Below are the research reports by Afrinvest on the recently released reports for Unilever, Fidson Healthcare, Berger and Oando who all recently released their results:

Unilever (Nigeria) Plc :
Highlights:
Q1 ’10 Results:
* Unilever reported  marginal growth in earnings.
* Turnover went up by 4.8% to N10.9bn (US$72.5m); PBT, on the contrary, fell by 15.7% to N1.4bn (US$9.3m).
* Pre-tax margins fell from 15.7% in Q1 ’09 to 12.7% in Q1 ’10, indicating an increase in operating expenses.

FY ’10 Outlook:
* The company continues to build on recent innovation and cost-containment strategies.
* We however review FY 2010 PBT and PAT to N7.0bn (US$46.4m) and N4.8bn (US$31.9m) respectively.
* We remain NEUTRAL in the short term (3 – 6 months), but we anticipate an upward trend in the long term and re-iterate our FY ’10 (12 month) price target of N30.79.

Berger Paints Plc:
Highlights:
FY’09 Results:
* Berger Paint’s turnover was down by 6.1% to N2.4bn (US$15.9m).
* PBT and pre-tax margins however went up by 31.9% and 13.6% respectively.
* Despite the effects of the harsh economic conditions in 2009, the company’s liquidity position and conservative management resulted in cost savings and improved production efficiency and effectiveness.

FY’10 Outlook:
* We believe that future earnings potential will continue to be threatened by industry specific constraints and impair profitability.
* Our recommendation is SELL at current valuations, as we believe that Berger Paints trades in a sector that is priced at a premium to the market.

Oando Plc:
Highlights:
Q1’10 Results:
* Oando reported an impressive turnover of N91.3bn, 17.8% up from N77.5bn reported Q1 ‘09.
* PBT went up by 108.8% while pre-tax margin went up to 5.6% respectively.
* This strong performance is in line with our expectation and further reinforces our long term positive outlook on the company.

FY’10 Outlook:
* We anticipate a steady increase in contributions from upstream oil operations to the company’s numbers, as well as new revenue generation from its midstream business (12.15 mw independent power plant for Lagos State Water Corporation), amongst other sources.
* We have therefore reviewed our initial forecast for Oando’s top-line numbers for FY 2010 upward by 5.0%, with a revised estimate turnover of N380.2bn (US$2.5bn) and PBT of N16.1bn (US$107.0m).
* On this basis, we reiterate our BUY recommendation on Oando as we maintain a revised 12 month (ex-div) price target of N118.75 indicating a 29.2% upside potential, if marked down for the 1 for 2 bonus at the current price (N123.90).

Fidson Healthcare Plc:
Highlights:
Q3 ’10 Results:
* Fidson reported  a marginal 1.4% decrease in turnover to N4.0bn (US$26.5m).
* PBT, on the contrary, went up by an albeit marginal 1.3% to N543.1m (US$3.6m).
* Pre-tax margin remained constant at about 13.7%, indicating effective cost control measures.

FY ’10 Outlook:
* We believe that the company is positioned to take advantage of opportunities and developments in the sector, including the sustained efforts of NAFDAC in the production and distribution of counterfeit and sub-standard drugs, amongst others.
* We however have conservative FY 2010 turnover and PBT forecasts of N5.2bn (US$34.5m) and N691.9m (US$4.6m) respectively.
* We establish an ACCUMULATE recommendation based on current valuation, with a N3.80 price target, implying a 19.5% upside potential.