Would anyone know why there has been such a large number of shares sold and no buying? Is there something we are not aware of?

Costain is a future star......sp just has to go through the 300p barrier and way up....

RNS Number : 8791Z

Mouchel Group plc

21 January 2011

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN, INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OR REGULATIONS OF SUCH JURISDICTION Mouchel Group plc ("Mouchel" or "the Company")

21 January 2011

Statement in response to announcement by Costain Group plc The Board of Mouchel notes the announcement this morning by Costain Group plc of its revised proposal to make a recommended offer for Mouchel. On 6 December 2010, we announced that the refinancing of our banking facilities was proceeding to plan and that we expected to agree new medium term facilities by the time of our Half Year Results announcement in March 2011.

We have made significant progress since then and we expect to finalise the new facilities shortly. The Group's key relationship banks, Barclays Lloyds Banking Group and RBS, remain supportive. We also announced, on 6 December 2010, that we had received approaches which would, if made, result in an offer being made for the Company for the purposes of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers. Since then, we have received further approaches. We are actively reviewing these and other options. Our priority remains to enhance shareholder value, and the Board strongly advises shareholders to take no action. A further announcement will be made as appropriate. END

Costain Awarded Airports contracts.

Costain is pleased to announce it has been awarded two airport contracts. The first is an 18.6 million contract, as principal contractor, to refurbish Manchester Airport's main runway, Runway 1, under an existing Framework agreement.

The Runway 1 Project will continue through to September 2011 and the Airport will remain operational 24 hours a day during the runway closures period by utilising the 2nd runway.

Costain has also been appointed by BAA as one of the suppliers for the Local Project Integrator (LPI) at London Heathrow, the world's busiest international airport. The contract, which is anticipated to have a value of approximately 8 million per annum, will run for up to four years and will commence in March 2011. This award builds on the success of similar contracts at Gatwick and Manchester Airports and the early completion of a 25 million interchange for Gatwick.

double post...sorry.

Undervalued by a mile is Costain.....ridiculous sp.....but I suppose that they have to complete the Mouchel takeover before the share price perks up.....

DEALTALK-UK's Costain likely target of Turkey's Renaissance
03 Mar 2011 - 16:42

(For more Reuters DealTalks, click [DEALTALK/]

* Renaissance revealed early talks with a British builder

* Analysts highlight Costain, with 150 mln stg market cap

* Renaissance eyeing growth in Middle East and Russia

* Interserve overtook Costain in race to buy Mouchel


By Lorraine Turner and Evrim Ergin

LONDON/ISTANBUL, March 3 (Reuters) - Britain's Costain Group Plc is the likely target of Renaissance Construction, as the Turkish building group seeks a partner with deep roots in high-potential markets.

Board chairman Erman Ilicak said last month that Renaissance, one of Turkey's three largest construction groups, was in early-stage talks to take a controlling stake in an unnamed, 140-year-old British company.

Ilicak told reporters the potential target specialised in building nuclear plants, railways and water networks and had annual revenue of 1.5 billion euros. [ID:nLDE7191H2]

The detailed description, analysts say, points squarely at Costain: "It's difficult to come up with too many more suggestions (other than Costain)," said Panmure Gordon analyst Andy Brown.

Costain's bid to buy Mouchel failed recently, after the struggling support services firm struck an alternative deal with Interserve Plc . [ID:nLDE71O0TY]

Brown said the "bid shadow" of Renaissance could also explain Costain's reluctance to go hostile in its pursuit of Mouchel.

One wrinkle, however, is a gap in valuation: Costain's market value is about 150 million pounds ($245 million), compared with a 300 million euro ($417 million) value cited by Ilicak.

Even adding a typical takeover premium of about 30 to 40 percent, Costain's equity value would be some way below that. In "enterprise value" terms, the gap is even bigger, since as of November Costain had more than 100 million pounds in cash.

"Everything points to Costain except the valuation," said Robin Hardy, an analyst at Peel Hunt, saying it would be a "fairly punchy" deal.

But he added: "You never know what view somebody takes from what they think they can add, by combining their business with an existing business, or what they think they might be able to leverage out of it."

If Renaissance succeeds, it would be one of the biggest takeovers in Western Europe ever by a Turkish firm, according to Thomson Reuters data. Turkish buyers have only struck seven takeovers in Western Europe worth more than $100 million, the data show.

Costain declined to comment, as did its two major shareholders, Kuwait's Al Kharafi and UEM Builders, a unit of Malalysia's UEM Group, which each have stakes of about 22 percent.

Moving up nicely.

If there is a takeover of Costain, anything less than 400p would be a dirt cheap valuation to any company.

Latest from Reuters

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/04/markets-uk-stocksnews-idUKLDE6950JA20110304

Looks like its on chaps.

