expatriate brokerage

Broker tips: Unilever, Tesco, Barclays, William Hill,

LONDON (SHARECAST) - Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever continued its rally after Citigroup upgraded the shares to buy from hold following Thursdays first quarter results. The broker also raised its price target to 25.5 from 21.3 as maker of Knorr soup and Lux soap posted a pre-tax profit of 1.33bn for the period, up from 1.31bn the previous year as it improved operating margins. Analysts had expected profits of between 1.137bn and 1.245bn. Tesco marched higher Friday as ABN Amro lifted the UK supermarket to buy from neutral and upped its price target to 602p. The broker reckons Tescos intention to do more property deals, unlocking value from freehold assets, was justification enough for the upgrade. Last month the firm reported record full year profits and announced plans to return 3bn to investors from the sale of property assets.