WS Atkins Share Discussion Threads

[salpara111] 26/4/2005 12:36

Curious writeup in IC last week where they do a company review and then get two different broker reviews to add to their own review.
The bit I found interesting was that in these cases it is rare that both brokers have directly opposing views when not fundamentally disagreeing with the prospects of the company but that is was happened in this case where one said buy and the other said sell.
The company has already said that it will meet this years targets so the stock should be underpinned at current levels as it is already trading at a small discount to the sector.
I took a long spread bet at 645 and am seriously planning to add to it now at 626.

[caca] 19/4/2005 13:05

Is it reasonable to compare Atkins P/E with the sector average (support services) or is there a closer benchmark (e.g. specific companies)?

[vibrationwhitefinger] 18/4/2005 09:53

DO NOT BUY JARVIS TODAY, there is news expected this week which should see the share price around the 20p mark, then buy and enjoy the ride on the all new debt-free jarvis to 50p and beyond.

[evilwebby] 13/4/2005 08:18

Nice reaction!

And for my next trick...

[evilwebby] 13/4/2005 07:48

Atkins (WS) PLC
13 April 2005


NEWS RELEASE

WS Atkins plc Tel: [phone]
Woodcote Grove, Ashley Road Fax: [phone]
Epsom, Surrey KT18 5BW

[e-mail]

United Kingdom

www.atkinsglobal.com



13 April 2005

WS Atkins plc Trading Update

WS Atkins plc ('Atkins' or 'the Group') announces its trading update for the
year ended 31 March 2005 in advance of its preliminary results announcement on
21 June 2005.

The Group as a whole performed well despite the previously identified slow down
in the Rail market. It is anticipated that the growth in Adjusted Profit (2)
before tax for the year ended 31 March 2005 will be in line with expectations.

Business Segments

In Transport, performance has, as expected, been affected by delays in planned
capital expenditure by both Network Rail and the Highways Agency. However, the
Group has recently been selected as lead bidder by Network Rail for two
important rail re-signalling projects both of which are to be designed and built
over the next two years. In addition, the Group has won a contract to design the
widening of part of the M1 and a five-year term contract for providing highway
consultancy services to Birmingham City Council. Despite short-term challenges,
the medium-term outlook for the Transport segment remains positive.

In Design and Engineering Solutions, performance has been strong. Our core
skills are in demand and margins have improved. Across the business, order
intake has been good with a number of significant contract wins, including
preferred bidder for United Utilities on its AMP4 programme.

The Group's Middle East operation is expanding rapidly and we believe that the
market in China will present good long-term opportunities.

In Management and Project Services, there has been a strong performance from
Management Consultants. Faithful & Gould continues to improve its margins and
the performance in the UK has been good. The US market remains challenging and,
although recent contract wins provide some encouragement, the carrying value of
this business is under review. As part of the Holdfast consortium, the Group was
recently announced as preferred bidder for the RSME PFI contract.

In Equity Investments, Lambert Smith Hampton has performed satisfactorily. The
results of Metronet are expected to be in line with expectations reflecting
satisfactory operating performance. As separately announced, John Weight will
step down as Chairman and Chief Executive of Metronet and the role of Chief
Executive and Chairman will now be separated. Andrew Lezala, former Chief
Operating Officer of Jarvis plc, has been appointed to the role of Chief
Executive and Keith Clarke, our Chief Executive, will take on the role of
non-executive Chairman as the Metronet shareholder representative. The Board is
satisfied that the strength of the Atkins management team enables Keith Clarke
to take on this role and that this will be in the best interests of both
Metronet and Atkins.

Work on the capital programme is currently behind original expectations but
further progress is now being made.

Our Staff

According to a recent study in The Sunday Times, Atkins is one of the Top 10 big
companies to work for. In 2005, for the fifth consecutive year, Atkins was the
number one consultant in the Consultants File, published by New Civil Engineer
('NCE'). In addition, Atkins was also awarded the title of Major Firm of the
Year for 2005 by NCE.

