It's been a good week for WSP with 2 good contracts awarded. Anyone follow these. Does seem to be on an upward climb. Technically has now broken up through strong resistance at 55p now at 74p and up 10p on the week (17%)

The directors have been purchasing this share on a regular basis over the last few months every time it drops for a bit.

The orginal drop late last year was caused by a warning about an exceptional amount which they were going to Write off (see interim report), and then the big drop just before the end of Jan because the warned the results (due out 14 Mar) would not be that great (what a surprise - as they include the poor results from the interim.) And this company pay very good dividends.

I think the share is extremely cheap - but I can see the price dropping just before it hits 1 for profit taking. (Maybe even earlier, as quite a few people are already sitting on a very nice profit already!)

Had this via Hemscot.......

This week the share which catches my eye is WSP, an engineering consultancy, which fell comprehensively out of bed last year as the market cottoned on to the fact that a stunning growth record had hit the buffers.

At the end of last year, WSP's shares had fallen to 35p as investors feared the worst. Importantly, however, that low came just two weeks after the company had announced that profits for the year to December 2002 would be not less than 12m, for earnings per share of at least 14.6p.

That made the 5p dividend look a safe bet to be maintained and the implied price-earnings ratio and dividend yield of under 3 and 14% respectively looked ludicrous. No surprise that the share price has subsequently almost doubled to 68.5p, helped this week by the announcement of a joint contract with Carillion (another share that looks much too cheap).

Battening down the hatches and waiting for the storm clouds to pass may be an understandable reaction, but while you're in your bunker others are making profits that would have looked respectable at the height of the tech boom.

Anyone who purchased this one a few months ago a nice profit. Personally I sold, but have bought back in as I think the future should be good - butits looking even better than I expected due to the following news out today:

LONDON (AFX) - WSP Group PLC said its forward order book stands at over 300 mln stg, after the company has won new contracts with a total value of 110 mln so far in 2003.

Chris Cole, WSP's chief executive, said the forward orders include many long-term contracts which have helped to improve forward visibility.

The international business services group said work has begun on the construction of a 42-storey tower extension to the New York headquarters of international media and publishing group The Hearst Corp. The design and management of all the engineering and environmental aspects is being carried out by WSP's US subsidiary companies Flack + Kurtz and Cantor Seinuk.

The tower is scheduled for completion in 2006.

WSP said the transport sector contracts won this year include the design contract for the M25 widening scheme and a five-year Area 12 Managing Agent Contractor (MAC) contract in partnership with Carillion PLC. Both contracts are on behalf of the Highways Agency.

WSP has also been awarded a major rail structures assessment contract for the Great Western region by Network Rail and a long-term framework contract with BAA PLC.

International contracts include the design and management of the construction of a landmark 34-storey building in Vietnam, a design consultancy contract by Stora Enso, and the appointment as lead consultant and technical adviser for the construction of a new motorway in Finland.

Other international awards include the UK government's contract to advise the Bangladesh Ministry of Communications on all aspects of planning, building and maintaining its national road network and infrastructure.

Year end was 30th June, so the result when out in a few months (?) should be interesting.

This share has been creeping down slowly again. With a divi return of just over 5% (5p on a buy price of 95p!) is could be worth getting just for the divi!

Got some last week, when I last posted.

Any one else who has a few tucked away for dividends - have you seen what has happened this today! My holding is up over 10% - the temptation to cash in is there - but I'm going to see if I can hold out!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thought this chart would interest a few people (that's if they take a look at this thread!)

I sold out at during the first week of August, hoping others would also do the same and the price drop. But didn't drop enough to cover the spread, and now going back up again!

For a share that doesn't do much (apart from pay a good dividend!) from a low of 36.5 at the end of last year to it's current buy of 119p is doing pretty well!

Took a peek at Fridays close - now 124p to buy!

I'ts breaking out again , not much resistance til 200p.

Thought I would reserect this thread!

