Alfred Mcalpine Share Discussion Threads

[betman] 25/6/2007 12:52

got this commentary by email this morning

a head and shoulders here too. Once this signals, and it is important not to jump the gun here, with a decisive breach of the neckline, the target will be 300p. It requires a renewed up trend which moves above the right shoulder to negate the bearish outlook.

[ed 123] 25/6/2007 12:36

It has fallen further than I thought it would. Agm tomorrow - not long to wait.

[wad collector] 25/6/2007 12:06

Recent slide is a bit worrying ; I wonder why it has dropped so much today on no announcements?

[betman] 19/6/2007 13:19

citygroup target of 540p - very tasty

[ed 123] 15/6/2007 08:26

Order book looking stronger. Will today be the day it bounces?

[gbb483] 13/6/2007 13:13

So that's why its dropped today. Now its dropped to the post 'slate fiasco' prices, its a good opportunity to top up.

[its the oxman] 13/6/2007 09:50

440p - why so weak i was thinking to myself - xd today 13/6

[wilbur] 11/6/2007 18:38

UK Dept of Transport gives go ahead for 14.8 mln stg Leicestershire bypass

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The UK's Department of Transport has given the final go-ahead for the A47 Earl Shilton bypass in Leicestershire.

The scheme will receive 14.8 mln stg of government funding. Construction for the contract has been awarded to Alfred McAlpine, according to Leicestershire County Council.

Construction is slated to start later this year and to be opened to traffic by late 2008.

[gbb483] 10/6/2007 09:15

It goes ex-dividend on 13 June and the agm is on 26 June.

And a nice healthy dividend it is too!

[ed 123] 09/6/2007 22:08

Buying exactly at the bottom is extremely rare, of course. Don't knock yourself; a buy at 453p is loads better than some poor folk's price of 600p+.

It goes ex-dividend on 13 June and the agm is on 26 June. MCA had been improving its stockmarket rating following its move from the construction to the service sector. The slate affair has thrown it back to where it was.

The agm should promise a good 2007 performance from the Company (excluding the slate write downs). The half year ends on 30 June and the interims are scheduled for 2 August. There should be good underlying progress and, when the Slate Division is sold, sentiment towards the Company should improve. Technically, there is a good gap up to fill when sentiment does pick up.

There have been reports of predatory interest in MCA. It may be groundless, but if someone were musing a approach, then a move in August would seem opportune (ie. after seeing the interim figures). Carillion are doing very nicely from their purchase of Mowlem ; Alfred McAlpine could be a good acquisition for someone.

[ed 123] 07/6/2007 19:24

Alas, the US market fall is likely to bring MCA down further. No fundamental reason for this, of course, just sentiment. If you've a steady nerve, 453p could look to have been a good buy when you reflect on things while eating your Christmas dinner.

Still holding some MCA, myself. Where's that rumoured bid from the continent when you need it? ;-)

[its the oxman] 07/6/2007 13:32

last trade, sold a few over 490p, so just bought a few more more c.453p, 8.65p div still to come as well - hopefully i will not regret it, reckon this could go much higher by year end.

[gbb483] 06/6/2007 09:50

And whats wrong with this one - at least it doesn't have to be restarted every year because an /////// puts the year in the title.

[wilbur] 29/5/2007 14:44

Network Rail has awarded a contract to Alfred McAlpine plc to build a third platform at Manchester Airport station.

Work is expected to start in the next few weeks and the platform will be available for use in time for the December 2008 timetable. The station will remain open while the work takes place and train services will largely be unaffected.

Route director Peter Strachan said the £15 million project was a "momentous" step toward meeting the growing demands for rail and air travel.

[wilbur] 27/5/2007 22:52

An old article from April 30th, Sorry if already posted.

Alfred McAlpine, the UK-listed public infrastructure and services provider, will probably sell its embattled slate division in due course, said an industry banker and an analyst. A spokesperson for the company confirmed that the business would be reviewed after the structural issues following the accounting irregularities were rectified.

"The management is currently focusing on getting the business back on track. They expect to break-even in 2008 and achieve double-digit margins by 2010. At this point, they will evaluate the future of the slate business," said the spokesperson."

The support services group announced earlier this year that it had uncovered accounting irregularities in its slate subsidiary. The investigation resulted in the dismissal of the slate business' managing director, as well as seeing the departure of several senior managers complicit in the fraud. Meanwhile, an industry banker believed the slate business could be sold a lot sooner. He said he knew that McAlpine had been approached to consider selling the business before the accounting issues emerged, particularly as it is a relatively small part of the group. "There is no logic in keeping it as this detracts from the support services business," he said.

