Friday tips round-up: Sports Direct, John Wood Group

Sports Direct pile-it-high-sell-it-cheap business model is not very innovative, but they are very good at it. Over the last year the company has seen its share price rise by 76 per cent, staff received a 78,000 pound bonus each and first half sales increased by no less than 24 per cent. Naturally, the latter means that its clients are more than happy with the current set-up. The exception to all of the above are some of the company's suppliers, such as Adidas. The German sportswear maker is refusing to let Sports Direct sell replicas of next year's Chelsea home jerseys. It may be sore that SportsDirect undercut its prices on this year's kit. However, the tiff will in all likelihood blow over. Furthermore, only half of its sales come from third party brands, although Adidas is a big part of that. In any case, at 22 times' earnings the stock price is discounting a successful push into Europe. The company's chief, Dave Forsey, has his work cut out for him, the Financial Times' Lex column said. The additional detail provided by John Wood Group on Thursday hit the company's shares hard, even though it was merely an extension of the outlook which it published last August. Simply put, the company's engineering division is feeling the impact of oil majors' renewed focus on the economics of large investment projects. That division is geared towards work on the initial stages of large installations in oil and gas. As well, its turbines division has seen a slowdown in orders, to which one must add some deferrals from clients on maintenance. However, the firm's PSN arm is more exposed to operational spending - which must go ahead no matter what - and has a large exposure to shale. In any case, the fact remains that revenues and earnings will be up next year for the group as a whole because of that segment. Selling at approximately 11 times' forward earnings, the diversification of its business units and the fact that big projects which have been delayed will one day have to be started, work in Wood's favour. Hence, Thursday's share price fall looks overdone, though it may take the market a little time to cotton on to this, The Times' Tempus wrote. Please note: Digital Look provides a round-up of news, tips and information that is impacting share prices and the market. Digital Look cannot take any responsibility for information provided by third parties. This is for your general information only as not intended to be relied upon by users in making an investment decision or any other decision. Please obtain a copy of the relevant publication and carry out your own research before considering acting on any of this information.AB