I remember only a few month ago, when I was happy when it passed 1.20. Personally I sold out long ago, and took my profit, but after seing it drop back slightly after hitting 2.00 I tempted to get some for the long term.

Results (finals) due out first thing tommorrow!

Results looking good : http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200403080700092241W.html

I did get some for the long term, and the share promptly slipped back slightly, but yesterday it started back up and today I'm in profit.

This one goes ex div on April 7 at 3p a share.

Thought I'd find this thread, as this share is getting interesting again!

when moneymakesmoney started this thread in Feb 03, this share had broken 55p and was at 74p. Now its 230+ and still rising.

Anyone else taken a look at this share? (It also pays 2 dividends a year!)

Still hold some of these bought some time ago - a typical case of buy when the market is down, sit tight and wait: -

Anyone else following this company?

It looks like I'm the only one. Shame really - this seems to be my star buy from last year (as a long term investment) at the moment.

I have watched this one and regret not buying- any price predictions over the next 6 months. I hope there might be a pull back in May time for me to get onboard. cheers MP

I'm happy I'm in! Looks like its not going to pull back, but keep going up up and awayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ;-)


LONDON (AFX) - WSP Group PLC posted an increase in turnover and pretax profits in 2004 ahead of expectations and said its order book is at a record level, with more than 500 mln stg of secured orders for the year ahead.

'The quality of this order book in terms of prestigious projects and long term framework agreements ... underpins the sustainability of our future operations.

'I am therefore confident we will build on these good financial results to deliver continued growth, improved profit margins, strong cash flows and an increasing long-term order book,' said chairman David Turner.

For the year to the end of December 2004, WSP posted pretax profits up 71 pct at 9.6 mln stg on sales of 328.2 mln stg from 298.9 mln, and upped its final dividend to 3.2 pence per share from 3.0 pence.

newsdesk@afxnews.com

Moneyplus - its still going up! Directors have been purchasing a lot of shares
- hence todays large increase

March '07 - LONDON (AFX) - "WSP Group PLC posted increased full-year pretax profits and said its order book has grown to 700 mln stg, with a pipeline of 'attractive opportunities'.
The management and consultancy company reported pretax profits of 26.4 mln stg on revenue of 416.7 mln stg compared with 19.8 mln stg on revenue of 349.1 mln stg a year earlier.

Pretax profits, adjusted to add back certain tax and amortisation items, came to 27.5 mln stg as against 20.3 mln, on adjusted revenue of 449.4 mln stg from 374.0 mln stg.

WSP proposed a final dividend of 6 pence a share from 4 pence last time, bringing the total dividend for the year to 9 pence, up 41 pct from 6.4 pence.

The company said it continues to see particularly strong activity in the US and Middle East over the next year, and in the property and environmental sectors in general, adding that it will continue to focus on diversified, profitable growth."

This is not one I have followed at all in the past, but what an awesome graph over the last 5 years.
Is anyone still holding this stock, looking for more growth & does anyone know the ex-divi date please?

Tipped in the Mail on Sunday Midas column as a buy at 763p today. DYOR, but I can see no reason to doubt their continued long-term growth.

never heard of this company before, but from the brief look i have taken, very impressive in all respects and firmly focussed on what it does best ..... perhaps wrongly, i shall wait for a bad day - i.e. for rsi to unwind a bit and for sp to slip back to 25 dma level where it seems to find consistent support.



red = 25 dma
green = 50 dma
black = 200 dma

A pretty impressive graph.
Brokers Numis/Seymour/Altium/ABN Amro all give this a buy rating with an EPS of +/- 35p for 2007, & an EPS +/- 40p for 2008.
2006 saw a turnover of 416m & a pre-tax profit of 26m.
I still haven't been able to find the ex-divi dates, even from their website.
I have been watching this for a few months & looks good for a medium term investment imo.

Nice to see two very recent broker upgrades both putting the stock on a forward P/E of just over 5 ........... way too cheap IMHO...

