FT Stockpickers栏目给出Restore、Rio Tinto买入观点并维持Unite Group持有

Stockpickers: Restore, Rio Tinto, Unite Group
What more appropriate material than paper to tell the story of diverging attitudes to US and UK stock markets?
UK-listed companies have been acquired in their droves this year, but the underlying trend has been in place for some time. International Paper’s 2024 deal to buy UK packaging rival DS Smith is just one recent instance of a FTSE 100 business being bought by an overseas peer.
Those who remain on the domestic market can look like they’ve been left behind. Take the contrasting fortunes of US information management giant Iron Mountain and Aim-listed Restore, both of which began life as document storage businesses. While Iron Mountain has seen its shares rise 175 per cent over the past half decade, aided by a pivot to data centre leasing, Restore shares have lost two-fifths of their value.
But this tale of rampant success on one side of the Atlantic and ignoble failure on the other is too simplistic. For one thing, International Paper is now splitting in two, an implicit acknowledgment that its big acquisition has not worked out. And while Restore has struggled, its shares have now almost doubled from their lows of three years ago.
The UK company’s recovery has been overseen by chief executive Charles Skinner, who this week announced he will hand over the reins to chief financial officer Dan Baker at the end of 2026. Restore remains a tenth of the size of Iron Mountain with no exposure to the AI boom, two reasons why its price/earnings ratio is barely a quarter that of its US rival. The success of its turnaround plan, which has involved combining its digital and physical storage arms, divesting a less reliable office relocation business and identifying new growth areas, suggests it should be able to win over more investors in future.
BUY: Restore (RST)
Alongside its half-year results, Restore announced that Charles Skinner is stepping back from his second stint as chief executive. He was brought back three years ago to turn around a business whose performance had nosedived, writes Michael Fahy.
Much of the intervening period has involved restructuring, including the disposal of underperforming businesses and the improvement of processes.
In the technology business, its operating profit doubled year on year. Although some of these gains have been driven by higher selling prices, it has also been more selective in the business it does, Skinner said.
Overall, the improvements are reflected in half-year numbers which show a 19 per cent increase in adjusted operating profit, with the underlying margin just above 20 per cent.
Restore’s shares are up 74 per cent over the past three years but momentum has stalled more recently, with a gain of just 5 per cent over the past 12 months. We think the underlying improvements are not reflected in the company’s valuation.
BUY: Rio Tinto (RIO)
First there was the commodity supercycle; now we have the AI and electrification transition, writes Mark Robinson.
The former was driven to a large extent by Chinese demand for iron ore, whereas the latter is pumping up markets for copper, aluminium and a host of lesser-known metals.
Rio Tinto posted a steep rise in interim earnings and surging free cash flows at the half-year mark, but of greater significance is that copper, aluminium and lithium accounted for more than half of underlying cash profits at the half-year mark. Underlying earnings came in at $6.85bn for the six months to June, up from $4.81bn at the 2025 half-year mark.
FactSet consensus gives earnings per share of $6.12, rising to $6.25 in 2027.
Beyond the productivity savings in train, investments in copper and lithium are being prioritised. And investors can take comfort from the 3 percentage point increase in return on capital to 17 per cent. The shares trade at 11 times forecast earnings, which isn’t unreasonable given an implied dividend yield of 4.5 per cent.
HOLD: Unite Group (UTG)
Selling assets in a buyers’ market is rarely a pleasant experience. That is the challenge facing Unite Group as the student landlord looks to sell between 15,000 and 20,000 of the 72,000 student beds in its portfolio, writes Hugh Moorhead.
Unite said it is on track for £300mn to £400mn of disposals in 2026, having completed £130mn so far, and that it was being “pragmatic” about pricing.
The company plans to use the proceeds to strengthen its balance sheet, add to its development pipeline and, all being well, buy back more shares. The value of its portfolio declined by 6 per cent in the first half of the year to £6.73bn. This was the key driver of its £417mn loss before tax.
Unite has downgraded its rental growth guidance range for the 2026/27 academic year by 1 percentage point to between 1 and 2 per cent. It has been cutting prices to fill beds in its weaker-performing cities.
Unite’s 7 per cent dividend yield, plus yield from buybacks, will soothe some investor impatience but there are more attractive risk-reward profiles elsewhere in the sector.