Brokers Hargreave Hale gave the following Valuation for HMY

VALUATION
The nearest comparisons to this Group are Sondex, trading on a current year multiple of 14 and Weir Group which typically trades on multiples of 12 plus. We would argue that Hamworthys prospects are brighter than both these companies in view of the strong order book and the global positioning. Fully taxed earnings of 13p this year and 16.5 p for the 2005/6 end March, suggests a current year PE of 9.9x and a prospective PE of 7.8x. There is a prospective yield in excess of 4%. If trading on a similar PER to Sondex the shares would be valued at in excess of 180p. We would argue that a premium to Sondex is justifiable, in particular because of the potential ramp up to sales as a result of the new product pipeline now gaining client acceptance in what is in any event one of the fastest growing markets in the world.

"Shares" Article relating to Hamworthy (HMY) posted below for info.

With a following wind these shares should double over the next year or so.

Some catty folk in the City say the flotation last month by Collins Stewart
could have been handled better, i.e. at a higher price. It was certainly over
subscribed but the rating is half that of similar oil sector service companies
including Sondex.

An interesting general article in Llyods list today, with a potentially very good news highlighted at the bottom. Our much awaited news on the tenders could be out soon!!


"QATARS liquefied natural gas exports total about 20m tonnes a year, but this is scheduled to increase to 30m tonnes by 2007 and to approximately 77m tonnes by 2012.

A huge amount of investment will be made in new tonnage to meet this LNG export requirement. It has been estimated that Qatar will need to order more than 50 LNG carriers over the next few years to meet its needs.

Already this investment programme is under way. Earlier this year, for instance, Qatar Gas Transportation Co and the New York company Overseas Shipholding Group signed a contract for the largest LNG carriers ordered so far.

A total of four 216,000 cu m Q-flex vessels will be constructed at Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries for delivery in 2007-08 and will be chartered for 25 years to Qatar Liquefied Gas Co.

Qatar Gas Transport Co, known as Nikilat, is a shareholding company set up to export Qatari gas to Asia, Europe and North America.

With a declared capital of Riyals6.5bn ($1.8bn), 50% of the companys capital has now been released for general subscription.

Speaking at the Doha conference on natural gas earlier this year Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Minister of Energy and Industry, said: The fact that Nakilat will be leasing the ships to Qatargas and RasGas for 25 years ensures risk-free operations.

In addition, this major Qatari milestone project will create wide opportunities, including the training of Qataris in gas transport and maintenance.

The LNG trades, not surprisingly also represent a focal point for Qatars biggest shipping company, Qatar Shipping, a privately owned venture which at present operates a fleet of 18 ships totalling around 800,000 dwt.

The company took delivery of five new 138,000 cu m LNG ships last year and has a further four 145,000 cu m carriers on order for delivery between May this year and next April to carry LNG from the Rasgas II plant.

Det Norske Veritas has been heavily involved in LNG and other newbuilding projects stemming from Qatar and is continuing to develop its presence in the country to support this sector.

Two more surveyors are expected to be stationed in Doha by the end of this year, says Eivind Grostad, regional general manager.

With the great potential and rapid expansion of shipping and related ind- ustry in Qatar, we expect a gradual increase of manning in the years to come, he adds.

DNV ANTICIPATES THAT AN IMPORTANT TENDER FOR 12 LARGE NEW LNG CARRIERS WILL COME OUT SOON.

Furthermore, says Mr Grostad: There may also be some other very interesting projects which may materialise over the next six months in Qatar as well.

Paulgrip - thanks for that excellent piece.

Cheers, Madison

Yes excelent piece I hope HMY get a piece of the action on the tender for the 12 ships.

cheers GF.

Paulgrip you're the man. Well done and keep them coming.

MS

From the FT yesterday: see first and tenth paragraphs about LNG (how do you highlight paragraphs here, I have never understood that?).

Bush to support expansion of nuclear energy
By Andrew Ward in Washington
Published: April 27 2005 05:49 | Last updated: April 27 2005 05:49

President George W. Bush will on Wednesday throw his support behind a worldwide expansion of nuclear power and announce plans for a new generation of oil refineries and natural gas terminals in the US.


The proposals, which will be made in a speech in Washington, are designed to help ease the capacity constraints that have pushed energy prices to record highs this year. Mr Bush will call for Congress to work with the Department of Energy to reduce uncertainty surrounding regulatory approval for nuclear power plants, paving the way for the first expansion in nuclear power in the US for decades.