Should be a monday surge even without a rumoured takeover bid....been undervalued for years this great little company and the graph all points to a 300p rise at least....

Final Results.

Engineering and construction group Costain reported a strong performance in the year to end-December 2010, with a significant increase in profit before tax.

The group also reported an enhanced cash balance, a robust order book and an increased dividend for the year.

Profit from operations increased by 41% to 29.4m (2009: 20.8m).

Profit before tax increased by 54% to 27.9m (2009: 18.1m).

The group reported a strong net cash position at 144.3m (2009: 120.5m), with an average month-end cash balance of 116m during the year (2009: 125.3m).

Revenue was at 1.022bn, up from 1.061bn in 2009.

A year-end order book of 2.4bn maintains long-term earnings visibility (2009: 2.6bn).

Costain said repeat order customers account for in excess of 80% of order book and it includes c. 800m of secured work for 2011.

In addition, preferred bidder positions at year-end were maintained at over 400m.

Banking and bonding facilities were increased in early 2010 by 20% to 345m and extended to September 2013.

The IAS 19 pension scheme deficit reduced to 28.9m at year-end, net of deferred tax (2009: 75.4m).

The group recommended a final dividend of 6.25p, increasing total payout for the year by 12% to 9.25p (2009: 8.25p).

David Allvey, Chairman, commented: "We have delivered another excellent performance. Once again, the Group has demonstrated its resilience in a continuing difficult economic environment. We are confident that our position in markets underpinned by strategic capital expenditure, regulatory commitment or essential maintenance requirements will continue to stand us in good stead.

"Through our 'Choosing Costain' strategy, we are making good progress in achieving our vision of building Costain into one of the UK's top solutions providers, with the scale and resources to successfully meet the increasingly complex and challenging needs of major customers.

"To expedite the delivery of our strategy, we said that we would look at appropriate acquisition opportunities, an example of which is Mouchel Group plc, as well as organic growth. We are actively progressing a number of opportunities ranging from bolt-on to transformational transactions, and all of which must meet a strict set of criteria in the event that they were to be concluded.

"We look to the future with confidence, reinforced by our robust year-end order book, enhanced cash balance and the ongoing support of our customers committed to long-term capital investment programmes. That confidence is reflected in the Board's recommendation to increase the total dividend for the year."

RNS Number : 2785I

Costain Group PLC

13 June 2011

COSTAIN GROUP PLC

("Costain" or "the Group")

Costain awarded A465 Head of the Valleys contract with Welsh Government

Costain, one of the UK's leading construction and engineering solutions providers, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a contract worth GBP150m by the Welsh Government to construct the A465 Heads of the Valleys road in South Wales.

Costain, in partnership with Atkins, Halcrow and RPS Group, will design and construct an 8km section between Brynmawr and Gilwern. The project will present significant engineering and environmental challenges as the road passes through a number of sites of special scientific interest including the Clydach Gorge within the Brecon Beacons National Park.

Commenting on the contract award, Andrew Wyllie, Chief Executive of Costain, said:

"We are delighted to have been awarded this contract and are committed to deliver a high quality, safe and cost effective scheme for the Welsh Government and the local community. This award demonstrates the strength of our position as one of the UK's leading solution providers in the Highways sector."

Pre-Close Trading Update

30 June 2011

Since the announcement of the Groups Interim Management Statement on 5 May 2011, Costain has continued to perform well and is trading in line with the Boards expectations.

Against a backdrop of well-publicised uncertain market conditions, the Group has continued to implement its strategy successfully and has secured contracts from its blue chip customers in chosen sectors whose major spending plans are underpinned by strategic national needs, regulatory commitments or essential maintenance requirements.

Consequently, the Groups order book currently stands at 2.3 billion, with additional preferred bidder positions of over 400 million. As at the end of the first half, over 900 million of revenue has been secured for 2011.

The level of tendering activity in the Groups targeted markets of Infrastructure, Environment and Energy & Process remains high.

Costain has maintained its strong cash position in excess of 100 million, and has no significant borrowings. In addition, in order to support the delivery of its strategy, the Group has recently increased its total banking and contract bonding facilities by 90 million to 435 million.

The Group announced in April 2011 the acquisition of ClerkMaxwell Limited, an Aberdeen-based front-end engineering and operations support services provider operating in the upstream oil & gas sector. The integration of ClerkMaxwell into the Group is proceeding smoothly and the business is trading well.

Costain will announce interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2011 on Thursday 25 August 2011. There will be a presentation to analysts at 9.30am on that date at the offices of College Hill: The Registry, Royal Mint Court, London, EC3.

