticipated a year ago, which the 11% share price increase year to date reflects, the analysts say. "While the on-going share buyback should continue to provide support, we believe there is now less scope for future upgrades as the initial recovery impact fades," they say. Liberum keeps a hold rating on the stock, preferring Whitbread and SSP Group in the sector, and a 3,990-pence price target. ([e-mail])

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Croda Intl Gains After Confirming FY Profit Target

0916 GMT - Shares in Croda International are among the biggest FTSE 100 risers, up 4% to 5878 pence after the chemical company reported lower first-half sales and adjusted pretax profit, but said it was still on track to hit full-year profit targets. While the company's consumer-care business did better than expected, its life sciences and performance technologies operations fell short of hopes, Jefferies says. Croda expects adjusted pretax profit in the year to the end of December to be between GBP370-400 million, versus Jefferies's estimate of GBP385m and consensus forecasts of GBP374m, the brokerage says. "We expect a small positive share-price response," Jefferies analyst Charles Bentley says in a note, repeating his buy recommendation and 7000p price target. ([e-mail])

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-25-23 1206ET