Carphone Warehouse is in demand this morning, with a spot of bid speculation and some positive analyst comment.
Dealers were reporting renewed speculation of a takeover for the mobile specialist. The names were the same as previously - Vodafone and the US group Best Buy, which holds nearly 3%. The idea this time is a carve-up of the business, with Best Buy taking the retail business and Vodafone the telecoms operations. There is no explanation as to why founder Charles Dunstone, who owns 32%, might want to sell, however.
Indeed, according to Bear Stearns, Dunstone made an encouraging presentation to the bank this week, prompting Bear to repeat its outperform rating, albeit reducing its price target from 415p to 350p.
Credit Suisse has also issued an outperform note this week, while Morgan Stanley today raised its recommendation from equal weight to overweight. Carphone is now 10p higher at 259p.
Overall the market is in positive mood, with transport companies moving forward after a positive trading update from Go-Ahead, 165p higher at £16.15.
