Davy Morning Equity Briefing
Sep 18, 2025
C&C
Trading update – H1 in line with expectations; CFO moving on
For H1-26, C&C expects to deliver EBIT in the range of €41.5-42.0m, which compares with our forecast of €40.3m and prior year EBIT of €40.3m. We envisage no material change to our FY26 EBIT forecast of €78.9m. Separately, C&C has announced that its CFO, Andrew Andrea, is stepping down to take a new role as CFO of Domino’s Pizza; he will remain with the company until March 2026.
Associated British Foods
Model update – moving to ‘Neutral’
We see challenging trading conditions persisting for Associated British Foods (ABF) through 2026. Primark’s like-for-like (LFL) growth is likely to remain subdued, with increasing reinvestment needed to maintain its market position rather than stimulate growth. Equity performance remains tied to Primark LFLs. In the food division, momentum is limited by ongoing pressures, particularly in Sugar, leaving little scope for an inflection in earnings. We therefore expect adjusted profits will not return to FY24 levels until FY27, pointing to several years of retrenchment. While this is more than reflected in the current valuation, the backdrop keeps us cautious. As such, we lower our price target to £23 and our rating to ‘Neutral’.
Irish economy
Flat transactions for new properties in July
Strong summer price trends continued in July, and we expect upward revisions to June could repeat. However, new property transactions were surprisingly weak in July; if this continues, our forecast for housing output this year could prove to be too high.
