BUY: AG Barr (BAG)

Value pressures hit margins, however income and revenue progress show the sturdy model fairness on provide, writes Christopher Akers.

AG Barr shares had been marked down by 3 per cent after the Irn-Bru purveyor warned of a “short-term affect on working margins” from price headwinds and the dilutive affect of final December’s acquisition of Enhance Drinks.

Profitability pressures had been evident within the 12 months as provide chain price inflation and better funding ranges took their toll on margins. Gross margin fell by 390 foundation factors to 40.3 per cent and the money revenue margin was down by 240 foundation factors to 17.7 per cent.

However this was nonetheless a strong 12 months for the enterprise, with enticing model fairness underpinning development regardless of cost-of-living pressures. The chunky income uplift, with tender drink and cocktail options gross sales every climbing by 16 per cent to £267mn and £43mn respectively, was pushed by each pricing motion and quantity development. The Rubicon model efficiency was a standout — gross sales had been up by greater than a fifth and volumes grew by 8 per cent.

And there could possibly be extra to return on the acquisition entrance after the acquisition of Enhance, which contributed £7mn of revenues and £1mn of gross revenue over two months, and the remainder of the fairness in oat milk enterprise MOMA within the 12 months.

Chief govt Roger White mentioned the corporate’s “focus is on natural development, however with the online money place on the stability sheet and market circumstances the way in which they’re, the board is alive to extra alternatives”.

The outcomes additionally touched on the deposit return scheme (DRS) in Scotland, which is ready to go dwell in August regardless of business considerations. AG Barr famous that the scheme, which if applied in its present kind will add a 20p deposit to alcohol and tender drinks in single-use containers, has “the potential to affect client buying behaviour”. New SNP chief Humza Yousaf has already clashed with the Scottish Greens over potential adjustments to the rules.

The shares commerce at 17 occasions ahead earnings, based on the consensus FactSet place, beneath the five-year common of 20 occasions. This ranking appears enticing for a corporation which, as home dealer Shore Capital famous, has good prospects of a “margin rebuild and extra dynamic development over the medium to long run”. Within the quick time period, the board stays assured that administration expectations for income and revenue development in its 2024 monetary 12 months will probably be achieved regardless of price challenges.

SELL: JD Wetherspoon (JDW)

Rate of interest swap gross sales have allowed the pubs firm to carry down its debt, writes Michael Fahy.

Issues are trying brighter for JD Wetherspoon. Like-for-like gross sales for the six months to January 29 had been up 13 per cent on the earlier 12 months and 5 per cent greater than pre-pandemic ranges. Over the previous seven weeks, like-for-like gross sales had been up 15 per cent on final 12 months, although the chain continues to be battling with what chair Tim Martin described as “ferocious” inflationary pressures.

Its adjusted pre-tax revenue of £4.6mn was a big enchancment on the £26.1mn loss recorded final 12 months however nonetheless lower than a tenth of the £50.3mn earned in 2019. Statutory pre-tax revenue of £57mn benefited from a one-off £65mn achieve created from the unwinding of rate of interest swaps.

Promoting swaps created a money influx of £169mn, which allowed the corporate to make inroads into its debt pile. Borrowings excluding by-product and lease commitments fell by £177mn to £744mn. 

In the long term, its finest hope of lowering this additional lies with both promoting extra pubs or bettering margins. Progress has been sluggish on the previous. It put 32 pubs up on the market with CBRE and Savills six months in the past, however solely offloaded 10 throughout this era. Peel Hunt analysts mentioned they assume round 35 pubs are nonetheless available on the market, and that one problem probably holding again consumers is the truth that they could have to seek out totally different makes use of for the websites, given Wetherspoons sometimes owns one other outlet close by. An internet site advertising and marketing the pubs says 23 are underneath provide.

The corporate’s working margin improved dramatically — to 4.1 per cent, from 0.2 per cent a 12 months earlier — however there’s nonetheless some option to go earlier than it recovers to pre-pandemic ranges of over 7 per cent. Reaching this rests on how far more it might probably eke out of its price-sensitive clients. Wage pressures stay acute and Peel Hunt forecasts that Wetherspoons’ vitality invoice will improve by round £25mn a month as soon as its present contract ends in October.

Different pub chains have managed to move on worth rises, however the hazard for Wetherspoons is that its clients sit at dwelling as a substitute. And though pub gross sales herald money, they’re hardly conducive to development.

A 44 per cent soar within the firm’s share worth because the begin of the 12 months places them on a valuation of 40 occasions FactSet consensus earnings for this 12 months, or 23 occasions subsequent 12 months’s earnings. Given it is a enterprise nonetheless in restoration mode, this appears too wealthy.

HOLD: Bellway (BWY)

The housing downturn is already hitting the housebuilder, however there’s prone to be extra ache to return, writes Mitchell Labiak.

Housebuilder Bellway posted a dip in pre-tax earnings in its half-year outcomes whilst income ticked up 1.6 per cent because of the inflationary surroundings. The corporate mentioned this was a “sturdy efficiency, however the difficult working and buying and selling circumstances within the interval”.

Situations are prone to worsen moderately than higher within the quick to medium time period. Many analysts are forecasting that home costs may have fallen by between 10 and 15 per cent by subsequent 12 months. Thus far, Nationwide has recorded a home worth fall of simply 1.1 per cent for the 12 months to February, which supplies some indication as to how a lot additional costs have left to drop whereas rates of interest stay heightened.

All of this, along with the top of Assist to Purchase this month, which accounted for 22 per cent of Bellway’s income final 12 months, is why the corporate mentioned its ahead order e book is all the way down to £1.6bn from £2.21bn this time final 12 months. It famous that ahead gross sales have picked up compared with the ultimate quarter of final 12 months, however home gross sales usually choose up after Christmas, so buyers mustn’t see this as an indication of restoration simply but.

Bellway anticipates that it’s “nicely positioned to ship quantity output of round 11,000 properties within the present monetary 12 months” — the 12 months to July 31 2023 — in contrast with 11,198 properties for the earlier interval. This may solely signify a slight lower, however with homes being offered for much less and development prices greater, analysts’ predictions of a drop in income and earnings for this monetary 12 months now appear nailed on.

The query for buyers is whether or not all of this dangerous information has already been priced into the valuation. It’s presently buying and selling at a sizeable low cost to its e book worth and at 6.1 occasions its consensus forecast earnings for the present monetary 12 months. That might signify entry level for an investor banking on the housing market coming again to life by the top of subsequent 12 months, whereas recognising the difficulties going through housebuilders proper now.

There are better-performing housebuilders on the market which we see as stronger funding circumstances, similar to Vistry — which has benefited from its Countryside merger — and Redrow — which sells properties to wealthier consumers who’re much less affected by greater rates of interest and fewer depending on Assist to Purchase.

Whereas the restoration case for Bellway has advantage, we keep our ranking contemplating the relative energy of its rivals.