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http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201201130700114990V
Engineering consultancy WS Atkins is flush from winning a £70m contract to help Qatar develop its transport and infrastructure, The Times's Tempus column notes. A lot of hope is being pinned on the shoulders of Atkins’s new German Chief Executive, Uwe Krueger, says Tempus, and with some reason; the firm has also recently won a £65m contract to assist with the Doha sewage system. If Kreuger fails, however, then there is always the chance of a takeover and WS Atkins only trades at 8 times earnings with a yield of more than 4%. Tempus says buy.
Atkins (ATK) kept its "buy" rating from Brewin Dolphin, with a target price of 742p. The engineering consultancy's 65 million pound contract win in Qatar impressed the broker, justifying its focus on the Middle East region. Brewin notes that the contract accounts for 7% of its 180 million pound target for revenues from the region in 2013. Furthermore, the broker expects Atkins to benefit from the 30 billion pound accelerated infrastructure spend in the UK, part of the government's 200 billion pound project that will last until 2015. The shares grew 6.5p to 625p.
ubs reiterates neutral, raises price target to 600p from 560p.
Evolution upgrades WS Atkins from sell to buy.
The last time we looked at WS Atkins, we decided to buy, reasoning that the combination of what was a thin valuation and the engineering group's sensible strategy of expanding its reach in the energy sector augured well, says the Investment Column in the Independent. Since then, however, markets have suffered a well-document slump as investors factored in the prospect of another slowdown in global growth. Nevertheless, the group's diversity and international reach means that Atkins is better placed to deal with any downturn than many other companies. Adding to this, there is the valuation, which has become thinner still. In fact, Atkins trades on around 7 times forward earnings. All the while, it yields well over 5 per cent. We see no reason to cut and run. Buy, says the Independent.
good stable company - pays nice dividend - with room for capital appreciation mid-term
Brewin Dolphin maintained its "buy" recommendation for WS Atkins (ATK) with a reduced target price of 742p, from 874p. While the broker's stance remains positive, due to expansion opportunities in the Middle East, it expects a slower recovery in the engineering company's end markets than previously thought. Brewin has therefore reduced its 2012 earnings per share forecast by 2% to 78.2p and its 2013 and 2014 forecasts by 6% to 82.2p and 87.5p respectively. Shares in Atkins stayed flat at 550p.
CONT In the Middle East, as anticipated, our workload has increased during the year to date as investment continues in the growing infrastructure market. Our Asia Pacific and Europe businesses are trading in line with our expectations, with continuing weak market conditions in both Ireland and Portugal. In our Energy business we are making good progress in the core growth markets of nuclear, oil and gas and power. Our two recent acquisitions in this business are trading well following their successful integration. Overall Group staff numbers have increased during the year to date to around 17,700, with growth in our Middle East and Energy businesses exceeding reductions in the UK, where we have continued to adjust our resource levels to meet expected demand. We announced in June that the Group had commenced a consultation process with those employees who are members of the UK defined benefit pension plan in relation to a proposal to remove the link between employees' accrued pension and future increases in salary. The consultation process, which concludes at the end of September, is progressing. Overall, the outlook for the Group for the current year remains unchanged."
Outlook for the year unchanged At the Annual General Meeting held today the Chairman of WS Atkins plc ("Atkins" or the "Group"), Allan Cook, made the following statement to shareholders in relation to current trading. This statement also acts as the Group's pre-close trading update in advance of its half-year results for the six months to 30 September 2011 which will be announced on 17 November 2011. "I am pleased to report to shareholders that, as confirmed in our Interim Management Statement of 3 August 2011, the Group has continued to navigate well through challenging market conditions in many of its markets. As a result, the earnings performance for the six months to 30 September 2011 is anticipated to be in line with our expectations. Although overall economic conditions in the UK remain difficult, our business here continues to benefit from both the resilience of its diversified portfolio in a number of well-funded markets and its support for the Group's Middle East operations. In North America our consultancy business continues to perform well. However, as previously noted, our Peter Brown construction management at risk business has had a poor start to the year and this is expected to impact revenues and limit overall margin growth for our North American business as a whole this year.