Senior White House officials said Mr Bush would also call for international co-operation to promote greater use of clean coal and nuclear power around the world to reduce stress on global energy markets.

In addition to increasing capacity, Mr Bush believes nuclear power can also be part of the solution to climate change because it does not produce the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

Mr Bushs speech on Wednesday represents a wish list of initiatives he would like to see incorporated into energy legislation currently making its way through Congress. The House of Representatives passed an energy bill last week and the Senate is expected to start work on its version in the next few weeks before the two houses seek to agree the final legislation for Mr Bushs signature.

Energy has become a hot political issue in the US as fuel prices have surged and the country has become increasingly dependent on foreign oil and gas.

Officials said Mr Bush would set out his vision for tackling the root causes of todays high price environment through increased domestic energy production and processing, and use of technology to develop renewable energy sources and promote energy efficiency.

In the most novel proposal contained in Mr Bushs speech, officials said he would call for the construction of new oil refineries on former military bases, creating new jobs in communities hit by base closures while also easing the countrys acute shortage of refining capacity.

No new oil refineries have been built in the US since 1976 and existing facilities are struggling to cope with demand.

Officials said Mr Bush would also call on Congress to remove barriers to new liquefied natural gas terminals by giving federal authorities the power to override opposition to the facilities from states. The US needs more than the existing four terminals to handle surging imports of LNG.

Mr Bush was also expected to call for Congress to extend tax benefits for fuel-efficient cars to include clean diesel vehicles, in addition to the hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles which are already included. The incentive would be worth $2.5bn over 10 years, according to White House officials.

The combination of tax breaks for green cars with expansion of nuclear power and traditional fossil fuel supplies shows how Mr Bush is seeking to strike a balance between competing calls for increased energy capacity and energy conservation.

However, environmentalists are likely to argue the balance is too heavily in favour of the energy industry, which has close ties to Mr Bush and the Republican Party. Critics are particularly wary of Mr Bushs promotion of so-called clean coal technology, which still emits large amounts of greenhouse gases.ENDS

Cheers, Madison

Ill come back with the whole codes for HTML.

Here you are madison the codes for highlighting etc.

Can I use html in my posts?
There are 2 ways that this can be configured on a per board basis. If HTML is On then you will see HTML is On and you can use normal HTML in your posts.

[b] text [/b] = Makes the given text bold.
[email] joe@email.com [/email] = Makes the given email address clickable.
[i] text [/i] = Makes the given text italic.
[code] text [/code] = Surrounds the given text with pre tags.
[quote] text [/quote] = Surrounds the given text with blockquote and hr's. This UBBCode tag is used for quoting a reply.
[url] link [/url] = Makes the given url into a link.
[url=link] title [/url] = Makes the given title into a hyperlink pointing to link.

cheers GF.

Thanks GF, will try it out when I get a minute...

Cheers, Madison

Invested here because of the huge potential - now and in the coming years. Doesn't stop it hurting when the price takes a significant fall (not helped by everything else looking a touch red!).

Have grave concerns we are going to go below 200p and from there the next stop could be ...

Just had a look at the trades - MMs, what are you playing at???

Was just going to say the same thing stuartth. Its pathetic, but when buys are coming in it takes all day to get a poxy few pence on the price. Were being robbed blind here.

cheers GF.

I don't like MMs, so if you're one I don't like you. Nothing has change with this company and long term it's still a good outfit with a full order book and more to come. Best advice I can give today is to turn off your computer and go down the pub. Shoot a few frames of pool, a round of darts and 6 pints of Stella.

MS

This is getting bloody ridiculous.

MS

Down 7.2% on light volume...crazy!!

The growth prospects of this industry and possibilities for HMY are massive...just crazy to see the MM's use such rude tactics to try and get hold of our shares!! We should be back up soon! IMO

More related news from Lloyds list, all along we have talked about the UK and USA as the likely big importers of LNG, but lets not forget China..."Chinese companies are in talks to import more Australian liquefied natural gas to the nations east coast, the official Xinhua news service reported from the Boao Forum for Asia, writes Tony Gray.

If the talks are successful, the report said Chinese oil companies, including China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) and Sinopec, may also buy equity in some of Australias largest gas projects, such as Gorgon, Browse, and Sunrise.

A deal would lift Australia to the position of China's largest LNG supplier.

Australias North West Shelf project has already clinched a record-breaking US$19bn deal to export 3.3m tonnes a year LNG to a CNOOC terminal in Guangdong Province for 25 years.

Delivery will start next year.

