Shares in Europe’s largest provider of stage and studio space, Pinewood Studios (LSE: PWS), have today surged by as much as 18% after it released a trading update and details of a strategic review.
With Pinewood experiencing strong performance in revenues across its television, media and international divisions, it has raised its guidance for the current financial year. Furthermore, Pinewood has announced that it’s considering a sale of the company as it seeks to maximise its growth potential following the success of phase one of the Pinewood Studios Development Framework.
With the company’s shareholder registry being tightly held, Pinewood believes that its long-sought-after main market listing may prove elusive. Therefore, in order to potentially fund further development of the business, a review of its overall capital base and structure will now commence that could lead to a sale of the business.
Clearly, this is major news for investors in Pinewood and while its progress has been strong in recent months following its placing in April 2015, the company’s valuation appears to be rather excessive. For example, it trades on a price-to-earnings growth (PEG) ratio of 2.7, which indicates that there may be better options available elsewhere.
Wait and see?
Also rising sharply today are shares in CPP Group (LSE: CPP). However, despite their 6% increase today, they’re still down by 35% in the last three months as investor sentiment wanes, even though the company’s most recent update was relatively positive.
Certainly, CPP Group is undergoing a major transition and this brings a high degree of uncertainty and risk. But with the credit card insurer reporting an operating profit of around £2.2m in its interim results last year, it appears to be making progress towards becoming a more financially stable and resilient business. And with a debt restructuring having been implemented, the changes that CPP Group’s management are making indicate that it may be of interest to long-term, less risk-averse investors. However, it remains a very high risk and volatile stock and it may be prudent to await further news flow before buying.
Premium pizza
Also rising today are shares in Domino’s Pizza (LSE: DOM). They’re up by almost 10% despite there being no significant news flow released by the company. Clearly, Domino’s has had a superb year, with its shares outperforming the FTSE 100 by 56% during the last 12 months. With a recently announced joint venture in Germany as well as acquisitions having been made, it appears to be well-placed to continue to grow its bottom line at a rapid rate.
Clearly, Domino’s isn’t cheap, as evidenced by a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 28.3. But with the company being expected to have increased its bottom line by 25% last year, it remains a top notch growth play. And with it having the scope to make further acquisitions, to diversify its menu to a greater extent and also benefit from relatively robust sales due to a high degree of customer loyalty, it still looks to be a strong buy for the long term.
