MoneyWeek’s comprehensive guide to this week’s share tips
Four to buy
Admiral Group
The Telegraph
Shares in this provider of car and travel insurance as well as financial and legal services have lost 10% in a year. Peers have issued profit warnings as claims increase and car-repair costs spiral. Admiral’s own recent performance has been “no thing of beauty”, but it now has a third more clients than it did in 2019. That leaves it well placed to profit when a recovery arrives. In the meantime investors can enjoy a “juicy” 5.4% prospective dividend yield. 2,259p
Afentra
The Mail on Sunday
This Africa-focused oil and gas business buys mature assets that are already in production but could be made safer, cleaner and more productive. The group is set to buy a stake in an oil field off the Angolan coast. The field produces 20,000 barrels per day, but Afentra thinks it can boost that to 30,000 with “modern extraction techniques and more proactive management”. Several similar transactions are “in the pipeline”. 25p
Property Franchise Group
Shares
While the wider property market slumps, the private rented sector continues to go from strength to strength as structural undersupply and pricier mortgages push ever more people into long-term renting. Britain’s biggest property franchisor runs 76,000 tenanted managed properties through nine brands. In 2022 revenue rose by 13%, while pre-tax profit climbed by 38%. Management is getting better at harnessing data to find efficiencies, which should also help generate continued growth. 275p
Currys
The Sunday Times
Shares in the owner of Dixons, Carphone Warehouse and PC World have plunged by 72% over the past five years. Many short sellers thought Covid-19 spelt the end. But the gloom looks overdone. Half of sales come from the UK, 40% via the Nordic arm and the rest from Greece. There are glimmers of hope in the UK as “better supply chains and IT systems” keep costs under control. A stronger balance sheet should also help it outlast struggling Scandinavian rivals. On eight times earnings, the shares are a bargain for the brave. 57p