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.

Tremendous news! Thanks Baza.

Cheers, Madison

Blimey where are they going to store all this dosh from contract wins. It just goes on and on.

cheers GF.

Nice little snipit in the Times - under "Smaller Stock to Watch" -

"Hamworthy the marine engineering specialist that joined the AIM last year at 109p added 4.5p at 314.5 on a 12m order from Hyundi Heavy Industries of South Korea, to supply LPG reliquefication plants to 3 of its ships. It is the 3rd contract that the company has secured in 2 months from HHI, the world largest builder of LPG vessels. Altium securities left its profit forecasts unchanged but repeated its "add" recommendation and 340p target before HMY's first half figures on November 22"

bhunt1910, I know the broker set a price target of 340p but you didn't have to add 10p to the price quoted by the Times (it was really 314.5p) ;-)

Oops - finger trouble - now corrected - still good news

Baza

Yes, each contract announced is good news and nice to see attention being drawn in a daily newspaper. Unless I misread the situation totally, there just has to be a revision to brokers estimates following the interims. The current ones are not factoring in a series of orders of this scale IMO. Those who currently think HMY are expensive are valuing on a historic basis and need to imagine what winning a string of multi million contracts will do for future earnings. DYOR of course, what do I know?

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Qatar LNG Project - Potential Further Business - To date Hamworthy has won 100% of contracts awarded for vessel LNG RS plant in connection with this project.



Lloyd's List 17 Nov 2005

ExxonMobil launches landmark $14bn Qatar LNG project

New company will require 18 vessels to serve two giant liquefaction trains, writes Tony Gray.


EXXONMOBIL and Qatar Petroleum have officially triggered a $14bn liquefied natural gas project which will require 18 vessels to serve two giant liquefaction trains.

At an inauguration ceremony in Doha the partners launched Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Co, or RL3.

The company, which has previously been known as RasGas 3, will bring the total number of trains operated by RasGas Co Qatar Petroleum 70%, Exxon- Mobil 30% to seven.

The latest projects trains six and seven will each have a capacity of 7.8m tonnes a year.

Individually, these trains are larger than many of the multi-train LNG projects that exist today.

RL3, the largest LNG project ever announced, will be developed in two consecutive phases with Train 6 scheduled to begin production in the second half of 2008, and Train 7 a year later.

The gas will be delivered mainly to the US the project includes a regasification terminal in the Gulf of Mexico with a daily capacity of 2bn cu ft on the largest LNG vessels ordered to date.

Initially, RL3 is chartering 12 LNG carriers to support Train 6.

Earlier this year it was reported that Teekay had been awarded charters on four 217,000 cu m vessels to be constructed by Samsung, while the the Japanese J5 consortium Mitsui OSK Lines, NYK, K Line, Iino Kaiun Kaisha and the Mitsui trading house had scooped charters for eight 210,000 cu m vessels.

Daewoo will build five of these vessels and Hyundai the other three.

ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum expect an additional six LNG carriers to be required to support Train 7. These contracts are expected to be awarded by the end of this year.

A spokesman for ExxonMobil said the fewer vessels required for Train 7 reflected shorter voyage distances. As well as the US, some of this LNG will be delivered to India and Europe.

There was not expected to be any significant difference in ship capacity.

RL3 has also signed financing documents securing funds to proceed with execution of the project. In total, $4.6bn was raised from 19 commercial banks, bond market offerings and loans from ExxonMobil.

The $2.25bn raised in the bond offerings represents the largest energy project financing in the history of the capital markets.

This was the initial tranche of a broader $10bn debt programme to underwrite the remaining expansions for RL3 and RL II.

This was the initial tranche of a broader $10bn debt programme to underwrite the remaining expansions for RL 3 and RL II.

The state of Qatar is very pleased with the success of this landmark financing and we are well positioned to raise the full $10bn required for the expansion of RL II and 3 efficiently and at an attractive cost, said Yousef Hussein Kamal, Qatars minister of finance.

The engineering, procurement and construction contracts for Trains 6 and 7 have been awarded to J Ray McDermott Middle East for the offshore facilities and to Chiyoda Corporation and Technip France Joint Venture for the onshore work.

Looks very bright for the future.

cheers GF.