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201109081630019124N
WS Atkins (ATK) reported mixed a performance in the UK, noting that the highway business has begun well but that the rail sector remains highly competitive. The infrastructure group believes there is significant growth opportunity in the Middle East and has begun to invest heavily in personnel and bidding activity. In Asia and Europe the company claims to be trading in-line with expectations, but suffering from weak market conditions. The shares crumbled 24p to 654.5p
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201108030700136229L
seems to be a yearly anomonly looking at historical charts. price also seems to go down through july then rises to december. although current uptrend may suggest a change to hitorics this year
Mr Milan - you were correct re drop on results. Fair call.
Credit Suisse reiterates neutral on WS Atkins, target price raised from 706p to 752p
WS Atkins beats raised expectations Date: Thursday 16 Jun 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Design and engineering consultancy WS Atkins topped revenue and profit expectations in what it described as a transformational year for the company. Revenue in the year ended 31 March rose 12.7% to £1,564m from £1,388m the year before, marginally ahead of market consensus of £1.558m. Underlying profit before tax climbed 9.4% to £102.7m from £93.9m a year earlier. The market had been expecting a figure of around £96.14m. "As reported" profit before tax slipped 5.8% to £91.0m from £96.6m in the preceding year. Underlying operating profit improved to £118.7m from £110.4m the year before, but the underlying operating margin eased to 7.6% from 8.0%. Work in hand at the start of the new financial year represented 55% of budgeted revenue for the full year. At the same stage in 2010, the figure was 54%. The company said the outlook for the current year remains unchanged and in line with market expectations. A final dividend of 19.5p has been recommended, taking the full-year total to 29.0p, up 5.5% on the 27.5p paid the year before.
We are pleased to report that Atkins has again delivered good results in a challenging economic environment. This was a transformational year for the Group, in which we proved our strategy is working. We balanced our geographic footprint with a North American acquisition and continued to maintain our focus on quality and agility. We are now well positioned for growth and our outlook for the current year is unchanged. Allan Cook CBE Chairman
HIGHLIGHTS · Underlying operating profit up 7.5% and underlying operating margin at 7.6% (2010: 8.0%). · Integration of strategic acquisition in North America has progressed well and the business is performing in line with our expectations, with margin improvement to 4.6%. · Successful debt recovery and diversification into infrastructure in the Middle East delivered regional profits up 70%. · Good work in hand at the start of the year, 55% of budgeted revenue (2010:54%). · Dividend increased by 5.5% reflecting the Board's confidence in the Group's prospects. · Outlook for the current year remains unchanged and in line with market expectations.
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201106160700095329I
Panmure Gordon has been casting its eye over design and engineering consultancy WS Atkins, which also brings out full-year results on Thursday. “An upbeat pre-close update suggests a good set of results,” the broker reckons. “The acquisition of PBSJ remains a major focus while the recent announcement of CEO change creates some uncertainty,” Panmure Gordon added, referring to the recently announced decision of Keith Clarke to step down from the chief executive role after eight years. The broker notes that at the time of Atkins's trading update in April, expectations were for pre-tax profits of between £88m and £97m. Market consensus, according to Panmure Gordon, is now £96.4m, £0.1m below Panmure Gordon’s own forecast. Digital Look’s figures suggest consensus is for profits of £96.14m on revenue of £1,558m.
Be careful in the short term here. If you check June results day, historically the price drops on announcement.
RBS recommends buy on WS Atkins, target price raised from 785p to 880p.
WS Atkins acquires Poyrys oil and gas business for €17.3m Date: Monday 06 Jun 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - WS Atkins, the UK's largest engineering and design consultancy, announced this morning that it has acquired Pöyry's 130 people-strong oil and gas business debt free, for a cash consideration of €17.25m. According to the group’s chief executive, Keith Clarke, "This acquisition represents a step up in Atkins' ability to deliver process-led multi-disciplinary projects, adding to our traditional oil and gas consultancy and assurance services, on a worldwide scale." The company thus progresses in its stated strategy of growing skills in its Energy business, just as when last March it purchased the technical services Scotland group from RWE npower which added strength to Atkins' capability in power generation. As of 11:12 AM shares of Atkins are rising 0.1% to 812p in London trading.
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201106060700118852H