WSP Group PLC

FORECASTS
2009 2010

Date Rec Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p)

Panmure Gordon
31-03-09 BUY 40.08 43.87 15.00 39.14 42.83 15.00

ABN AMRO
30-03-09 BUY 40.00 43.13 15.50 38.50 41.48 16.00

not so good to see stock being dumped then!

Cyners stock dumped!!!!!!!!, it went ex divi yesterday ......... you divi.

And here are those broker notes now in full...

WSP Group PLC

FORECASTS WIRES
2009 2010

Date Rec Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p)

Panmure Gordon
31-03-09 BUY 40.08 43.87 15.00 39.14 42.83 15.00

ABN AMRO
30-03-09 BUY 40.00 43.13 15.50 38.50 41.48 16.00

Arbuthnot Securities
30-03-09 NEUT 43.44 49.17 15.00 44.99 49.70 15.00

W H Ireland Ltd
27-03-09 BUY 37.80 41.60 15.00 39.80 43.70 15.00

Brewin Dolphin Investment Banking
24-03-09 ADD 36.50 39.80 15.00 35.00 38.10 15.00

KBC Peel Hunt Ltd
19-03-09 HOLD 40.28 56.58 15.00 43.09 44.88 15.00

Blue Oar Securities
13-03-09 BUY 38.37 43.11 15.00 42.02 47.21 15.75

FinnCap [R]
05-03-09 HOLD 54.00 61.00 16.00

Numis Securities Ltd
02-03-09 BUY 43.00 47.00 15.00

Altium Securities
02-03-09 HOLD 40.00 43.00 15.00 43.00 45.90 15.00

2009 2010
Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p)

Consensus 39.42 44.39 15.00 40.84 44.26 15.00
1 Month Change -0.70 -0.54 0.00 -0.40 -0.06 0.00
3 Month Change -3.10 -1.56 0.02 -3.87 -2.62 -0.11


GROWTH
2008 (A) 2009 (E) 2010 (E)

Norm. EPS 20.96% -10.22% -0.29%
DPS 30.00% 15.38% 0.00%

INVESTMENT RATIOS

2008 (A) 2009 (E) 2010 (E)

EBITDA m 54.72m 54.87m

EBIT m 44.64m 46.59m

Dividend Yield 5.83% 6.73% 6.73%

Dividend Cover 3.80x 2.96x 2.95x

PER 4.51x 5.02x 5.04x

PEG 0.22f -0.49f -17.20f

Net Asset Value PS p 318.07p 343.94p


A forward P/E of just 5.......... miserly.

Robbie (smirkey) Burns as tipped this one late fri afternoon. (hes always a week behind me)

Cant stand the leech but I suppose itl send the sp up even more come monday.

Cyners did you go in??.

no matey, i didn't for no particular reason ...... didn't even check what sort of spread the share has ..... have had a particularly good week though and even had the sense to bank a lot of profits

heavily into AFR for monday, and have also done well with WOS, KAH and LAM

not sure where you reside, but would happily meet for a pie and a pint if it suits ..... i'm between maidenhead and henley

I'm in last 10 mins this afternoon..gl all.

Cyners thats very kind of you, but not my cup of tea as 1. I live in the yorkshire area and 2. im not the type for mixing and that kind of thingy. Im not a social animal ... so to speak.

I hope you dont take that personal, its not meant to offend.

Always available for a PM though and a chat on any stock or anything.... with anyone aswell.

Good to see so many having good rewards over the last few days.

no probs .... my mother was brought up in Harrogate and now my older son (+ fiancee) live there too

These are cheap for no reason.

Heading back to 300p imo.

Its a Buy alone just on the NAV and forecast NAV never mind the cheap rating of just over P/E 5.................


Concensus Broker Figures.....