The banker also went to suggest that if the group failed to demonstrate improvements in the overall performance of the underlying businesses, it could become a take-private target and that 3i could be a likely bidder. The banker explained "there is scope here for 3i to add Alfred McAlpine to Enterprise [ the UK-listed support services business]. The merger will create an enlarged group and generate central overhead synergies, and provide a larger scale offering within additional service lines."

A spokesperson at 3i declined to comment on the matter. An industry analyst described the slate business as being "pretty standalone and to some extent a problem child." Holding onto the division would not generate any value for the group, continued the analyst. The slate business has value as it controls most of the UK market and has strong production capabilities, added the analyst.

The analyst speculated the slate division could attract interest from competitors in Japan and Spain. However, specific bidders at this stage were not named. Slate is supplier of natural slate for architectural and roofing applications. Alfred McAlpine has a current market cap of GBP 484.4m (EUR 711.3m)

[wilbur] 26/5/2007 12:16

New Star, Fidelity and Threadneedle were some of the fund managers to increase their stakes in design-builder Alfred McAlpine in recent months despite an investigation of fraud that knocked £23 million from earnings.
A broker upgrade on bid speculation caused a 1.4% uptick in the share price to 486.75p yesterday although the rally has stalled today.
Dresdner Kleinwort re-rated McAlpine (MCA) to hold from reduce and raised its target price to 482p from 458p.
The broker said bid speculation in the European construction services sector could outweigh more negative fallout from the fraud investigation such as writedowns and lower margins.
'Speculation may be fuelled by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska's statement that he may buy more stakes in European construction firms, after his build-up of major positions in Hochtief and Strabag,' the broker wrote.

Earlier this month Bridgewell upgraded its advice to overweight from neutral after a meeting with company officials assured the broker that core businesses strength would more than offset a rising tax charge.
New Star, including its UK Alpha fund run by Citywire A-rated Tim Steer, increased its stake to more than 5% from 2.9% just before the fraud investigation broke.
Fidelity bought in with a 5.56% stake, Threadneedle increased its holding to 3.64% from 2.18%, Standard Life moved to 3.13% from 1.82% and Artemis bought in with 0.925 stake.
Schroders had held to its 12% holding while Legal & General edged up a tad to 3.57%.
Shares in Alfred McAlpine dipped last month after it reported that systemic fraud over several years at its subsidiary Slate would hurt sales and profit by £22.9 million for calendar year 2006 and £30 million in 2007.
McAlpine said it had installed a new management team at Slate after firing its managing director and disciplining its operations director. Other senior managers complicit in the fraud resigned. A new finance director is due to be appointed.
The company also said it had closed one quarry and cut 166 workers from its Slate operation.
But the investigation found that key financial control procedures in the core Alfred McAlpine businesses are 'robust and appropriate,' the company said.

[wad collector] 16/5/2007 18:35

Do I see a ramp?

[partimetrader] 14/5/2007 15:54

Accsys
LSE: AXS
Something for the serious investor in the
construction / building division.
Accsys Technologies PLC is a UK incorporated
environmental science and technology company which is developing a range of
transformational technologies offering substantial improvements in the cost and
environmental impacts of production for a range of everyday materials.
The most advanced of these is the process for
wood acetylation, which effectively gives softwoods the durability, stability
and reliability of the very best hardwoods. Accsys is presently operating a
large scale wood acetylation test plant in the Netherlands. This is being used
to supply potential customers and licensees across the globe with test
quantities of Accoya, the company's branded wood product.
Accsys has a further range of other processes
which offer potential for future growth. A number of these technologies have
existing patent protection or are subject to pending patent applications and all
have been either proven at pilot-scale or subjected to independent validation by
experts. Accsys is in the process of constructing full-size production plants
for two of its technologies.
Company chairman on Bloomburg - end of march


AXS - Accsys Technologies PLC environmental science and technology that is going places.

[ed 123] 04/5/2007 12:28

Its the Oxman, good call yesterday.

I was surprised to see it dip. If it can clear 475 it'll be looking good. If it can clear 505 we can sit back and enjoy the ride.

[its the oxman] 03/5/2007 09:28

buying opp methinks

[ed 123] 03/5/2007 09:28

Oooops, spoke too soon.

[davy99] 03/5/2007 09:27

Any news today?

[ed 123] 02/5/2007 00:16

To me, it looks increasingly like 430-ish was the bottom of the recent dip. Small rise today against a weaker broad market. Imho, 500p will be tested again soon.

[wad collector] 24/4/2007 18:12

"Asset impairment ,legal fees and other costs" make up the £17.5m.As you say , ludicrous valuation , but I guess it is an attempt to value the tarnishing of the company.
I'd offer to get rid of the miscreants at a somewhat lower cost, but it might not be entirely legal.