Companies: CPL    HRN    VCP   

Many ventures in this sector continue to suffer from sales pressure, cheap overseas competition and raw material cost hikes caused by the oil crisis and a mini-crisis in consumer confidence brought about by interest rate worries. With all these woes already priced in by the market, value investors should be on the lookout for well-managed businesses trading below asset value. One such company is carpets play Victoria, which warned on profits in September. As well as suffering from an operational gremlin, it has seen a slowdown in its UK and Irish residential businesses. Management attributed this to 'general malaise in the UK economy' and a number of rate hikes, and investors can expect full year figures to next March to be significantly lower than last year. But bear in mind that in recent months the group's share price has plummeted from 400p to the current 222.5p which as broker Arden Partners points out, is a hefty discount to its NAV of 365p a share. Another is the cash-generative Chapelthorpe, hit by bad debts and deterioration in the North American wall coverings market. Yet the business enjoyed a 137 per cent profits hike to £5.5 million last year to March, and sported year-end net assets of £45.3 million, significantly above the current £40.3 million market cap. In other news, model and collectibles group Hornby hopes to complete the acquisition of Lima before the end of the year, having received the go-ahead from the Italian court. Frank Martin, chief executive, says that alongside Hornby's Spanish operation Electrotren, the deal will help Hornby steam into Europe.