Brokers' views: Seymour Pierce

Support services analysts Kevin Lapwood and Caroline de La Soujeole have taken a shine to recruitment specialist Hydrogen Group. Commenting on the strong set of full-year results that saw Hydrogen net a 64 per cent increase in net fee income to £27.6 million and profits of £2.5 million (2009: £300,000) the duo remarked that the net fee income growth was ‘ahead of its peers’ when compared to a 49 per cent increase at Robert Walters and a 24 per cent rise at Michael Page.

In relation to Hydrogen’s growing expertise in engineering and raft of new openings in regions including Sydney and Singapore, as well as this year’s planned entry to Hong Kong, they remark that these ‘positive developments underpin our medium-term growth expectations’.

For 2011, they forecast a  £1.4 million increase in pre-tax profits to £3.9 million on revenue up 10.1 per cent to £154.2 million. Furthermore, they pencil in EPS of 12p (2010: 8p) rating the shares as a ‘buy.’

Cap-xx carries on
Over in the hardware and equipment sector, analyst Ian Robertson commented on AIM-quoted supercapacitor manufacturer Cap-xx’s update on its Japanese manufacturing facility following the recent earthquake. Cap-xx operates a site at Yusa, Japan, and the company released a statement in which it noted that it was unaffected by the earthquake.
Robertson insists that Cap-xx is ‘very much a long-term story’, adding that ‘this tragedy is not likely to materially impact on the long-term success or failure of the technology.’

He reiterates a buy recommendation and a target price of 50p.