Aqua Resources Share Discussion Threads

[m.t.glass] 29/7/2008 08:20

Excellent statement today from Amiad Filtration (AFS)


"As stated at the time of the full year results on 26 March 2008, the Company has continued its programme to increase its sales and marketing efforts globally as it believes that global investment in water filtration and treatment systems will continue to grow. This ongoing investment saw strong growth in 2007 which continued into 2008. The first half of 2008 has seen increased trading in substantially all parts of the business compared with the corresponding period last year.

Order levels in the industrial & municipal segment have been good across all major territories. Overall, the Company's automatic screen filters have continued to gain traction. The thread filters too have seen strong growth, specifically, in the municipal for drinking water and industrial applications. This segment saw growth in all of its main territories, particularly in Europe, Australia and North America. In the US, the Company continues to perform well in its specialist project for the provision of clean water for liquid gas storage and for which the contract has been expanded.

Operations in the Far East have also shown significant growth. In South Korea, the Company has secured a large project using thread and pre-filtration filters and the project in Singapore of converting sewage water into drinking water continues to grow successfully. Other projects for the industrial sector include a breakthrough project in India for the use of Amiad's screen-filters in the petrochemical and power industries. The industrial sector in China is progressing well and the water cooling business in the petrochemical market with a customer in South America continues to perform strongly. Projects in Russia, including the use of Amiad's filters to remove iron from water to produce drinking water, as well as those in Kazakhstan and Ukraine, continue to make good progress.

Additionally, trading conditions on the agricultural side have continued to improve globally as a result of increased planting of crops such as corn, sugarcane and soya beans in response to the growing demand for alternative fuel sources. In Europe, the Company has seen a high increase in demand for the irrigation segment, with projects in Italy and France developing well. The Company is also pleased to report that it has recently secured a large filtration for irrigation project in Central Africa.

As a result, and as stated in the trading update of 15 July 2008, sales in the first half of 2008 have been significantly higher than in the first half of 2007 and the Company is expected to report a growth in revenues for this period well ahead of market expectations.

Revenues for the six months ended 30 June 2008 are expected to be approximately US$39m (H1 2007: US$27m), representing an increase of over 40% on the corresponding period in 2007. Additionally, although the continued rise in raw material costs and the increasing weakness of the US Dollar are putting pressures on margins and profits, net profits for the same period are also expected to exceed market expectations and be higher than in the same period of 2007.

Also, in the first half of 2008, the Company entered into an agreement to acquire a controlling interest in a Turkish company for a cash consideration of up to US$1.4m. The deal was completed in July 2008. This is an important move for Amiad adding a complimentary product line and manufacturing capabilities and enabling it to penetrate new territories. Sales of the Turkish company in 2007 were just over US$2m and it was profitable.

Looking ahead, the Company expects to continue to penetrate the water filtration market globally and has entered the second half of 2008 with a backlog higher than the corresponding period last year. As a result, the Company expects to report significant growth for the full year 2008 compared to 2007. The Company believes that the demand for its products is set to continue driven by the tightening in environmental and public health standards, as well as rising demand for clean water, and is looking forward to delivering sustained growth."

[stegrego] 28/7/2008 23:10

A new fund has launched with the ticker H2O - Aqua Resources

Doesnt seem to have attracted much, if any attention so far

Launched on 24/7

[m.t.glass] 25/7/2008 14:18

Ah - right. OK
I did wonder where that 29 July came from.
I will amend my note above.
Sonds like there might still be something worth listening out for on Tuesday though

[celeritas] 25/7/2008 14:05

Not sure if thats correct now M.T maybe just an update on the 29th

RNS Number : 0525Z
Amiad Filtration Systems Ltd
15 July 2008



15 July 2008




Amiad Filtration Systems Ltd.

('Amiad' or 'the Company')




trading update




Amiad, a global producer and supplier of water filters and filtration systems for the industrial & municipal and the irrigation markets, provides the following trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2008.




As stated at the time of the full year results on 26 March 2008, the Company entered 2008 with a backlog substantially higher than it did at the corresponding time in 2007 as the market for Amiad's products continued to expand with greater global investments in water infrastructure. This positive trend has continued in the first half of 2008.




As a result, trading in the first half of 2008 has been significantly higher than in the first half of 2007 and the Company is expected to report growth in revenues for this period well ahead of market expectations. Revenues for the six months ended 30 June 2008 are expected to be approximately US$39m (H1 2007: US$27m), representing an increase of over 40%. Additionally, net profits for the same period are also expected to exceed market expectations and be higher than for the first half of 2007.




