Royal Mail PLC upgraded to ‘neutral’ by Credit Suisse as pandemic to support
Revenue is expected to grow as the parcel business is boosted by current restrictions
() was upgraded to ‘neutral’ from ‘underperform’ by as its UK outlook can be improved by pandemic-driven tailwinds.
Analysts raised their expectations for full-year underlying earnings (EBIT) to £169mln from a loss of £337mln, rising to £367mln from £161mln, while the price target was boosted to 261p from 94p.
READ: Royal Mail upgraded by JPMorgan as UK revenue growth reduces trade union pressure
The investment bank said that analysis of Google Mobility data suggests that movement to retail venues normalised in Germany and the Netherlands in the third quarter, but that parcel tailwinds outweighed letter headwinds, suggesting revenue tailwinds beyond the pandemic.
Moreover, research suggests that in 2021, UK online will be around 24% of total retail and FTI analysis suggests this can expand further, supporting the forecast of 5% parcel revenue growth for financial year 2023 and beyond.
New restrictions in the three months to December can drive parcel revenue growth of 20% in the second half of the current year.
Shares rose 1% to 274.6p on Friday afternoon.
Read More: Royal Mail PLC upgraded to ‘neutral’ by Credit Suisse as pandemic to support