AutoTrader is soon to be one of only two technology companies left among the FTSE 100 if the takeover of software giant Aveva clears. Yet investors haven’t awarded the online car marketplace any great scarcity value.
A shift away from stocks priced for high future growth and fears of a slowdown in consumer spending and tightening in the motor retailer’s advertising budgets have pushed the shares down by more than a fifth in price since the start of this year. The online car marketplace has managed to keep squeezing more out of retailers, which during the six months to the end of September pushed revenue 16 per cent ahead of the same period last year.
A share price of just under 20 times forecast earnings
