Sysgroup Share News (SYS)

It's been a busy morning for retailers and Nomura Securities is sticking with the programme with an appreciation of recent results from fashion retailer Next."Next first-half results had it all for the bulls. Confidence in product, a pipeline of profitable/high return on invested capital space, acceleration in online sales, and prospect of buybacks. In sum, the possibility of 9-15% annual earnings per share growth plus dividends," enthused analyst Fraser Ramzan.Despite all that enthusiasm, however, the broker still prefers Marks & Spencer (M&S) in the clothing retail sector, though it does regard Next as a core sector holding for the long term.Given the potential for earnings growth the stock is inexpensive, Ramzan reckons. The broker has a price target of 2413p for the stock. "Near term, we see upside to M&S (market share growth / margin improvement), but see no reason to sell Next to fund it," the broker said. Shares in UK and European insurer Gable Holdings shot higher on Thursday after a strong set of interim results that saw profit before tax jump 68% and earning per share rise 57% from a year earlier.The figures gave heart to house broker Arden Partners, which has projected strong growth for the company in 2010 and 2011. "We view our 26p price target (50% above yesterday's closing price of 17.5p) as undemanding," the broker said in a note that reiterated its "buy" recommendation.The broker said that after the half year results it is confident Gable will generate at least £15m in gross written premiums (up 44% from 2009), £2.50m in profit before tax (+63%) and 2.01p in earnings per share (+59%)."Further, we continue to forecast strong growth in 2011, with the following predicted: gross written premium +25%, profit before tax +40% and earnings per share +37%," Arden analyst Peter Lenardos."In terms of growth going forward, the Norwegian tenant deposit guarantee scheme has made a solid start and Gable is developing opportunities for this product in other European markets," Lenardos said. "With robust earnings momentum and strong growth projected, new products and geographic expansion, the shares remain cheap," the broker concluded.Daniel Stewart has lowered its full year revenue outlook for System C Healthcare after the company reported on Wednesday that the fast pace of structural change within the NHS has resulted in a sharp downturn in demand for its services.The broker is now projecting revenue for the year to May 2011 of £34.5m, down from its previous forecast of £40.7m.On the bright side, System C reports that there has been increased interest in its Medway patient administration system (PAS) but the time to convert initial Medway enquiries into firm orders could be between six and 12 months.This timing issue likely to have a significant impact on current trading, according to company management, prompting Daniel Stewart to slice its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation outlook to £5.3m from £8.9m for the current year. "Again, the severity of downturn in services orders and time-lag on Medway revenue completion remain key factors for this outlook," the broker said.The target price has been reduced from 72p to 64p ahead of results due on 27 September. Daniel Stewart's "buy" recommendation is retained.