The Company will provide further details on trading for the first half of 2008 at the time of its AGM on 29 July 2008.

[m.t.glass] 25/7/2008 13:55

according to Celeritas on the AFS thread - Amiad results for the half year are out on Tuesday 29 July (links above)

EDIT: Ah, I see you are here now ;o)
PS: I've added your Water Stocks link to the header

EDIT: Looks like the 29 July date is agm, which might be accompanied by a statement(?) - not results.

[celeritas] 25/7/2008 13:50

Water stocks directory



Click the podcast dated 26th March 08.


I'm mainly into water treatment and regard Amiad (afs) as my top pick.

[m.t.glass] 18/7/2008 11:20

Article (last month) from commodityonline.com detailing water situation in various countries

[m.t.glass] 15/7/2008 10:03

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Amiad Filtration Systems Ltd. (LSE:AFS)said it expects its first-half net profit to exceed market expectations and be higher than for the same period of 2007.
The company also said its first-half revenue growth is expected to be well ahead of market expectations, with an increase of over 40 percent to around $39 million.
The water filters and filtration systems company said trading in the six months to June 30 was significantly higher than that in the first half of 2007.
The company had reported that it began 2008 with a backlog substantially higher than it did at the corresponding time in 2007 as the market for its products continued to expand with greater global investments in water infrastructure.
This positive trend has continued in the first half of 2008, Amiad added.
[e-mail]
ami/tsm/jlc

[mrx9000] 28/6/2008 13:34

I think better diversified exposure would be an ETF...

Perhaps one of these...

- LYXOR ETF WORLD WATER (LWAT)

- INVESCO POWERSHARES GLOBAL WATER PORTFOLIO (PSHO)

- INVESCO POWERSHARES PALISADES GLOBAL WATER FUND

[praipus] 24/6/2008 16:43

"water-related businesses" one of the most significant costs a water company has is electricity. To pump water too and frow and filter and test etc etc.

So its quite logical for many of the utility funds to include both and thus investors too.

[m.t.glass] 22/6/2008 09:19

Yesterday's Telegraph (page Y14 of the Your Money section) included a lengthy article by Nina Montagu-Smith titled 'Good opportunity to tap into water investments before the prices rise' in which she quotes various fund manager views and suggestions. Among them Emma Howard Boyd of Jupiter Asset Management "Opportunities for investing in water in the future are likely to lie with water-related businesses, rather than water companies themselves. Areas like water metering, water management and water treatment will be interesting."

Several funds and ETFs are named in the article, but I can't bring up an online link. Anyone care to scan and paste it?

[spob] 16/6/2008 16:03

From The Sunday TimesJune 8, 2008

Water is the new oil
The next hot commodity may well be water, but the real problem is finding suitable companies to invest in
Not a drop to drink?
Kathryn Cooper
YOU'RE reluctant to buy oil since it doubled over the past year and you fear you've missed the boat with agricultural commodities after their 38% gain, especially now that governments are talking about cracking down on biofuels. So what will be the next hot commodity?

Goldman Sachs, the investment bank that coined the term Bric (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and was talking about $100 oil when everyone else was stuck at $40, thinks it has found the answer: water.

It has called the commodity the "petroleum for the next century" and says it has been grossly undervalued for years. The story behind it is the same for every other commodity: demand is soaring while supply is tight.

In the United States, water demand has tripled in the past 30 years, while the population has grown just 50%. Globally, water consumption is doubling every 20 years, more than twice population growth.

Expert View

The "petroleum for the next century" has been grossly undervalued for years: demand is soaring while supply is tight
Kathryn Cooper
More
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Factor in the explosive growth in China, which has 21% of the world's population, but only 7% of its water supply, and you have a problem. As the Chinese get richer and eat more meat, the problem is going to get worse: it takes 15 cubic metres of water to produce 1kg of beef, compared with just 1.5 cubic metres for corn.

Given current trends, it is estimated that by 2025 about a third of the world will not have access to adequate drinking water.

On the flip side, supply is fixed. Only 2.5% of all water is fit for human consumption and around two-thirds of that is locked away in icecaps and glaciers. That percentage is not about to change.

