Investment: Sharewatch

BUY

Nyomed Amersham's (386p) earnings should grow by 13 per cent during the next five years, says Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, which has upgraded the shares to a strong buy, with a target price of 525p. Nycomed is well placed to benefit from the growing tendency to outsource pharmaceutical research and development over the next decade, it adds. The industrial logic behind the BTR Siebe (269p) merger is sound, says Charles Stanley, and benefits will be apparent over time.

SELL

Although WH Smith's (528p) profits should grow strongly during the course of the next two years, it could soon be time to sell into strength, Henderson Crosthwaite says.

In the longer-term, there is a question mark on the profitability of the High Street stores (50 per cent of group profit) which even fast-growing online services would only partly offset.

Sell South African Breweries (473p), says SG Equity Research, noting that economic and policitical risks will impact on the shares much more than SAB's growth record in local markets.