Investec downgrades Bunzl to 'hold' on limited upside

Investec has lowered its rating on Bunzl from 'buy' to 'hold', saying that its sees "limited upside" to its target price for distribution and outsourcing stock.

Bunzl said on Wednesday that trading was in line with expectations with organic revenue growth at 2% in the first quarter, slightly behind the 3% growth rate seen last year. Including acquisitions, growth was 6% over the quarter.

The company also announced the acquisition of four businesses: two in Canada, and one each in the Netherlands and Turkey.

"Overall, we view this as a solid update from Bunzl, however, we expect consensus numbers for full-year 2015 to remain broadly unchanged, with a positive contribution from acquisitions serving to offset a weaker organic top-line performance," Investec said.

The broker maintained a 2,000p target price for the shares, which were down 3.1% at 1,850.64p.