INVESTMENT RATIO

2008 (A) 2009 (E) 2010 (E)

EBITDA m 55.47m 54.87m

EBIT m 44.64m 46.59m

Dividend Yield 5.58% 6.44% 6.44%

Dividend Cover 3.80x 2.99x 2.93x

PER 4.71x 5.20x 5.30x

PEG 0.22f -0.56f -2.79f

Net Asset Value PS p 318.10p 344.01p

Attractive aswell if you like a divi play.

And the Brokers just love it...

What The Brokers Say

Strong Buy 6
Buy 1
Neutral 3
Sell 0
Strong Sell 0
Total 10

6 strong Buys, that takes some beating.

Zak Mir Pro TAers take on WSP this morning.......

Zak Mir

Reged: 28/06/07
Posts: 741
Re: WSH -- WSP group,tremendous potential for upside
#443067 - 09/04/09 08:48 AM Edit Reply Quote



Technically, the U shaped recovery on the daily chart since the autumn suggests that while above say, the 20 day moving average at 222p the upside here could be as great as September resistance above 500p.

We had a new broker BUY note out yesterday from Panmure one of the better houses,

Was lateish on aswel, so a lot not taken action yet...

WSP Group PLC

FORECASTS

2009 2010

Panmure Gordon
08-04-09 BUY 40.08 43.87 15.00 39.14 42.83 15.00

W H Ireland Ltd
02-04-09 BUY 37.80 41.60 15.00 39.80 43.70 15.00

Interesting points made by Brokers.....

Brewin Dolphin thinks risk to current year estimates is on the upside, despite the fact the market is pricing in significant earnings risk in 2009 and beyond. It estimates that around just 10 percent of WSP's global revenue is derived from markets that are exposed to likely weakening demand. Evolution Securities said it thinks WSP's rating compared to the peer group is "anomalous and large". It said that were WSP to be rated at the same multiple as WS Atkins, the share price would be 40 percent higher at over 700 pence per share.

Going rather well this morning.

Topped up on the pull back this morning.

Found these broker figs on the companys website and overall things look very impressive given present market conditions...

Broker Forecasts and Consensus

2009 Broker Forecasts Broker Date Rec Pre-tax
(m) EPS (p) DPS (p)

KBC Peel Hunt Ltd 15/04/2009 HOLD 39.97 56.58 15.00
Panmure Gordon 15/04/2009 BUY 39.28 42.99 15.00
W H Ireland Ltd 14/04/2009 BUY 37.80 41.60 15.00
Arbuthnot Securities 08/04/2009 NEUT 43.44 49.17 15.00
Altium Securities 01/04/2009 HOLD 41.70 45.90 15.00
ABN AMRO 30/03/2009 BUY 40.00 43.13 15.50
Brewin Dolphin Investment Banking 27/03/2009 ADD 36.50 39.80 15.00
Blue Oar Securities 13/03/2009 BUY 38.37 43.11 15.00
Numis Securities Ltd 02/03/2009 BUY 43.00 47.00 15.00

2010 Broker Forecasts Broker Date Rec Pre-tax
(m) EPS (p) DPS (p)

KBC Peel Hunt Ltd 15/04/2009 HOLD 41.98 44.53 15.00
Panmure Gordon 15/04/2009 BUY 38.24 41.85 15.00
W H Ireland Ltd 14/04/2009 BUY 39.80 43.70 15.00
Arbuthnot Securities 08/04/2009 NEUT 44.99 49.70 15.00
Altium Securities 01/04/2009 HOLD 45.60 50.10 15.00
ABN AMRO 30/03/2009 BUY 38.50 41.48 16.00
Brewin Dolphin Investment Banking 27/03/2009 ADD 35.00 38.10 15.00
Blue Oar Securities 13/03/2009 BUY 42.02 47.21 15.75
FinnCap[R] 05/03/2009 HOLD NaN NaN NaN
Numis Securities Ltd 02/03/2009 BUY 0.00 0.00 0.00

Quick broker Shot...

What The Brokers Say

Strong Buy 6
Buy 1
Neutral 3
Sell 0
Strong Sell 0

Total 10

Just added some more.

