Hogg Robinson (HRG), the European business travel company, has been buffeted by severe turbulence as storm clouds gather over the European economy. We worry that its shares will have a bouncy ride over the coming months as the outlook worsens. So we are making for the emergency exit on our buy tip.
In the latest trading update from Hogg, both client activity and client spending was down, which meant revenue was lower than management had expected. Hogg's bosses had already warned they expected the outlook to be challenging and, since then, economic indicators have gotten worse. There is still the chance that one of the big rival travel agencies that have built a stake could make a bid. But buying the shares on that hope would be risky given the other concerns.
