Broker snap: Intertek price 'up with events'

Results from Intertek were slightly ahead of expectations, according to Charles Stanley, which has a 'hold' recommendation on the product quality and safety tester.Though the group looks well placed to thrive over the longer term the broker thinks the current share price appears to take this factor into consideration.'At the end of 2009 net borrowings had fallen to £201m representing a net debt/EBITDA [earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation] ratio of 0.8x. Clearly, this leaves plenty of firepower for bolt-on acquisitions,' Charles Stanley analyst Tony Shepard postulates.'Although organic growth will be low in the first half of 2010 due partly to a strong comparative, growth is expected to pick up in the second half and the favourable business drivers are expected to return the Group to high single digit growth rate in 2011,' Shepard added.