Looks a good contract:

Costain Awarded Reading Station Contract

30 June 2011

Costain, one of the UK's leading construction and engineering solutions providers, is pleased to announce that, in joint venture with Hochtief, the Company has been awarded a contract to redevelop Reading Station.

The contract, which is worth approximately 80m, is one of the largest that will be awarded as part of Network Rail's 850m project to transform Reading's railway system. It will see five new platforms constructed at Reading, as well as a new footbridge linking platforms to new entrance buildings on the north and south side of the station. This will relieve congestion on the Great Western Main Line and will mean that passengers no longer have to wait outside the station for a platform to become available.

Andrew Wyllie, Chief Executive of Costain, commented:

We are delighted to have been awarded this contract which demonstrates our broad range of capabilities in the rail sector. We look forward to working with Network Rail to deliver the major redevelopment of Reading Station, which will significantly enhance the railway system.

RNS Number : 0576L

Costain Group PLC

26 July 2011

Costain Group PLC

("Costain" or "the Group")

Costain-Skanska Joint Venture awarded fourth Crossrail contract

Costain (COST.LN), one of the UK's leading engineering solutions providers, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded, in Joint Venture with Skanska, the contract to construct the Crossrail Paddington Station.

The project, which is worth approximately GBP150m, is the first station contract to be awarded as part of the GBP14.8bn Crossrail programme to create a new railway link between Maidenhead to the west of London and Abbey Wood and Shenfield to the East. Crossrail will boost London's rail-based capacity by 10 per cent, delivering new journey opportunities, faster journey times and up to 24 trains per hour between Paddington and Whitechapel during the peak.

The Crossrail Paddington Station is one of seven new underground stations to be constructed. It will be a key interchange with the existing Network Rail services at the Paddington Mainline station and with London Underground. The new Crossrail station in Paddington has been designed to maximise the station's space while preserving the historic features of the main line station. The new station will take the form of a 260m long, 25m wide and 23m deep underground box located directly under Departures Road and Eastbourne Terrace. Paddington will be just 9 minutes to Liverpool Street, 16 minutes to Canary Wharf and 27 minutes to Abbey Wood.

Construction will commence this year.

Andrew Wyllie, Chief Executive of Costain, commented:

"We are delighted to have secured our fourth Crossrail contract, reflecting our ability to consistently deliver valuable solutions in the rail sector utilising our broad range of capabilities and depth of expertise. We look forward to working with Crossrail to deliver this landmark station and to playing our part in enhancing London's transport infrastructure."

RNS Number : 7606M

Costain Group PLC

22 August 2011

Costain Group PLC

("Costain" or the "Group" or the "Company")

Acquisition of Promanex Group Holdings Limited ("Promanex")

Costain, one of the UK's leading engineering solutions providers, is pleased to announce that it has acquired 100 per cent of the issued share capital of Promanex, an industrial support services business providing facilities management, installation, repair and maintenance and general asset management in a number of high growth, specialist markets such as Power, Petrochemicals and Nuclear.

The consideration for the acquisition, together with management retention payments, is GBP16.4 million. In addition, the business is being acquired with normalised net debt of GBP2.4 million. The acquisition is being funded from the Group's existing cash resources.

Based in Warwickshire, Promanex operates across the UK and in Ireland with a workforce of over 800 highly skilled maintenance employees. The company's client base consists largely of such major blue chip customers as Conoco Phillips, EDF, E.ON, Magnox, RWE, Scottish and Southern Energy, Siemens and Total.

The business provides a range of services in the management, operation, maintenance and repair of customers' sites and plant assets, including hard and soft facilities management, water services, such as water treatment and hygiene, civil and industrial services, such as civil engineering, specialist industrial cleaning and outage support, and mechanical & electrical services such as power station materials handling, bi-product systems and emission treatment systems. Approximately 75 per cent of Promanex's revenues are generated from long term contracts and the business has a robust order book and strong pipeline of opportunities.

For the year ended 30 September 2010, Promanex reported revenue of GBP56.2 million, EBITDA of GBP2.4 million and operating profit of GBP1.8m. Gross assets as at 30 September 2010 were GBP20.8 million. The acquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing (before amortisation and exceptional costs) in the year ending 31 December 2011 and thereafter.

Promanex will be integrated into Costain's Infrastructure division and the existing management team will remain with the business to ensure a successful integration and continued growth in the business. The acquisition represents a further important step in implementing the 'Choosing Costain' strategy. It broadens the Group's capabilities in ongoing care and maintenance and strengthens the Group's presence in key growth target markets, particularly in Power, Nuclear Process, Hydrocarbons & Chemicals and Water, where significant investment is required in order to meet national needs. The combination of Costain's existing consulting, project delivery and maintenance capability, together with Promanex's operations and maintenance services, significantly enhances the Group's ability to offer full lifecycle services to customers in these target markets.

