Citi sees more than 20% upside for Ascential, stays at 'buy'

citi dl canary wharf london uk banks finance wall street city — Citi HQ at Canary Wharf, London U.K.Courtesy of Citi

Ascential

314.80p

16:40 26/04/24

1.22%

3.80p

Analysts at Citi told clients they saw more than 20% upside in shares of Ascential, when not more.

FTSE 250

19,824.16

16:59 26/04/24

n/a

FTSE 350

4,470.09

16:59 26/04/24

n/a

FTSE All-Share

4,423.59

17:14 26/04/24

n/a

Media

11,859.60

16:59 26/04/24

1.21%

142.01

That was true even when factoring in "conservative" valuations for the company's stake in Hudson MX and for its core Events business, they said in a research note sent to clients.

Indeed, their 225p target price together with the expected special dividend yielded a 'fair value' for the shares of 380p in "today's money".

Furthermore, a blue sky scenario in which the events business was valued at 12 times EV/EBITDA and Hudson MX sold for over £100m would result in a fair value of 450p per share.

Citi analysts said they remained buyers of the shares.