Davy Research |
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Weekly Market Comment
Weekly Market Comment
30 July 2012
Robert Gardiner |
Caren Crowley |
John O'Reilly |
European building materials: costs, costs and more costs
The European construction sector has worked for the last five years to adjust its cost base in reaction to weakening demand, particularly in the developed world. As construction activity waned, the sector has cut its cloth with large fixed and variable cost reduction programmes to mitigate the volume declines. However, developments in 2012 have spawned a second generation of cost programmes.
Petroceltic: closer to realisation
Petroceltic has had a quiet H1. However, H2 looks to be much busier. A number of events that could act as catalysts for the share price are now swimming into view. These catalysts should produce an outperformance and realise a lot of value for shareholders.
Baffling retail food sales data for June
The preliminary retail food sales data for June, released on July 27th, are baffling. Food, beverage and tobacco volumes (seasonally adjusted) declined by 9.7% month-on-month and by 7.3% year-on-year. Final figures for May on the same basis showed increases of 6.9% and 4.4% respectively.