Cant see these barring a market melt down getting any cheaper.

Broker Snap shot...

WSP Group PLC

FORECASTS

2009 2010

Date Rec Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p)

Panmure Gordon
16-04-09 BUY 39.28 42.99 15.00 38.24 41.85 15.00

KBC Peel Hunt Ltd
15-04-09 HOLD 39.97 56.58 15.00 41.98 44.53 15.00

W H Ireland Ltd
14-04-09 BUY 37.80 41.60 15.00 39.80 43.70 15.00

Pro TAer ZAK MIR as given this analysis in the last few minutes on WSP....

Zak Mir



Reged: 28/06/07
Posts: 752
Re: WSH -- WSP group,tremendous potential for upsi
#443616 - 17/04/09 08:26 AM Edit Reply Quote



At the moment the favoured support zone is the 10 day moving average level just below 260p, with the near term resistance line from last month promising at least 330p while above the 10 day moving average.

Sitting on the 10 day MA and also bottom trendline of a upward trend channel.

A move back to the top of the channel would see 300p plus.

Forward P/E of just over 6.

Could double from here and still be derd cheap.....

WSP Group PLC

FORECASTS
2009 2010

Date Rec Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p)
Arbuthnot Securities

22-04-09 NEUT 43.44 49.17 15.00 44.99 49.70 15.00
Panmure Gordon
22-04-09 BUY 39.28 42.99 15.00 38.24 41.85 15.00
Numis Securities Ltd
20-04-09 BUY 40.00 43.50 15.00 39.20 42.30 15.00
KBC Peel Hunt Ltd
15-04-09 HOLD 39.97 56.58 15.00 41.98 44.53 15.00
W H Ireland Ltd
14-04-09 BUY 37.80 41.60 15.00 39.80 43.70 15.00
Altium Securities
01-04-09 HOLD 41.70 45.90 15.00 45.60 50.10 15.00
ABN AMRO
30-03-09 BUY 40.00 43.13 15.50 38.50 41.48 16.00
Brewin Dolphin Investment Banking
27-03-09 ADD 36.50 39.80 15.00 35.00 38.10 15.00
Blue Oar Securities
13-03-09 BUY 38.37 43.11 15.00 42.02 47.21 15.75
FinnCap [R]
05-03-09 HOLD 54.00 61.00 16.00

2009 2010
Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p)

Consensus 39.28 44.20 15.00 39.90 43.41 15.00
1 Month Change -0.01 -0.43 0.00 -1.48 -1.48 0.00
3 Month Change -2.10 -0.90 0.18 -4.78 -3.48 -0.10


GROWTH
2008 (A) 2009 (E) 2010 (E)

Norm. EPS 20.91% -10.57% -1.79%
DPS 30.00% 15.38% 0.00%

INVESTMENT RATIOS
2008 (A) 2009 (E) 2010 (E)

EBITDA 69.50m 55.54m 54.63m
EBIT 54.10m 44.64m 46.59m
Dividend Yield 4.86% 5.61% 5.61%
Dividend Cover 3.80x 2.95x 2.89x
PER 5.41x 6.05x 6.16x
PEG 0.26f -0.57f -3.45f
Net Asset Value PS -37.54p 318.20p 344.19p

Gone short here, the technicals on the chart and pointing to further downside. A bearish shooting star on the weekly chart and on the daily chart indicators turning weak and a drop towards 340p/330p could be on the cards.

On last trading statement aswell I remember they were having problems with debtors.

WSP (wsh) chart points to a fall to around the band 440p/430p.

gf do you mean 340/330p?

its trading volumes are worse than derisory (12k today), so assuredly far too thin to allow sensible shorting

Another look at the WSH chart and rather bearish is the outlook. As one can see the SP is just about to fall through the floor of an up trend channel. Their is support around the 330p area.



The weekly chart backs up the daily chart with a bearish shooting star having formed over the last week on the chart at near the top of the uptrend.