fantastic order book,profits up 250+% , div increased , bullish forward statement and .......................................



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Questor share tip: Focus on Hyder long-term and benefit from discount to peers
TelegraphBy John Ficenec | Telegraph – Sat, Oct 5, 2013 21:00 BST.

The engineering consultant is benefitting from a construction boom in the Middle East, says Questor.

Hyder Consulting (LSE: HYC.L - news) 487p Questor says BUY

Hyder Consulting, the engineering consultant, is offering rapid dividend growth to investors. So the shares trading on a discount to sector peers are well worth a second look.

Hyder has more than doubled its dividend over the past four years. That has seen the payout to shareholders soar from 4.5p in 2009, to 12p today.

There is still plenty of room for that dividend to increase further. Analysts expect it to rise by 10pc both this year and next, reaching 14.5p by 2015.

This looks very reasonable as well. The dividend was covered 3.5 times by earnings and cash flow in the year ended March 2013.

Hyder has achieved this performance by focusing on high growth overseas markets. More than two-thirds of Hyder's revenue comes from engineering work in Asia Pacific and Middle East regions.

The Middle East is going through something of an infrastructure boom as it uses petrodollars to build hospitals, railways and motorways.

Hyder is working on the "M25 of the Middle East", referring to the Qatari's £3bn Doha expressway project, on which Hyder Consulting recently won a £70m design contract.

Middle East growth is offsetting a difficult European market. German elections have delayed contract decisions, and it is a similar picture in Australia, with some bidding referral around the recent election. However these are short-term, one-off impacts and, with the political backdrop now more secure, long-term construction decisions can be made.

In the most recent trading update, Hyder said currency weakness in the Australian dollar would hurt full-year forecastsand brokers trimmed backprofit expectations.

Investors should focus on the long-term story here, which is very much intact. The shares trading on a PE ratio of 11.8 times forecast 2014 earnings, falling to 10.7 times next year, are therefore on an unfair discount to sector peer WS Atkins (LSE: ATK.L - news) on a PE ratio of 13 times. Buy.

On Friday, Hyder Consulting PLC (HYC:LSE) closed at 534.00, 0.19 % below its 52-week high of 535.00, set on Oct 11, 2013

Sold. In at 460P out at 534p.