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?

Don't overlook this skinny... less but still in excess of £100mill.

Financial Position



There has been no material change in the robust financial status of the Group, which continues to have a strong net cash position of in excess of £100 million, and has no significant borrowings.

Hi Optomistic - I think I've said before, I find these a very frustrating share to own/trade - but then that's true of a few in the sector.

A recent dividend increase and steady news flow, but it seems to be attached to £2 by elastic.

Skinny, it will be interesting to see what enthusiastic comments the CEO makes at the AGM later....as you say we seem to be attached to the £2 line, it will need some catalyst to get us away from it, not enough buyers to do it!

And there in lies the rub - £22k (ish) worth traded so far today.

Costain Group Makes Senior Strategic Appointment

The Costain Group has appointed Mark Rogerson MBE to its Executive Board in the new role of Chief Development Officer.

As part of the on-going transformation of Costain, Mark, who joins from Serco, will be responsible for developing and negotiating large long-term contracts with customers. These will combine the broadening range of design, construction and maintenance services provided by the Costain Group.

His focus will be on growth through the further development of effective partnering strategies, optimising business development capability and playing a major part in the achievement of future targets through long term customer relationships, new contracts and acquisitions.

Previously Mark played a key role in Serco's development into a global brand. He joined Serco Group plc in 2004 and gained experience in account management and business development roles before being appointed as Managing Director of Serco's Defence Operations and Civil Aviation business. Subsequently, he joined the Board of Serco North America. In 2010, he became the Serco Group's Head of Operational Efficiency.

"I am delighted to be joining the Costain Group at a time when the Company is transforming into a leading UK engineering solutions provider," said Mark. "Costain has already made significant progress in developing its design and maintenance capabilities in addition to the established construction operation. We have a tremendous opportunity to establish further our presence as a broad based Tier One engineering solutions provider and I look forward to playing a major part in that process."

Andrew Wyllie, Costain Group Chief Executive, said:

"Our target customers are spending billions of pounds per annum on capital, operations and maintenance contracts. Those same customers are expecting suppliers to provide broad and bespoke solutions to their specific requirements by delivering a service across engineering consultancy, construction and operations and maintenance. We want to be the first choice for those customers and Mark, with his considerable experience and success in this field, will bring additional expertise and leadership which can only benefit the Company in the future."

Costain Joint Venture awarded fifth Crossrail contract

Costain (COST.LN), one of the UK's leading engineering solutions providers, is pleased to announce that in Joint Venture ('the JV') with Skanska, it has been awarded a contract by Crossrail Limited worth approximately GBP40m in total.

The JV will provide all works associated with the construction and fit out of the intermediate shafts and headhouses* at Eleanor Street and Mile End Park, along with the connecting adits to the main running tunnels. The shafts will provide access for ventilation, maintenance intervention, emergency exit and emergency services access for the operational railway.

This is the fifth contract which a Costain-Skanska JV has won from Crossrail and follows on from the successful delivery of Royal Oak Portal and Pudding Mill Lane portals. Work will commence immediately and is expected to complete in August 2018.

Andrew Wyllie, Chief Executive of Costain, said:

"This contract award is as a result of the successful implementation of our 'Choosing Costain' strategy, in which we focus on winning repeat business with major blue chip customers who are spending and will continue to spend on large scale projects. This is our fifth contract with Crossrail and further contributes to the strength of our order book, of which 90% is repeat business."

Ends

Costain Group PLC

("Costain" or "the Group")



Pre-Close Trading Update



http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4397197

Joint Venture

Costain and Severn Trent Announce New Joint Venture

Costain Group PLC and Severn Trent Plc have entered into a new Joint Venture ('JV') to provide complete business water and wastewater management services to high volume commercial and industrial water users.

The new entity, Severn Trent Costain, will combine the skills and experience of both Severn Trent Services and engineering solutions provider, Costain, to offer large multi-site water users a single expert supplier for all of their water and waste water requirements, from source to disposal. With a cohesive approach to water management Severn Trent Costain will help customers improve efficiencies, leverage cost savings, manage legal compliance and risk management issues, and resolve water efficiency challenges.

The UK water supply market is undergoing significant change as Government legislation drives increased business retail competition in the competitive UK water market. Severn Trent Costain will be at the forefront of these changes, helping to shape the emerging landscape, and enabling customers to combine their requirements for on-site water services with the opportunity to buy their water from a single national supplier.

