Bureau Veritas

BV enjoys some favourable dynamics. One is the steady homogenisation of global safety and environmental standards. Another is outsourcing. The more the manufacturing of goods gets divorced from the actual selling, the greater the demand for big, third-party testers such as BV, SGS of Switzerland and the UK's Intertek, capable of running the rule over far-flung supply chains.

Organic industry growth is strong, usually at least two or three percentage points better than global trade, which in turn beats gross domestic product growth. That explains the warm welcome from investors, split equally among French, UK, US and other continental European institutions. BV priced at the top of the indicative range - implying a slight discount to peers on most valuation multiples. By Wednesday's close the stock was fractionally up on its offer price.

The group wants to double sales by 2011 while mopping up more of the hundreds of small government and private equity-owned inspectors around the world. Top of the agenda should be cost reduction, however - BV's operating margin is worst in class. The business mix could also be improved, given it is skewed towards the construction sector and France and is sub-scale in runaway commodities. BV's absolute valuation - some 19 times 2008 earnings - is punchy, but as a play on growth in trade, and the relentless tide of regulation, it seems likely to perform well.