Commenting on the acquisition, Andrew Wyllie, Chief Executive of Costain, said:

"We are delighted to have completed the acquisition of Promanex, which represents a further important step in the implementation of our strategy of broadening our existing front-end consultancy and care and maintenance operations in order to meet customers' requirements. The acquisition will significantly enhance our existing ability to provide operations and maintenance support services to our major customers and reinforces Costain's position as a leading Tier One engineering solutions provider."

Mark R Dixon, Managing Director of Promanex, said:

"We are delighted to be joining Costain. Costain rightly has an outstanding reputation for applying technological expertise and innovation to add value to customers. Allied with Promanex's proven capabilities and market leading position in our core sectors, we will make a formidable team. Costain has an exciting future and we are very much looking forward to being a part of it."

RNS Number : 9953M

Costain Group PLC

25 August 2011

Costain Group PLC

("Costain" or the "Group")

Interim results for the half-year ended 30 June 2011

Costain, one of the UK's leading engineering solutions providers, announces another strong performance with profit before tax up 23%, reflecting the ongoing transformation of the business through the implementation of its 'Choosing Costain' strategy.


H1 2011 H1 2010 FY 2010
Revenue* GBP468.5m GBP533.4m GBP1,022.5m
Profit from operations GBP9.3m GBP8.8m GBP29.4m**
Profit before tax GBP10.1m GBP8.2m GBP27.9m**
Net cash GBP149.2m GBP133.9m GBP144.3m
Basic earnings per share 11.9p 10.0p 36.4p
Dividend per share 3.25p 3.00p 9.25p

* Including share of joint ventures & associates

** Including profit arising from PFI transfer / sales

-- Revenue of GBP468.5m (June 2010: GBP533.4m) following strategic decision to withdraw from lower margin activities

-- Profit from operations increased by 6% to GBP9.3 million (June 2010: GBP8.8 million)

-- Profit before tax up 23% to GBP10.1 million (June 2010: GBP8.2 million)

-- Basic earnings per share up 19% to 11.9p (June 2010: 10.0p)

-- Interim dividend increased by 8% to 3.25p (June 2010: 3.00p)

-- Enhanced net cash position of GBP149.2 million (June 2010: GBP133.9 million)

- average month-end cash balance of GBP132.8 million during first six months of the year (June 2010: GBP114.1 million)

-- Further major new contracts secured in the period, resulting in strong order book of GBP2.3 billion (June 2010: GBP2.5 billion)

- providing good long-term earnings visibility

- repeat order customers account for in excess of 80% of order book

- over GBP900 million of revenue secured for 2011 at half-year

- in addition, preferred bidder positions of over GBP400 million

-- Successfully implementing the 'Choosing Costain' strategy to broaden further Costain's Tier One capability across engineering consultancy, construction, and operations & maintenance in order to meet the changing service and procurement requirements of our major customers

-- Acquisition of ClerkMaxwell, an upstream oil and gas consultancy, in April 2011, with the integration proceeding smoothly

-- Completed this week the acquisition of Promanex, a business specialising in operations & maintenance in the energy, water and industrial sectors

-- Following the acquisitions and organic growth, c. 25% of Group revenues from now arise from consultancy and operations and maintenance activities

-- To support the future delivery of strategic objectives, total banking and bonding facilities recently increased by GBP90 million to GBP435 million

Commenting on the results, the Chairman, David Allvey, said:

"We are delighted with another strong set of results, with a significant increase in profit before tax, an enhanced cash balance, and a robust order book including further new contract awards from our major customers.

"The implementation of our 'Choosing Costain' strategy is transforming the Group, as we continue to develop or acquire the skills and capabilities to reinforce our position as one of the UK's leading Tier One engineering solutions providers.

"Looking ahead, despite continuing challenging market conditions, we see significant opportunity for the continued successful implementation of our strategy and the delivery of the Board's ambition of doubling profit over the medium term. The Board expects to report continued progress at the year-end in line with its expectations."

COULD BE BAD NEWS AHEAD !!!!!

Found out from a broadsheet journalistic source that things may not be as they seem.
Seems that Costain have been embroiled in a Public Interest Immunity battle ( now granted ) regarding financial indescretions - this follows on from a court battle where one of their divisional managing directors was 'retired' through ill health after being heavily criticised, integrity wise, by a panel of top judges that included Lord Rix.
Source says that a legal challenge is being formulated to try and reverse the granting of the PII. Therefore trouble is not over yet.
Does beg the question what is so important as to have information hushed up ? What have they been up to and why are senior officers being retired and criticised by top judges?

overthewall.
Costain up 3.86% this morning. Can we have a link to your comment please?