Qatar Gas Project - Vessel Requirement Update

To summarise report in Lloyd' List below:

Project has the following LNG/LPG large vessel requirement:

LNG - 28 vessels ordered/contracted
- 35 to 40 further new vessels for future developments

LPG - 20 to 30 new vessels for future developments

The ship requirement plan may then have the potential for 55 to 70 further LNG/LPG reliqifaction systems worth between 300M to 400m over the next five years

Additionally, there may also be the potential for significant plant maintenance income for the LNG/LPG onboard systems during the 25 year working life of the vessels.



Lloyd's List 18 November 2005

Ambitious Nakilat to increase its share of Qatar's LNG fleet
Company looking at possibility of 100% ownership of carriers, writes Tony Gray.




Qatar Gas Transport Co, also known as Nakilat, has reaffirmed its aspiration to take full control of some of the liquefied natural gas carriers serving the nation's fast growing industry.

To date, Nakilat has acquired stakes of 30%-60% in 28 LNG carriers.

The company will also own interests in 35-40 additional vessels which will serve Qatar's next five large liquefaction trains.

The big question, said Nakilat's marketing manager Christian Steimler at a DNV maritime forum on LNG in London, was whether the company would opt for 100% ownership.

That is the intention, he said, adding that it would depend on charter rates at the time.

Ultimately, Nakilat would have interests in 70-100 LNG carriers costing about $16.5bn.

Mr Steimler pointed out that associated products such as liquefied petroleum gas, sulphur and condensates, contributed 40% of total revenues of a Qatar LNG project.

Qatar's LPG output, for example, is expected to grow from 2m tonnes in the current year to 14m tonnes in 2014.

To avoid fruitless competition among the projects, Qatar has established a company to handle the joint marketing and shipping of the associated products.

Nakilat is its exclusive shipping company.

In LPG, this could result in Nakilat requiring 20-30 very large gas carriers costing $2.5bn.

Mr Steimler said Qatar was keen to sell LPG on a freight paid basis to enable more efficient scheduling.

Turning to sulphur, Mr Steimler said output could reach 3.5m tonnes a year by 2010. Nakilat was contemplating a fleet of up to 15 handymax bulkers costing about $500m for this trade.

He said there were major opportunities for backhaul cargoes as Qatar imported large volumes of fertilisers and other bulk products.

Mr Steimler noted that condensate was at present sold on a free-on-board basis although the viability of term and cost and freight exports were being explored.

This could justify the construction of a new single buoy mooring facility to handle fully laden VLCCs.

Meanwhile, DNV's head of business and marketing, Wilhelm Magelssen, pointed out that Russia held 27% of the world's gas reserves and in the next five or six years LNG carriers would be constructed for Arctic operations. Going through Arctic ice conditions, he said, made it even more important for all in the industry to focus on ensuring the availability of experienced crews as the world fleet grows.

Debby Turner, director of LNG and gas research at Braemar Seascope, highlighted the growing practice of price arbitrage in the industry. Vessels had been turned-round in the mid-Atlantic, she said. Cargoes initially destined for Britain had ended up in the US.

It had also resulted in an occasional backhaul cargo, she added, something previously unheard of in the LNG business.

Interim Results of this morning

http://moneyextra.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200511220701134660U.html

The placing of 6.1 mln new shares at 285 pence per share is interesting.

Interesting because:

It's only a 7.3% discount to yesterday's relatively advanced closing price

"The shares have been conditionally placed with institutions..."

It all makes good sense, accompanying good results and increasing orders.

It will make the company more attractive to new clients.

so (notwithstanding a dip for the placing ) we expect the LONGTERM upward trend of HMY sp to continue?

Cheers, Madison

http://www.citywire.co.uk/News/NewsArticle.aspx?VersionID=78497&MenuKey=News.Home

Great article stuart - a cracking endorsement of HMY and its longterm growth potential.

Cheers, Madison

Lloyd's List - 29 November 2005

Qatar LNG carrier orders finalised

Samsung to build four largest ships, Daewoo five and Hyundai three in $3bn deal as Ras Laffan time charter agreements are signed, writes Tony Gray- Tuesday November 29 2005

Orders worth almost $3bn for 12 of the largest liquefied natural gas carriers have been finalised following the signing by Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas (3) of long-term time charter agreements with two owning groups.

Four 217,000 cu m vessels will be owned by Teekay Nakilat, a partnership between Teekay Shipping and Qatar Gas Transport Co (also known as Nakilat).

