Sharewatch: Homeserve

Shares in Homeserve were particularly hard hit during the market crash last year. Spun out of South Staffordshire Water in 2004, the FTSE 250 company had never before been through a recession. Surely homeowners would be less willing to take up insurance-style coverage
of home utilities and appliances? But having disposed of its troublesome emergency services business, Homeserve has done well – its shares
are back to near pre-rout levels, albeit with many bumps along the way.
They rallied 7 per cent earlier this week in the wake of reassuring interim results. That has left the shares trading on a prospective multiple of
15.4 times – a slight premium to the support service sector.