CNOOC has also signed a preliminary agreement with the Gorgon LNG partners to take between 80m-100m tonnes over a 20-25 year period for a proposed Zhejiang terminal, and also buy a stake in the upstream project.

We will further explore co-operation in projects such as Gorgon and Browse, said Ma Kai from the National Development and Reform Commission.

From tradewinds...

"The LNG market was poised this week to hear news of the owners which have been selected as partners in Qatar's tender for up to 12 LNG ships.

Qatar's Ship Acquisition Team (QSAT) is expected to put owners on subjects for the business in the next few days. Owners are understood to have received a response to their offers from QSAT. Sources say it is what would commonly be seen as a counter but is worded as the final rate that the Qatar team is prepared to accept. "It's not what I would call a counter," one said.

Once again there is widespread industry alarm about the rates owners are being asked to agree to. "Over the last 18 months, I have been surprised to see what owners would accept but this is even lower than last time," one source commented. Owners have been asked to put in rate offers on two sizes of LNG newbuildings, one for the 200,000-cbm to 210,000-cbm Q-flex size and another for the 250,000-cbm Q-max size. The vessels are required to serve Qatar's planned 7.8 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) RasGas III, train-6 production project, which is set to supply LNG to the US from 2008.

The winners from QSAT's last round of newbuildings, US stocklisted OSG and Pronav Ship Management, are still the hot favourites to take a large swathe of the business. But market watchers expect other names to be brought into the frame as QSAT plays on newcomers' desire to find a way into the sector or expand their embryonic interests quickly.

The ever-expanding consortium of Japanese players, including the big three owners Mitsui OSK Lines, K Line and NYK, along with Iino Kaiun and trading-house players, are also expected to be keen players. Others speculate that German KG (limited partnership) funds will also feature.

Around 10 to 12 groupings of shipowners and managers were originally said to have offered in for the business. Others on the list included Teekay Shipping, Maran Gas Maritime, Bergesen, Exmar, Marine Service and V Ships' Global LNG Management.

QSAT is said to have been put owners under even more pressure to respect the confidentiality agreements for this tender. Shipyards have also been kept in the dark on the process. QSAT concluded its huge agreement with the yards that give it the options on a total of around 95 berths with Korea's big three shipbuilders. The team has been declaring options over the last few weeks but it will only match the owners with the yards once it has concluded its negotiations with the bidding shipowners.

QSAT plans to confirm contracts on the vessels by July. In the interim, the winning companies will be matched up with the country's new LNG-shipowning venture Qatar Gas Transport Co (QGTC), which has asked for a 60% stake in the vessels that are to be ordered against the business, joint venture agreements drawn up and the shipbuilding contracts finalised. This latest tender is just part of Qatar's drive to acquire control of around 70 LNG carriers as it launches its massive push to be the world's number one LNG exporter. The tiny Gulf state wants to boost its LNG exports from the existing 20 mtpa to 77 mtpa by 2012.

QSAT is due to launch its next tender for 12 large LNG ships to serve Qatargas II, train-5 production later this year. However, it remains to be seen what percentage share of the vessels QGTC will target and how much, if any, will be left for conventional owners.

Good one paul. Thanks for keeping us all up to speed and in touch with whats going on in the industry.

MS

There is a massive amount of anecdotal news surrounding LNG at the moment. What we need is some more contract wins for HMY. Given the speed that some of these projects are progressing, we shouldn't have to wait long.

Im keeping my fingers crossed that we get some.

cheers GF.

More anecdotal news...

"Spanish energy groups Repsol YPF and Gas Natural SDG are creating a joint venture which they believe will be the third largest liquefied natural gas company in the world, based on sales volume, writes Tony Gray.

The new alliance will have a marketing capacity of about 12m tonnes of LNG a year and a fleet of 12 LNG carriers, including one vessel on order.

The joint venture is structured in three stages.

In the development of new upstream projects in exploration, production and liquefaction Repsol will be the operator, owning 60% of the assets, with Gas Natural owning the remaining 40%.

In the midstream areas of transport, trading and wholesale marketing, the partners will establish a 50:50 owned company. This companys chairman will change on a rotational basis, and the chief executive will be appointed by Gas Natural.

Repsol and Gas Natural will also form a regasification partnership on a 50:50 basis to co-ordinate the development of LNG plants.

The operator will be Gas Natural and the new joint company will have the regasification rights.

Repsol and Gas Natural said the new joint venture, would be the third largest LNG company in the world in terms of sales volume, behind only Korea Gas and Tokyo Electric."