Intertek Group Share News (ITRK)

JP Morgan on Wednesday analysts Robert Plant, Chris Gallagher and Jolyon Wellington reiterated their 'overweight' recommendation on shares of testing services firm Intertek.That followed a meeting with the company's chief executive officer, Wolfhart Hauser, on Tuesday afternoon."It was an interesting meeting and it seemed to us that, after a weak first half, trading should improve somewhat in the second half and then into next year," the analysts said.Management reiterated its revenue guidance from the first half results presentation, saying the outlook for the second half was better and they expect growth in the range of between 2% and 3%.Nevertheless, the chemicals division is expected to still see a decline in the second half of this year, but to then flatten out in 2015 and subsequently improve in 2016.As for the more subdued outlook for minerals at Intertek than at rival SGS, the broker pointed out the fact that the two companies have different product and geographic exposures. Intertek was also especially affected by the nickel export ban in Indonesia. Lastly, JP Morgan emphasised how the business appears to have become more cyclical over the last decade, as the more stable prototype testing business's share of revenues has decreased from 90% of revenues to 60%. In parallel, the company has been expanding into more cyclical minerals testing within the commodities division and energy infrastructure within Industry & Assurance.Unfortunately, fashion retailer Next is not due to hold a press conference call following Wednesday's disappointing figures, writes Brewin Dolphin's Nicla di Palma.The company reported sales for the third quarter which were higher by 5.4%, well below the 10% which management had been expecting. Executives at the firm blamed "unseasonably warm weather" for the results.Indeed, people are not in the mood to buy winter clothes. That observation is consistent with the general commentary coming out of the retail sector. However, analysts at the broker are concerned that the company cannot continue to grow at double digit rates given the size which it has already reached - with a market a share of 7.5% in the UK.Smaller more nimbler players such as Ted Baker, on the other hand, registered strong growth despite the spell of warm weather. Broker Charles Stanley has lowered its recommendation on shares of Standard Chartered to 'hold'.That follows the "stark" reversal by management on its outlook for underlying profits in the second half of the year. Just a few months ago it had been saying that momentum was ahead of that seen in the second half of 2013."With this latest disappointment, management have a lot to do to convince the market that these initiatives are not just further promises of "jam tomorrow," it said.In a more positive vein, analyst Minal Shah pointed out the fact that management has ruled out the need for an equity issue, while also acknowledging the importance of the dividend to shareholders.Furthermore, the shares are now trading at just one times historical book value, and offer a yield above 5%, in comparison to 1.3 times for HSBC, which has a similar yield.That may mean that Tuesday's dislocation, on the heels of a weak quarter for "lumpy" corporate impairments, may offer a "good" entry point for a switch trade, Shah explained."However, with an apparent sea-change in operating momentum and a subdued outlook, we err on the side of caution and downgrade our recommendation to hold," the analyst concluded.