Severn Trent Services and Costain have a proven track record in delivering improved efficiencies in water and waste water management through an existing joint venture to operate and maintain over 5,000 assets and 1,300 sites for the Ministry of Defence, one of the largest PFI contracts in Europe.

The two companies will combine parts of their existing operations within the JV (see Note 1 below), in which Costain will have an initial 40% shareholding.

Contract Wins

Costain Awarded Two Contracts

Costain, a leading engineering solutions provider, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded two contracts. Firstly, in Joint Venture, a £102m Northern Ireland Roads Service contract awarded for the design and construction phase of the A8 Belfast to Larne Dualling, split equally between the Joint Venture partners, Costain, Lagan Construction and Ferrovial Agroman.

The Joint Venture will design, construct, and provide aftercare for the whole of the A8 Dualling Belfast to Larne Works. The A8 is a strategically important road within Northern Ireland, servicing the port of Larne and carrying in excess of 17,000 vehicles daily.

The award follows on from the successful completion of the Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) consultancy phase of the scheme, announced on 28 January 2010. The work will begin immediately and is expected to complete in winter 2015.

Separately, Costain has also been appointed as preferred bidder design and build contractor by Severn Trent Water to replace its largest covered service reservoir sited at Fritchley, near Ambergate, Derbyshire, in a project worth around £27 million.

Ambergate reservoir is an asset of key strategic importance to Severn Trent Water with the capacity to supply mains water to approximately 590,000 customers across the East Midlands. The scheme will see the construction of two covered reservoirs of 90 and 50ML capacity, to replace the current 128ML reservoir.

A planning application has been submitted and is currently under consideration by the local planning authority. Once approved work is due to begin on site in January 2013 for four years, with some early enabling works taking place in coming months.

Half Yearly Report

· Revenue up 2% to £477.9 million (June 2011: £468.5 million)

· Underlying operating profit2 increased by 16% to £10.7 million (June 2011: £9.2 million)

· Adjusted profit before tax3 up 67% to £17.0 million (June 2011: £10.2 million)

· Basic earnings per share up 78% to 21.2 pence (June 2011: 11.9 pence)

· Strong net cash position of £131.5 million (June 2011: £149.2 million), after £17.9 million of acquisition spend in August 2011, and average month-end cash balance of £120.0 million during first six months of the year (June 2011: £132.8 million)

· Forward order book of £2.4 billion (30 June 2011: £2.3 billion) with over 90% repeat orders including new awards and extensions to existing contracts. In addition, preferred bidder position maintained at over £400 million

· Over £850 million of revenue secured for 2012as at the end of the first half, including an increasing proportion of support services activities, now standing at 28%

· Interim dividend increased for fifth successive year, by 8% to 3.50 pence (June 2011: 3.25 pence)

Hi Skinney,
Greetings from Beijing! Not had much opportunity to get to a computer for the last couple of weeks. Results from COST look solid enough. A good hold at these proces.

Good Morning Beijing!

I'm not currently in COST. The chart is looking fairly good and has closed above 225.

I am looking to buy back here or maybe BBY imminently.

Greetings from Hong Kong skinny. Nice to see COST still moving ahead. Breakout time approaching?

Re Contract


Costain Appointed to £288m Magnox Framework Contract

Magnox has awarded a framework contract worth around £288 million for the delivery of construction, infrastructure and maintenance projects across all 10 sites which are operated by Magnox on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

The framework is worth approximately £30m per annum for up to ten years: an initial five years with the option to extend for a further five years by mutual agreement amongst the parties. Costain is one of two companies on the framework.

The project work which Costain will deliver includes: the design, construction and maintenance of permanent buildings and structures, infrastructure maintenance and extension works incorporating construction, civil engineering structures and ground works projects.

This framework contract builds on the work Costain is already carrying out for Magnox. In June 2011 the Group announced that, as part of a joint venture with AMEC and Jacobs Engineering Group Inc, it had been included on a framework to retrieve and process both wet and solid intermediate level radioactive waste across all the Magnox sites in the UK.

construction and civil engineering company Costain Group hit a peak of 251p today, and is currently just a shade below that on 249p. Last month's interim results were strong, showing a 16% rise in underlying operating profit, and that helped the shares to a 32% rise from early June, and 38% since November's 52-week low. But it's been volatile, with a brief peak approaching today's price in March.