JC Nakilat, a partnership between the Japanese J5 consortium and Nakilat, will control eight 210,000 cu m vessels.

The J5 consortium comprises MOL, NYK, K Line, Iino Kaiun Kaisha and the Mitsui trading house.

At the signing ceremony in Doha, shipbuilding contracts were also completed.

Samsung sealed the four 217,000 cu m vessels, while Daewoo and Hyundai booked five and three, respectively, of the smaller vessels.

Qatar Gas Transport Co also signed joint venture agreements with the owners that allow the Qatari company to assume an equity ownership of between 40% and 60% in each of the new LNG vessels. RasGas said it was chartering the vessels for a firm period of 20 years.

The ships will be delivered to RasGas between March and August 2008, and deliver LNG from the 7.8m tonnes a year Train 6 into a purpose-built terminal in the US Gulf Coast area.

These agreements increase the long-term charter fleet of RasGas, a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil, to 26 ships.

Yesterdays statement contained some differences in the details compared to the initial announcements in August concerning the charters.

For example, Teekay Shipping then said its vessels would be chartered to RasGas 3 for a period of 25 years, (with options to extend up to 35 years), rather than the 20 years in the latest statement.

At that time, it was also made clear that Qatar Gas Transport Co would own a 60% interest in the vessels.

Yousef Kamal, Qatars Minister for Finance and RasGas chairman, said the latest ships marked another significant milestone for RasGas and the State of Qatar and will play an important and strategic part in the optimisation of the total LNG value chain to our customers.

ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum expect an additional six LNG carriers to be required to support RasGas 3s Train 7.

These contracts are expected to be awarded by the end of this year.

The fewer vessels required for Train 7 reflect shorter voyage distances. As well as the US, some of this LNG will be delivered to India and Europe.

There is not expected to be any significant difference in ship capacity. However, another substantial increase in LNG carrier size is expected to be confirmed shortly with the announcement of orders for the Qatargas II project.

Contracts for six 250,000 cu m vessels are being finalised for this project, also a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil.

The front-runners for the vessels have been John Angelicoussis MaranGas, the J5 consortium, and Germanys Pronav.

The shipbuilding contracts are expected to be divided equally between Daewoo and Samsung.


A personal observation :
These are all 200,000+ cu m vessels - to date all Qatar LNG newbuildings of this size have been contracted with LNG RS technology supplied by Hamworthy.
An RNS advising of further LNG RS contract wins is probably not too far away !

Looks undervalued at this level. 25% more in it at least.

cheers GF.

Starting to look a little stronger again.

cheers GF.

Lloyd's List - Thursday 22 December 2005


Shell gas project will need $3bn fleet of mammoth LNG carriers


SHELL has unveiled a major liquefied natural gas project in Qatar which could require a $3bn fleet of the largest vessels ever built in this sector.

The oil major has also secured additional import capacity in the US to handle the LNG.

The Qatargas 4 project, 70% owned by Qatar Petroleum and 30% by Shell, will involve a 7.8m tonnes a year liquefaction plant and related shipping capacity.

The majority of the LNG will be delivered to the growing market in North America from about the end of the decade.

A Shell spokesman said the project was seeking long-term charters on nine vessels of between 210,000 cu m and 265,000 cu m.

As there are no vessels in service of this size, Shell and its partner Qatar Petroleum will have to resort to the newbuilding market through its shipowning partners.

At the upper end of this size range, a newbuilding order can be expected to cost more than $300m.

Shell also disclosed that it had reached agreement with El Paso Corp for the acquisition of capacity at the Elba Island LNG import terminal in Georgia in the US.

El Paso plans to more than double Elba Island's storage capacity to 15.7bn cu ft by adding 8.4bn cu ft.

As part of this expansion, BG Group will increase its storage capacity from 4bn cu ft to 8.2bn cu ft and increase its vapourisation capacity from 675m cu ft per day to 1.17bn cu ft per day.

The expansion is expected to be completed before the end of 2012.

- ConocoPhillips plans to make an application for planning permission for a LNG regasification facility and combined heat and power plant at Teesside in the UK.

The application is being made on behalf of Norsea Pipeline, whose shareholders include subsidiaries of Total, ConocoPhillips, Statoil, Eni and Norsk Hydro.

Once a final investment decision has been taken, the facilities could be operational within three to four years.

Thanks sbettis1959, a useful piece of impressive news.

Cheers, Madison