On 3rd July PFC announced that it was trading well ahead of expectations. Not surprisingly, sp jumped but has now fallen back pretty much to the same level as before the announcement.

While perhaps not as exciting as finding the next Cairn, remember that in the goldrush days, it was rarely the prospectors who made the money, but rather the suppliers of the spades and tents and stuff - e.g. Levis if memory serves me aright.

Looks like we are going to end the year breaking 400. Having started in January 2006 at 260-ish, and really only taking off in the second half of the year, thats a very nice rise.

Any predictions for 2007 ?

Happy New Year to all when it arrives !!

no predictions on this one, but was confident enough to buy some more a couple of days ago

Cynic, Oil service companies are all the rage at the moment because of increasing demand with better visibility of revenue growth compared to oil shares. However, some including this one, are starting to look a bit pricey on forward earnings. They will need to keep beating expectations just to maintain this rating. I have a high exposure here at the moment built up at lower prices, but will be looking to reduce at the first sign of slowdown in revenue and earnings. My biggest investment in this sector is Hunting which I accumulated between 1.30 and 3. Even at the current price, P/S is not very demanding with more scope to grow margin and hence earnings. DYOR

canary ..... PFC's forward order book is absolutely bulging ..... unless something untoward happens in 2007, the company (and thus the share) looks to have very solid growth ahead of it for a while to come.

Cynic, my principle that has served me well is that ' if they were a good buy at 2 say, then when the share doubles they are not such a good buy, and it's time to take some profit and reduce exposure'. Depending on the news flow ,the prospective P/E and P/S, and my exposure, that could be anything from 10% to 50% of my holding. Not that they are a bad share, but the downside risk has increased, while there is less upside to go for. When the newsflow turns less encouraging, I'm out!

For the moment the newsflow around service companies continues to be bullish and I am not selling, but neither am I buying much, as I have met my weighting for oil service companies. One or two small ones in niche areas such as Hallin Marine and Velosi may still be worth a gamble imo..... perhaps will show faster growth and not on too high a rating.....could also be acquisition targets. DYOR

there is another argument that when a share has a strong upward trend, that it will maintain it ..... though that is not to say that one should not perhaps put in place a trailing stop.

put slightly differently ..... a quality share, as opposed to one merely followed by the headlomng lemmings, will double and maintain that trend because the company continues to show strong growth and profitability .... until that changes, it is possibly or even probably not the right time to switch horses.

we shall see!

Bit of a dip in January but looking up now, and back above 400 again. Hope it holds this time.

What's everyone's expectations with this one at the moment? Its got good momentum and in its in a booming industry with a strong orderbook. However, P/E is looking a bit heavy at 22. How far is it gunna go before a correction?

i very much like the company and sector, though i note that one of the fund managers suggests switching from PFC to Wood ..... glad to see sp at last breaching 400 and keeping fingers crossed that it will hold it ...... 25 dma thundering up underneath

PFC is not the only one going down...DOO and RVA hit too.

DOO and RVA are little 3rd rate companies (though I hold DOO) ..... PFC is in a totally different league (and sector!)

But as u say, it is a steam roller...FTSE down by 102 now

i have been telling you all, this was a really good company in which to invest ..... yesterday's figures proved the point .... today's Telegraph and prob other papers too will tell you to BUY

Cynic,I hope your optimism is rewarded,but market seems pretty unimpressed so far. Needs this kind of performance with the current rating. How long can it continue?

cynic, PFC has been going down ever since the news came out. SELL on the news.

i already hold and shall definitely continue to do so ..... this company has proven quality ...... much better (safer) investment than the likes of SOLA which is fine for trading with stop losses and a view to sell at a predetermined target level.

98 .... and recovering gently (now +8/10p) .... as i keep saying, though most here choose to ignore, this is a quality company with the records and forward order book to prove it

u r the only flogging this one cynic

u always seem to be doom and gloom on the shares that i have

pfc seem a bit high at present

rad the figures and trading statement and press reports and then tell me again sp is too high.

if i throw cold water on your choices, that's because it's the way i genuinely see it.

if i am the only one who rates wheat over chaff, then keep eating straw; i'll stick to fine white bread (+ colon cancer!)

Another long term holder here. Sticking to quality (mainly medium sized businesses) has paid handsomely for me over more than 30 years. OK might miss the odd rapid ten bagger, but also miss the much more prevalent dross. Scotinvestor - what do you hold? If they do not make profits, generate cash and pay dividends, then IMO chances are you will lose money over time. Last three years have been very benign, so dross done better than might be expected longer term. Only difficulty I can see at present to hinder growth for PFC is that they cannot keep order book down to an acceptable level for their customers i.e getting the job done within an acceptable time. Sector dictates that price likely to be volatile from time to time, but IMO long term trend likely to be upwards.Always DYOR.