…and some to hold, avoid or sell

Ascential Shares

Buying marketing intelligence firm WARC should give an immediate boost to the exhibition organiser’s earnings. But shares have hit fresh highs. Take profits as it moves from “asset seller to asset buyer”. Sell. 428.6p.

Berkeley Group The Times

Having run out of London land bought on the cheap after the financial crisis, this savvy housebuilder has warned that profits will fall to “normal” levels. The days of “enormous margins” are gone. Shares look overvalued. Hold. £38.93.

Biffa The Daily Telegraph

The waste management group faces continued restrictions on the lucrative export of paper recyclables to China. But results are good and there’s scope in the energy-from-waste arena. Hold. 249p.

Domino’s Pizza Group Investors Chronicle

The pizza outfit has been shelling out capital on UK franchises, European expansion and supply-chain improvements. Another CFO has departed, and the group is vulnerable to weak consumer spending in the UK. Sell. 346p.

Footasylum Investors Chronicle

Shares in the trainer specialist (a JD Sports offshoot) fell 48% after first results showed contracting margins. Key brands such as Nike and Adidas may be ditching retailers to sell straight to consumers. Sell. 70.5p.

Serco The Sunday Times

The beleaguered outsourcer, covering everything from prisons to trains, has a dearth of big British contracts, a shrinking bid pipeline and increasing debt. Progress is “bumpy” and “agonisingly slow”. Avoid. 96.95p.