Deutsche Bank downgrades Moonpig to 'hold'

(Sharecast News) - Deutsche Bank downgraded Moonpig on Friday to 'hold' from 'buy' and cut the price target to 235p from 290p as it pointed to "double digit disappointment".

"Rightly or wrongly, the focus in Moonpig's equity story has been its ability to deliver double digit topline growth," the bank said.

"Wrongly perhaps, as such a sharp focus does somewhat overlook the strength of margins and cash generation, but focus was very much directed here with October's CMD."

DB said that a confident KPI formula was set out and the core Moonpig brand was set to be the proof point this year.

It noted that FY25 earnings beat expectations by around 7% with a 27.6% EBITDA margin, exceeding the 25-27% target, but Moonpig revenue was up 7.5% in H2.

"Certainly not a bad performance relative to the sector, but it has invited questions as to whether the mid-term equity story can be hung off double digit topline growth to drive mid teens earnings per share growth," it said.

At 1440 BST, the shares were down 7.6% at 223.50p.

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