Even if there were enough to go round, piping it to those who need it is getting harder. America desperately needs to upgrade its water infrastructure, a job that will cost between $300 billion (£153 billion) and $1 trillion (two-thirds of which is for distribution pipes and pumps).

An estimated 60% of America's water main pipes will be classified as substandard by 2020.

And the water supplied is deteriorating. American companies test for nearly 100 known contaminants, and a disturbing number of new compounds are being found - a glass of water could contain aspirin, caffeine, and even animal growth hormones from farm-water run-off.

One solution to the global problem is desalination, which is already popular in the Middle East. It is an expensive solution - 100m gallons of seawater produce just 50m gallons of desalinated water - though costs have fallen three to four times in the past 30 years.

The problem for investors is that the world leader in water and desalination, American giant GE, gets only 2% of its revenues from this area, so it hardly offers pure exposure.

Goldman tips smaller companies such as filtration specialists Clarcor and Pentair. They should benefit from the recent backlash against bottled water and are likely takeover targets as the $425 billion industry consolidates.

Both are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, but with many brokers charging as little to trade American shares as British ones, they are certainly worth a look.

If you'd prefer a fund, iShares, the exchange-traded fund arm of Barclays, recently launched the first water ETF in Europe - the iShares S&P Global Water fund.

More established ETFs listed in New York include the Power-Shares Water Resources Portfolio tracking the Palisade Water index, up nearly 7% over the past year, compared with a drop of 10% in the FTSE 100. Alternatively, the First Trust ISE Water index fund is up 14.5%.

The problem with these index trackers is that they give access to the big listed water companies rather than the smaller ones where the action is. For something more racy, try the offshore Pictet Water fund - although this has barely bucked the down-turn with a fall of 11%, against 17% for the MSCI World index.

Alternatively, private bank Wil-liams de Broë will this autumn launch an exchange-traded fund that will track six offshore water funds, because there is nothing in the UK for its clients.

To me, this dearth of funds suggests a genuine investment opportunity.

[m.t.glass] 16/6/2008 12:10

thanks both. Have added a note for now in header.

[jackiewilson] 16/6/2008 11:57

Like the thread.

Ecofin mentioned above had more historical water holdings, e.g. they played a large part in bringing Northumbrian Water back to the market from the VC's. And they owned Pennon etc but sold out as takeover interest reduced, seeing more opportunity in alt energy.

Praipus referred to Ecofin capital shares' wind up in 2009 - they can also be rolled over into Ord shares without losing out if there is a discount to NAV at the time.

[m.t.glass] 16/6/2008 07:11

thanks steg. Will look into that.

I would be happy to put a percentage figure in brackets after each stock name, indicating how much of each is actually water related. If someone would care to work them out.

[stegrego] 15/6/2008 14:20

The Ecofin Water and Power is a bit misleading as it is currently only has 3.73% of the fund invested in Water according to their website.....

[m.t.glass] 15/6/2008 10:47

From which - "..private bank Williams de Broë will this autumn launch an exchange-traded fund that will track six offshore water funds, because there is nothing in the UK for its clients..."

Nothing? Have they not seen our header list??

[sllab101] 15/6/2008 07:50

Water the new oil.

[m.t.glass] 10/6/2008 13:01

Ta. Will check it out later. Added temporary PEW header link for now.

[praipus] 10/6/2008 12:02

Pleasure MT. You may also like to consider PEW Premier Energy & Water investment trust. I dont have any and I understand it is a much more passive fund than ECWC, UTL or UEM.

[m.t.glass] 10/6/2008 10:04

thanks Praipus. Am away and stuck with a dead slow pc for a few days now, but will pick up those points and amend header - though not sure about bringing in portfolio funds that have a small stake in water, but say 80%-90% in non-water. Will take a closer look in next day or so.

EDIT: have added UU. and amended ECWC.
(UU. was in several weeks ago - and got mistakenly wiped during an earlier edit)

[praipus] 10/6/2008 09:27

Hi MT any reason you have not included UU. United Utilities?

Also Ecofin consists of three classes of shares ECWC (capital only shares to be wound up in March, 2009 and redeemed for NAV currently 19.5% discount)
ECW (Income shares to be wound up in March 2009 and redeemed for £1) and ECWO ordinary shares undated, also at a discount to NAV.

Utilico should also be considered through their Infratil, Ecofin and UEM holdings.

Do you include overseas or emerging market utilities? If so then Utilico Emerging Markets UEM/UEMW should be considered due to significant Asain water company interests.