Kloeckner "buy," target price raised

23.02.07 - Deutsche Bank

LONDON, February 23 (newratings.com) - Analyst Matthias Pfeifenberger of Deutsche Bank maintains his "buy" rating on Kloeckner & Co AG (KCO). The target price has been raised from ?33 to ?50.

In a research note published this morning, the analyst mentions that the second phase of efficiency improvement, following the STAR 2.0 programme is expected to present significant margin expansion opportunities to the company going forward. According to the analyst, after 2007, several accretive acquisitions are expected to position Kloeckner as the industry leading consolidator. The EBITDA margin estimates for 2008 and 2009 have been raised to 7.1% and 7.6%, respectively.