BI - London Trading, page-2

Fund managers comment A fund manager said the trading update, released after the Australian market had closed, eased concerns about the pace of recovery in CHEP and alleviated the risk of a profit downgrade.
"I think the stock will rally from here. How far it will go
before it runs out of puff, who knows," said Portfolio Partners analyst Greg Slade, who helps manage A$12.5 billion ($7.1 billion) in funds.
Early London trade on Wednesday reflected that investor relief, Brambles shares there jumping 2.6 percent to 306 pence, despite its Australian shares ending down 2.9 percent at A$8.60, their lowest close since February 2000, after hitting a 43-month low of A$8.42 on Tuesday.
Investors had pummeled Brambles shares after a disappointing first half result in February.
The shares had slid further on fears that the company might issue a profit warning ahead of its first ever tour of the CHEP pallet, Cleanaway waste management and Recall document management operations in the United States and Britain.
But analysts and fund managers said at less than A$9 the shares were oversold. Analysts' 12-month price targets on the stock are at A$11 and above.
($1=A$1.75)


FULL STORY:
19-Jun-2002 7:21:15
UPDATE 1-Brambles reassures investors on outlook


MELBOURNE, June 19 (Reuters) - Anglo-Australian industrial
services provider Brambles Industries Ltd sought to
reassure investors on Wednesday, saying its core CHEP pallet
business was turning around and would improve in 2002/03.
It said it expected its performance in the second half of the
current financial year, which ends in two weeks, would be better
than in the second half of last year.
"The group overall is continuing to perform in line with our
expectations in late February this year," Brambles said.
It said performance in CHEP, the world's biggest pallet
pooling business and which makes up more than half the group's
profit, was poised to turn around.
"Overall in CHEP, performance in the U.S. and Europe has
stabilised in the last five months and is anticipated to pick up
in 2002/03," Brambles said in a trading update ahead of a sites
tour for analysts.
A fund manager said the trading update, released after the
Australian market had closed, eased concerns about the pace of
recovery in CHEP and alleviated the risk of a profit downgrade.
"I think the stock will rally from here. How far it will go
before it runs out of puff, who knows," said Portfolio Partners
analyst Greg Slade, who helps manage A$12.5 billion ($7.1
billion) in funds.
Early London trade on Wednesday reflected that investor
relief, Brambles shares there jumping 2.6 percent to 306
pence, despite its Australian shares ending down 2.9 percent at
A$8.60, their lowest close since February 2000, after hitting a
43-month low of A$8.42 on Tuesday.
Investors had pummeled Brambles shares after a disappointing
first half result in February.
The shares had slid further on fears that the company might
issue a profit warning ahead of its first ever tour of the CHEP
pallet, Cleanaway waste management and Recall document management
operations in the United States and Britain.
But analysts and fund managers said at less than A$9 the
shares were oversold. Analysts' 12-month price targets on the
stock are at A$11 and above.
($1=A$1.75)
((Melbourne newsroom, 61 3 9286 1419, fax 61 3 9621 2994,