Interserve Share Price (IRV)

Yet again well done IRV for keeping us little PI's updated - shame they are the excpetion rather than the rule!

this has been for me over the last year and today's news suggests there are still plenty of little nuggets to follow. Hopefully saying the same thing this time next year! If you're looking for nice stable growth and a good dividend then these boys are worth looking at.

"Interserve is reinvesting money from the sale of its private finance initiative assets, buying an Omani oil field maintenance provider. It's a buy on a price/earning ratio of eight for 2003 "

On the same day that Marks & Spencer announced an agreement with the trustees of its pension fund on how to pay off the deficit, the outsourcing specialist Interserve found a more innovative solution to the same problem. The company has transferred the rest of its portfolio of PFI assets, comprising its remaining stake in University College London Hospital and other public sector projects it was involved in, to its pension fund at a valuation of 55m pounds. This gives the fund a decent income from assets that are mature and don’t belong on the balance sheet of a company such as Interserve. The company accompanied the deal with a reassuring trading update. Analysts have tended to worry about its exposure to the British construction market. Work is coming through, though, from a range of clients, to a value of 500m pounds in the second half of 2012 so far. The shares have risen sharply since the summer and sell on about eight times earnings, with the support of a 5.7 per cent yield. Hold, says The Times’s Tempus column.

"The transaction announced today is good news for both shareholders and members of our pension scheme," said Chief Executive Officer Adrian Ringrose. "Through a series of transactions during 2012 we have realised significant latent value in our PFI portfolio and with today's announcement are proposing to bolster our pension position. The conclusion of our triennial pension funding review, of which this transaction is an integral part, balances the interests of our pension scheme with our ambition to make further progress against our strategic growth plans."

Support services and construction firm Interserve is to transfer its remaining interest in a portfolio of 19 PFI assets to the trustee of its pension scheme at a valuation of 55m pounds, the group announced on Wednesday. Interserve said that proposed transaction will provide a "significant contribution" towards its current pension scheme funding shortfall and will crystallise further value from its PFI investment portfolio. The agreement is conditional upon the approval from shareholders at a meeting in January. In 2011, the interests contributed £3.7m of profit and gross assets were valued at £3.6m at June 30th 2012. When combined with two previous transactions in relation to its PFI portfolio (announced in June and October), the deals will have raised £124.5m in cash to reduce the actuarial deficit from £150m to £95m and reduce the annual deficit recovery payment from £23.2m to £12m per annum.