Outlook

The Group will continue to be selective in its approach to new contracts and
migrate towards higher margin activities. The outlook for 2005/6 for the Group's
core markets is good despite the anticipated short-term challenges in the Rail
business.


Enquiries

Atkins [phone]
Keith Clarke
Chief Executive

Robert MacLeod
Group Finance Director

Brunswick [phone]
Mike Smith, Deborah Done

Notes to Editors

1. Atkins (

www.atkinsglobal.com

) plans, designs and enables the delivery of
complex infrastructure and buildings for clients in the public and private
sectors across the world. Atkins is the largest multi-disciplinary consultancy
in Europe; the largest engineering consultancy in the UK; and the seventh
largest design firm in the world.

2. Adjusted profit is before amortisation of the pension deficit and goodwill
and Employee Benefit Trusts.

Ends




This information is provided by RNS

[evilwebby] 12/4/2005 22:34

Gone long on ATK today on a September spreadbet. Will cost average by adding over the next couple of months.

[tonyleongson] 09/4/2005 18:23

I am hopeful that they will re-test all time highs in the next 12-18 months.

[evilwebby] 09/4/2005 17:19

Sounds like the I.C. has given ATK the kiss of death! Have to admit that I thought they looked a bit overbought at £7+, but looking a bit more sensible now. Tempted to go long soon. Now selling at last September's price and due a bounce.

[tonyleongson] 09/4/2005 16:00

Last IC comment.
This is only a small part of the article.

--------------------------------
22 December 2004

WS ATKINS (ATK)

689p

We have twice recommended buying shares in Atkins - in August 2003 and then in January this year. However, the picture is different now from the way it looked back then. Atkins is no longer a business in recovery mode. It's now in a growth phase with no sign that the pace is letting up. Yet the shares still look inexpensive, trading on 15 times underlying earnings for the year to next March, and around 13 times for the year to March 2006.

Given the group's impressive performance so far, we think it is only right to recommend buying Atkins' shares once again.

Buy.

[salpara111] 08/4/2005 18:52

Well there is nothing in the public domain which would suggest that the recent drop is more than a random walk, however it is clear that pretty much all the the fantastic recovery gains of the last 2 years are in the price.
As I mentioned before I have taken a long position to add to my underlying shareholding as I feel that we have a base at this level and should hopefully see it ease back over the £7 in the not too distant future.

[guvnor] 07/4/2005 12:03

tonyleongson, What are your views on the recent drop.

[ireland05] 29/3/2005 10:03

when is the year end results out?

[salpara111] 24/3/2005 15:20

Well, at least we now know why the price has been marked down so vigourously over the past week. Barclays overall holding has been reduced by about 1.7 million shares.
Hopefully this will put a stop to the down trend.

[tonyleongson] 24/3/2005 10:49

Atkins named a preferred partner to help deliver a £900m water programme
23 March 2005

Atkins has been selected by United Utilities as one of its preferred bidder partners for the delivery of water and waste water infrastructure works for its asset management programme, AMP4, in the North West of England.
Atkins is in joint venture with Galliford Try & Costain as one of two design, construction, commissioning partners to deliver part of an estimated £900 million of work over a five year period commencing in April 2005.

The Atkins' team will undertake detailed design services for a significant proportion of the capital programme working within an incentivised alliance to deliver cost effective solutions to time and budget.

"Central to our approach will be a commitment to partnership, working with United Utilities and the other programme partners," says Ivor Catto, Industry Group Managing Director for Atkins.

United Utilities' Steven Beaumont, who has overall responsibility for the company's procurement and investment delivery process, comments: "Delivering an investment programme of this scale requires careful management right from the very start. We've got a significant challenge ahead of us to meet our regulatory outputs and I know that with the right partners in place we will be able to meet our obligations and provide real value for money for our customers here in the North West."

Keith Clarke, Chief Executive of Atkins says: "We are delighted at this news. We have an excellent working relationship with the team at United Utilities and this is precisely the kind of complex capital programme in which Atkins excels. We look forward to making a significant contribution to the incentivised alliance, which will plan, design and enable the development of United Utilities' capital works programme in the North West of England over the next five years."