Forecasts look pretty good, and the shares are on a forward P/E of 8 with a 4.4% dividend pencilled in. The firm has net cash, so there's no debt to worry about.

At long last one of my stocks is rising...makes a change...

Interim Management Statement

Overview

Following its strong performance in the first half of 2012, the Group is continuing to perform well, in line with the Board's expectations.

The Group's strategy is to focus its resources on meeting the integrated service requirements of major customers, whose spending plans are underpinned by national needs, regulatory commitments or essential maintenance requirements and who are continuing to invest significantly in those requirements. The Group's strong relationships with its customers are underlined by the fact that over 90% of the Group's forward order book is made up of repeat orders.

During the period the Group has secured further contract awards and extensions including an appointment by Magnox to a framework contract worth around £288 million over a ten year period for the delivery of construction, infrastructure and maintenance projects across all ten sites operated by Magnox on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

Costain continues to expand its support service related activities, both organically and by benefitting from the capabilities secured through the acquisition of two businesses last year. Currently 28% of revenues secured for 2012 comprise support service activities and this is expected to continue to grow.

Order book

The Group's forward order book currently stands at £2.4 billion. As well as including over £650 million of revenues secured for 2013 the order book also provides good long-term visibility with circa £1.6 billion of revenues secured for 2014 and beyond, the balance of the order book being for the remainder of 2012.

The Group has also maintained a strong preferred bidder position of c. £400 million.

The overall level of tendering activity across the Group's targeted markets remains high.

Financial position

There has been no material change in the robust financial status of the Group, which continues to have a strong net cash position and no significant borrowings.

Outlook

Costain is meeting the integrated service requirements of major customers, who are continuing to invest in essential infrastructure projects. Despite the on-going challenging economic conditions, Costain remains on course to deliver a result for the year in line with the Board's expectations.

On my watch list this one and a nice little trading range by the looks of their chart.

Contract Win

Costain Secures Three Additional Highways Appointments

Costain, a leading engineering solutions provider, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a four-year technology contract by the Welsh Government and has also been appointed onto both lots of the Highways Agency Asset Support Framework.

Highways Technology Contract

The four-year technology contract, worth around £15m, is for the maintenance of Road Network Communications and Tunnel Systems across Wales. It involves routine maintenance and fault repair of technology systems such as CCTV cameras, variable messaging signs (VMS), emergency telephones and traffic signals and includes the strategic routes of the M4, A55, and Conwy tunnels.

Costain will commence the new service in early 2013, following a transition and handover period.

Costain Annual Report Wins Investor Relations Award

21 November 2012

Costain has been recognised at a prestigious investor relations awards ceremony in London for its latest Annual Report.

Costain won the Most Effective Overall Annual Report (Printed and Online) in the Small Cap & AIM category at the Investor Relations Society’s (IR Society) Best Practice Awards held at The Pavilion, The Tower of London, on 20th November 2012.

Now in its 12th year, the IR Society Best Practice Awards recognise and reward best practice in investor communications, both online and in print.

The awards, which were attended by around 450 people from across the investor relations and corporate communications industry, were compered and presented by former Conservative Party politician and Cabinet Minister Michael Portillo.

The IR Society is the professional body for those involved in investor relations and is the focal point for investor relations in the UK.

The awards’ winners are determined through a robust, three-part review process. All entries are reviewed and scored against a checklist, based on the Society’s Best Practice guidelines, and the specific criteria for each award, set out in the awards entry form.

Commenting on the award, the judges said: “Costain Group presented a clear and easy to navigate report with the Remuneration Committee content being a particular feature.”

Investor relations is a strategic management function that incorporates finance, communication, marketing and strict compliance with stock exchange listing rules to enable the most effective two-way communication between a company, the financial community, its shareholders and stakeholders.

Costain started to integrate its financial and corporate responsibility reporting into its Annual Report four years ago.

This allowed shareholders and other stakeholders to better gauge how the company performed financially and, through the successful implementation of Costain Cares initiative launched in May 2011, see how it conducted its business in the communities in which it operated.

Catherine Warbrick, Costain’s Corporate responsibility Director, said: “We are delighted to have been recognised by the Investor Relations Society for our 2011 Annual Report, which showcases our approach to business. Through Costain Cares we are building a more responsible, longer-term sustainable business that creates economic, environmental and social value for all stakeholders.”

To view the 2011 Annual Report and see what caught the judges’ eyes, please click on the following link:

/media/314732/costain_ar11.pdf