LONDON (ShareCast) - Speedy Hire is the country's leading supplier of tools and equipment to the building trade. So it is a pretty good barometer of the state of the economy. No surprise then that the shares have gone into reverse chiefly because of worries over the state of the housebuilding industry.

The shares have fallen 40 per cent over the past year but picked up on the trading news. They now stand on 11 times 2008 earnings, which does not look pricey given the group's strong market position. Hold, says the Independent.

Inchcape has consistently outperformed both the market and rival Pendragon. Trading on a relatively modest 9.6 times 2008 earnings, the shares may fall further but should recover when sentiment returns. Hold, says the Telegraph.

With profits forecast to grow to about £29m in the current year Low & Bonar sells on a modest multiple of just over seven times earnings. Buy, says the Independent. The Telegraph agrees and also says Buy.

The Times says that at 98p, or 8 times 2008 earnings and yielding 5.6 per cent, Low & Bonar is worth holding.

Dicom's niche - software that is used to scan and interpret data on documents such as invoices and application forms - should continue to grow in double digits, given the wider efforts of companies and governments to capture information electronically. The savings it gives users in staff costs should also serve Dicom well in a downturn.

At 187p, the shares are up 32 per cent since last month's low, but a 2008 earnings multiple of 13 times suggests that chief executive Reynolds Bish has much to prove. Buy on weakness, says the Times.

In late 2004, Unilever said new slimming products using a plant compound developed by drug the development tiddler Phytopharm could be on sale within three years. The timetable is slipping but at least work is continuing. Long-term holders might as well sit tight, says the Independent.


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