Anybody trading in these shares? I just bought some @ 204.72

Great news, but falling share price! why?

Don't know.

Why was there a drop on 8/11/2012?

Was it due to broker projections?

Projected EPS and Yield seem reasonable.

P/E just below 10 and projected below 8 with div of 14-15

Not sure what I am missing.

Holding

Fred - see posts 124 & 129.

Skinny,

Thanks.

I recall.

It is up 12% from recent low of 238 and I supposed profit taking is the motivation

My guess is that the gap is going to be filled and the following broker targets will be upgraded.

04-Dec-12 Deutsche Hold 255.30p 260.00p 260.00p Reiteration
04-Dec-12 JP Morgan Cazenove Neutral 255.30p 275.00p 275.00p Reiteration
03-Dec-12 Oriel Securities Buy 255.20p 346.00p 346.00p Reiteration
03-Dec-12 Investec Securities Sell 255.20p 210.00p 200.00p Reiteration


I have raised my stop losses.

BDYOH

As posted , I'm long from 236.5.

It's probably pointless as nothing seems to give the share price a lift but :-

Contract Win

Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, announced today that Gammon Construction, a leading Hong Kong construction company that is 50% owned by Balfour Beatty, has been awarded a HK$ 3.4 billion (equivalent to £270 million) contract to work on a major section of the new Shatin to Central Link in a joint venture with Kaden Construction.

The contract, which has been awarded by the MTR Corporation Limited, includes the construction of two running tunnels covering 1km of track connecting the existing East Rail Line to the Hung Hom Station and the Hung Hom Station to the future Ho Man Tin Station.

Ho hum!

I would suppose that when you consider the "stated" value of contracts and the period they refer to with the total "hope" turnover they are like fleas on an elephant.

Be nice to see a little bounce.

. . .

Balfour Beatty plc ("the Company") received notice on 19 December 2012 from BlackRock, Inc. ("BlackRock") that BlackRock now hold voting rights over 34,469,134 ordinary shares in the Company, all of which are held indirectly. This represents 5.01% of the Company's total voting rights.

Mind the gap.

Balfour Beatty acquires US energy storage business

Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, announces that it has acquired Subsurface Group, Inc. (Subsurface) to expand Parson Brinckerhoff's Energy Storage Services business in the USA.

Subsurface is a professional consulting and engineering firm, providing services in underground injection, underground storage, specialty wells, petroleum and natural resources, and environmental science. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Subsurface also has offices in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and South Bend, Indiana. The 37-person business is forecast to generate approximately US$50 million (£31 million) of revenue in 2012.

BALFOUR BEATTY AWARDED £150 MILLION CONTRACT TO MAINTAIN WILTSHIRE HIGHWAYS

The contract, which is due to start on 1 June 2013 covers highway maintenance, grass cutting, grounds maintenance, litter collection and street lighting as well as dealing with winter weather, drainage and bridges. Previously this work had been the responsibility of four different organisations, including an in-house team. Under the new contract all the works will be carried out by Balfour Beatty Living Places, which had previously held only the street lighting contract.

Golden cross and gap to fill.

Like to see a little more volume!

Contract Win

Balfour Beatty, the global infrastructure group, announced today that Parsons Brinckerhoff, in joint venture with Kvaerner, has received a contract from Calpine Garrison LLC, to design and build the Garrison Energy Center, a 309MW combined cycle gas-fired power plant in Delaware, USA.

Contract Win

Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, in joint venture with Skanska UK, has been awarded a £321 million design and construction contract to upgrade sections of the M25 London orbital motorway for the Highways Agency.

Balfour Beatty chief Ian Tyler steps down after profit warning

Balfour Beatty's long-standing chief executive, Ian Tyler, is to step down just two months after the construction and infrastructure giant issued a surprise profit warning.

Mr Tyler’s departure, first revealed by Sky News, will lead to deputy chief executive and chief operating officer Andrew McNaughton taking over at the helm of the company from March.

Mr Tyler will stay with the group until the end of April to oversee the transition process.

