TABLE OF CONTENTS
Recommendations 3
General Retailers (Large cap) 3
General Retailers (Small cap and corporate clients) 4
Food Retailers 5
Management summary 6
Performance of the General Retail Sector 7
The good news has been factored into share prices 9
Looser monetary policy has helped drive revenues 9
Sales are up against easy comparatives 11
Forecasts are more stable 12
The General Retail Sector downgraded to average weight 14
The 2009 P/E ratio is close to the long term average 14
The 2009 prospective dividend yield declines to 3.9% 14
Long term structural concerns remain 15
There is too much retail space 15
The internet is growing fast and cannibalising ‘bricks & mortar’ sales 17
The food retailers are set to accelerate their development in non food 18
The macro economic outlook for 2010 looks more challenging 22
The strengthening of the US dollar will severely impact results 22
Sector valuations 25