Hanson "underweight," target price reduced

06/29/06 - J.P. Morgan Securities

LONDON, June 29 (newratings.com) - Analyst Mike Betts of JP Morgan maintains his "underweight" rating on Hanson Plc (HNS-GBX), while reducing his estimates for the company. The target price has been reduced from 652p to 646p.

In a research note published this morning, the analyst mentions that the company expects profits at its UK building products businesses to have declined by 50% in 1H06. Hanson’s like-for-like central costs are likely to rise by approximately £9 million in 2006, the analyst adds. JP Morgan expects the company's UK business to recover in the long term. The EPS estimates for 2006 and 2007 have been reduced from 52.5p to 50.5p and from 55.6p to 52.9p, respectively.