Mr McNaughton, 48, was made deputy chief executive in July last year as part of a succession plan. Shareholders are expected to welcome the appointment.

Trading Statement

Further to our Interim Management Statement of 8 November, overall 2012 performance remains in line with our expectations.

The order book was at £14.2 billion at 30 November 2012; however, given the orders we were awarded in the month of December, notably the £1.2 billion eight-year National Grid contract and the tunnel contract won by Gammon in Hong Kong, the year-end order book is expected to have improved to around £15 billion.

While the magnitude of the order book is broadly in line with the levels at the end of 2010 and 2011, there are certain trends that are worth noting. In keeping with our strategy and given the difficulties in a number of our markets, particularly in UK construction and European rail, the order book mix is shifting from construction to professional services and support services, and overall, from buildings to infrastructure projects. Due to the longer-term nature and back-end loaded margin profile of these contracts, most of the benefit to revenue and profit arises in 2014 and thereafter.

Since the beginning of 2013, we have completed the following transactions, which represent examples of our strategic initiatives as well as some good wins.

· We acquired Subsurface Group, Inc. to expand Parson Brinckerhoff's Energy Storage Services business in the USA. Subsurface is a professional consulting and engineering firm, providing services in underground injection, underground storage and specialty wells, and is forecast to have generated approximately US$50 million (£31 million) of revenue in 2012.

· We were awarded the Wiltshire County Council contract for highways maintenance and street lighting as well as dealing with winter weather, drainage and bridges worth £150 million over five years.

· We have won a contract for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the Garrison Energy Center, a 309MW combined cycle gas-fired power plant in Dover, Delaware in joint venture with Kvaerner.

· We won the £321 million design and construction contract to upgrade sections of the M25 London orbital motorway in a 50/50 joint venture with Skanska.

Succession announcement

We have announced today that, after leading the organisation successfully for eight years, Ian Tyler will hand over to Andrew McNaughton as Chief Executive, effective from 31 March, 2013. Andrew McNaughton is currently Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer.

Financial position

Average net debt for 2012 was approximately £50 million, reflecting the significant cyclical unwind of working capital during the year; we expect to have ended the year with a broadly cash-neutral position.

Outlook

As we stated in the Q3 IMS on 8 November 2012, we have been managing our business on the basis that market conditions would be tough, and this has been an effective strategy. We will take further action, both operationally and strategically where necessary, to mitigate any adverse impacts on our business.

In the medium and long term, we are confident that our position in infrastructure markets, our focus and competitive advantage in the transportation, rail, power, water and mining verticals, and our initiatives to access growing markets such as Australia, Canada, Brazil and India will stand us in good stead as well as making the business more robust.

ENDS

Bank of America Merrill Lynch Buy 290.20 281.50 - 320.00 Upgrades

The other guy downgraded yesterday, probably to close their short positions.

Reaches first close on infrastructure fund

Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, announces that its infrastructure funds management business, Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Partners (BBIP), has reached first close on its first fund.

In November 2010, Balfour Beatty announced plans to set up a funds management business. Our objective was to utilise a combination of infrastructure asset knowledge, skills and experience that has accumulated within the Group, particularly in the Infrastructure Investments division and Parsons Brinckerhoff, to earn a superior return on capital as well as advisory fees. A funds management business would also leverage our capabilities into greater pools of capital while diversifying risk to the Group.

This business, BBIP, was set up in 2011, with the recruitment of four senior individuals. Since then they have worked on obtaining the relevant registrations, establishing a presence in London and New York, identifying investors and pursuing the appropriate initial assets for the fund to invest in.

Today, the BBIP fund reached first close with US$317 million (£200 million) of commitments, of which Balfour Beatty has committed US$110 million (£70 million). Subsequent levels of close are expected during the course of 2013, ultimately reducing Balfour Beatty's share in the fund to c.10%. Drawdowns will be dependent on the timing of investments by the fund, but it is anticipated that Balfour Beatty's commitment will be invested over the next 3-4 years.

The fund will make investments in predominantly brownfield (operational) assets into its key target sectors of transport, energy and utilities across the UK, Europe, and North America.
ENDS