THG's Matt Moulding removes governance concerns, says broker22 Jun 2023 18:03
THG’s founder and CEO Matt Moulding giving up his ‘golden share’ helps “remove any corporate governance concerns” said analysts at Liberum.
The broker held its buy recommendation on the e-commerce retailer, with a target price of 220p, with shares remaining “cheap” at 72p.
Yesterday, it was confirmed Moulding gave up his golden share and the powers that came with it, which included vetoing any takeover approach.
Liberum is also confident that guidance for the year, maintained at adjusted underlying earnings (EBITDA) of £118.5mln, is achievable given “tailwinds from whey prices and internal efficiency efforts.”
THG reported good progress on profitability and free cash flow, with EBITDA to be in the range of £44mln to £47mln in the first half, a significant improvement from £32.3mln on the same period last year.
Free cash flow is ahead of the group’s expectations, with an anticipated £40mln outflow compared to a first-half outflow last year of £276mln.
As a result, Liberum raised its own guidance and now expects £120mln in adjusted EBITDA and almost neutral free cash flow in 2023.
https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/1018665/thg-s-matt-moulding-removes-governance-concerns-says-broker-1018665.html