WSP Group Share Discussion Threads

[wjccghcc] 09/1/2012 15:56

I'm sure there will be an offer in the wings at some point in the next 12 months but would be surprised if it were so soon given the director purchases in December.

I've been buying a lot over the last 6 weeks.

[25babies] 09/1/2012 15:43

Hmmm - looking interesting. share price 8%+ today. Coupled with 5 Jan - is there an offer on the wind?

[bend1pa] 05/1/2012 16:41

Two huge buys today and one moderate buy all within half an hour. No RNS so far. Looks somewhat suspect to me

[25babies] 20/12/2011 19:33

Actually 2 directors and the company secretary have bought today.

[bend1pa] 20/12/2011 17:46

The way the share price has been behaving in recent weeks has been weird to say the least. WSP peaked in March just hitting the 380s. Business wasn't exactly booming then nor were prospects much better than they are now. Since then the share price has tanked with the slide accelerating recently for what now seems to be for no particular reason. The div looks secure and the yield is still very generous currently at 7.3%.

I bought last Thursday @ 182p only to see the share price slump 3 trading days later to 156 thinking what have I done? Is this company going bust, but until today no RNS since last month. Today it shoots up 26%. Not only are there 2 broker buy notes out today but 1 director Buy for 30,000 shares, not substantial by any means. What's more it's shown as a 'sell' at 9:40 amongst largest trades today. What a load of confusion! No wonder the market in these shares is spooked. The only clear thing is that the company ain't doing too badly, just treading water

[25babies] 20/12/2011 14:13

Clever directors - share price 10% up on what they bought at.

[25babies] 20/12/2011 10:51

Good to see the directors buying at 188p today.

[cerrito] 20/12/2011 09:35

I noticed yesterday that the price had weakened and had made a note to do some work to see if I should add but have been overtaken by events.
What is most striking to me is their comment on the margin they got in the refinancing. Their current bank deal was a 5 year one done in May 2008 ie pre Lehman but well into the credit crunch.The creditworthiness of the company is to me pretty much the same although I do grant you that industry perspectives are cloudier than they were in May 2008. Nevertheless they are saying that in today's market they got a good deal even though they are paying a higher margin for a 4 year deal than they were for a 5 year deal shows how unfriendly the banking market is-or perhaps looking at it another way a reason to buy bank shares.

[stevemarkus] 21/11/2011 10:09

Probably about £2.16M....

Steve.

[broshm] 18/11/2011 16:31

1million at 216 , wonder how much that cost them !

[chrisjg] 28/10/2011 04:18

Cerrito - quite agree and doubled my holding yesterday.

happy trading Chrisjg

[cerrito] 26/10/2011 21:28

Decided today to follow the example of Schroders and increase my exposure after the recent falls. I had been thinking of selling out completely to simplify my portfolio but missed the chance when they were 275ish.
They are right to say they have good geographic diversification; indeed only £1.8m of the £15.4m first half year 2011 group operating profit comes from the UK and £9.8m from Continental Europe- the vast majority from strong Sweden. They seem to feel comfortable with the world wide demand for their business. Yield is 6.8%; no chance of a dividend increase but dividend seems reasonably secure. Financial position good and bank lines in place till 2013.
Influenced by some extent that as per both Liberum and RBS there is takeover potential

[broshm] 30/9/2011 18:02

te decline continues and gets worse , will it ever stop ? anyone out there ?

[broshm] 15/8/2011 18:02

was there ever any reason for the 20% drop in share price after the 1/2 year report ? which looked good to me at this stage of the economy .

[broshm] 28/7/2011 15:14

back on track for a steady decline ? or are we on an upward trend !

[josels] 04/7/2011 23:35

IMHO this is a short

[simon gordon] 04/7/2011 12:17

Markets Live - 4/7/11:

WSP Group PLC (WSH:LSE): Last: 266.00, down 1 (-0.37%), High: 266.00, Low: 256.50, Volume: 5.42k

NH - anyway, this is a consultancy, warned on profits last week

NH - and according to Building Magazine

NH - it feels the urge to merge

NH - Liberum Capital picks up the story

NH - The urge to merge not splurge

WSP is open to a merger. A deal could makes sense for WSP and for an acquirer or merger partner. A combination with Hyder would create an industry leading company. WSP is attractive on fundamentals. We expect corporate activity to create significant upside. BUY.

WSP open to a merger – Building Magazine reports today that WSP is 'open to a merger'. For some time, Chris Cole, the Chief Executive, has said that the industry needs to consolidate. We agree, but we believe that WSP's current debt level and expensive paper make strategic acquisitions very unlikely. That leaves a sale or merger, although it must be said that this week's warning was unhelpful

NH - A deal makes sense for WSP – The industry is consolidating (note Atkins' comments). Scale and geographical spread are important. Chris Cole's age is uncertain (we estimate 64): 'It's not something I want to reveal. Not at
my age.'

A deal could make sense for an acquirer or merger partner – Since WSP is a people business, we would expect a deal to be recommended. The key rationale would be revenue synergies. We estimate cost synergies of £7m to the right buyer (1% of sales). This compares to an estimated £37m of staff admin costs (70% of 1105/9060 staff x £439m of staff costs).

NH - Possible bid for WSP – There are a variety of potential bidders for WSP: UK Consultants (Atkins), European consultants (Grontmij), vertically integrated constructors (e.g. Balfours), US consultants (URS) or private equity.

The multiples Charterhouse paid for ERM (see RPS note, £165k per head, 2.0x historic sales, or 12.5x EBITDA) point to a premium well in excess of 30%.

Possible merger – The article refers to merger, perhaps because the word acquisition is more emotive, or perhaps because WSP is genuinely contemplating a merger. There are few similar sized businesses, but according to Bloomberg, Hyder has a market cap and EV of £171m and £191m versus WSP's £167m and
£221m. Hyder have a highly regarded management team. There is a reasonable overlap in share registers, with two shareholders owning 5% or more in both. We estimate a nil premium merger would create more than 10% of value for the combined group.

[dugganjoe] 28/6/2011 22:46

going to 40p like it did once?

[cerrito] 28/6/2011 17:06

Note that the UK Transport sector which they single out had a bad 2010 compared to 2009 ie revenue fell from £120m to £83m with operating profit from £9.2m to £4.8m, still a sizeable proportion of overall operating profit of £38m in 2010.

Have sold out alot over last 9 months so had very little this morning and did a modest top up. Could not make the AGM this year. While management seems reliable not sure how sharp they are.
Given they have been aggressive dividend payers be interesting to see if there is a cut.

[stokieboy] 28/6/2011 09:08

I bought some a week ago, that's what!

[broshm] 28/6/2011 08:45

what happened now ?

[broshm] 24/5/2011 16:39

what brought this up on such a down day ?

[nellie1973] 09/5/2011 14:24

WSP Group raised to buy from hold at Liberum, target price 400p up from 370p.

[chrisjg] 06/4/2011 15:27

I'll be buying at or around 330p good yield and although perhaps not rocket growth at the moment a maintained dividend an prospect of growth makes it a good buy at 330 ish for me

chrisjg