Rps Share Discussion Threads

[wjccghcc] 25/5/2006 12:03

Good AGM statement, but the valuation is reasonably high for what is essentially a people business - even after upgrades, I'd guess a PE of 18+ for this year dropping to maybe 16.5 for next year.

[scumdog] 25/5/2006 11:40

A rather muted response to the upbeat trading statement.
Symptomatic of the market conditions in the small cap sector as a whole.
Does the statement about employment imply upwards pressures on salaries?

[v11slr] 25/5/2006 08:34

AGM Statement


RNS Number:5471D
RPS Group PLC
25 May 2006

RPS GROUP PLC ("RPS" or "the Group")



Annual General Meeting Statement



Trading Update

Appointment of new Non-Executive Director



As anticipated at the time of the Preliminary Announcement of our 2005 results,
2006 has begun well for RPS. A particularly strong performance from our Energy
business has allowed the Group as a whole to trade above the Board's
expectations in the first four months of the year.



Demand for our Energy services continues to grow. The increasing scale and
effectiveness of this business, following the acquisition of ECL in September
2005, has given RPS an excellent market position. This enables us to retain
existing and acquire new high quality clients and projects, as well as providing
enhanced career opportunities for our staff in what remains a challenging
employment environment.



Our Planning and Development business in the UK and Ireland continues to be
supported by major brownfield redevelopment schemes and the provision of
infrastructure. It has experienced encouraging growth over the same period last
year. This activity also continues to develop well in Australia. Our
Environmental Management business continues to benefit from improved trading
conditions in the Netherlands as well as sustained activity in the provision of
network management support to the UK water industry.



The Board is also pleased to announce the appointment of John Bennett, ACA,
(aged 58) as an additional Non Executive Director, with effect from 1 June 2006.



John is a Chartered Accountant with 30 years' experience in the house building
industry. For the last 13 years he was Finance Director of Westbury plc, until
it was acquired earlier this year. He has wide experience of financial
management, capital and debt raising, acquisitions and investor relations and he
played a leading role in the strategic development of Westbury into a top ten
volume house builder in the UK. No other information is required to be
disclosed under paragraphs 9.6.13 of the listing rules of the UK Listing
Authority.

[bletherer] 22/5/2006 13:12

RPS weathering the storm pretty well so far - not even back to its 50 day MA yet, which is very encouraging for the longer term prospects given the broader market bearishness.

[bletherer] 12/5/2006 17:12

What a day to make a new all-time high; on good volume too. I will certainly be clinging on to the rest of my holding.

[bletherer] 11/5/2006 14:55

Wow - we are now in uncharted territory for RPS. According to my data previous highest close was around 212, intraday high 218, nearly 6 years ago. On a purely tekkie basis if this makes a 2-day close above 218 it has every chance of becoming a raging bull - even if it looks a tad stretched on fundamentals.

[kolgab11] 10/5/2006 13:39

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[bletherer] 10/5/2006 13:31

DG - I agree that "in today's market" this PEG is nothing extreme but then I think the market as a whole looks expensive at the moment. I reckon 20+ P/Es should be backed by consistent 20% growth and RPS's long-run average is certainly a bit below that.

[dull gull] 10/5/2006 13:02

15% growth is fine as a long-term average but it would be disappointing if that's all we got for 2006.
15% would translate to 10.36p, or an average of 5.18 per half, which, by coincidence, is the same as the 2005 second half. Seems a bit cautious.

My optimism does hinge on continued growth from the Energy business, and the other businesses turning in the usual steady growth, so things could come off the rails. The interims will make interesting reading - more interesting than usual. Who knows, RPS may get bounced into another panicky trading update like last time.

But is a PE of 23 really that expensive for a company like this? In today's market you can find more than a few steady Eddy's with PEs higher than this, and support businesses with similar growth profiles with higher ratios, like SERCO, for example - another one I hold.

[bletherer] 10/5/2006 12:16

Dull Gull - I was lucky initially in that I started investing in 2003 with intentions of buy-and-hold so everything was at a good price then. Was delighted to see it rise to 170 and naturally rather less so when it came all the way back again in 2004. Below 130 though I thought it was looking ridiculously cheap so bought more at the bottom of that dip, sold a few at 170 (in case history repeated itself), then a few more today. I have to say that while it's a smashing company with almost metronomic growth levels over a long period I think it is starting to look a bit pricy just now with a P/E of 20+ and forecast earnings growth of around 15%, also not much of a dividend yield at these levels. Coupled with the technical challenge of the previous all-time high I am anticipating a period of consolidation. Would be great to see 300 by next March but I wouldn't be surprised if it takes another year to get there. They will have to maintain a cracking performance level this year for 300 to get onto the radar that soon. Will not complain if you are right and I am wrong though!

[dull gull] 10/5/2006 11:57

Well done, bletherer. You did well to buy in at a very bearish time for RPS and for the market as a whole. I've held these for about 7 years and have topped up at the more obvious dips, but when it got very low I lost my nerve and sat on my hands.

The 2005 FY results show a very strong second half performance, helped by star performer: Energy. There's no indication that this is a one-off so I expect the 2006 interims to look good in terms of % rise on EPS (the 2005 first half was a bit lacklustre).

As is often the case, the great chart patterns reflect great fundamentals. If Energy continues to perform well, RPS could easily test 300 in time for the run up to 2006 FY results, IMO.

[bletherer] 10/5/2006 11:17

I'd be surprised if it blasts straight through 220 without a pause but the overall long-term chart pattern looks mighty fine to me. If and when it does make a clear break above the previous highs there's a good chance it will rocket - so I am holding on to the majority of my shares.

[scumdog] 10/5/2006 10:51

Congrats bletherer - good profit you've made here.
I bought in at 175p then added at 195p so have some way to go, hopefully!

[bletherer] 10/5/2006 10:40

Yup, there we go. Have lightened up a little at this level. Pretty confident they will break out at some point but I've been holding from 112 and don't want to see it all slip away if I turn out to be wrong.

[bletherer] 02/5/2006 17:31

First close above £2 in more than 5 years and held the day's gains nicely into the close. Looks like we may have a crack at the all-time highs within the next few days.

[bletherer] 02/5/2006 10:50

Latest rise has taken the market cap to £400m - higher than the bottom 7 companies in the FTSE 250 by my reckoning. So if it keeps this up it might well re-enter the 250 at the next reshuffle - good news in itself as it puts the stock on more people's radar screens and gets a few fund managers buying.

[scumdog] 28/4/2006 16:17

Adam - congrats on your profit. It's different perceptions of value, share price predictions, risk etc that make the market what it is.

[adam7] 28/4/2006 16:11

I sold out yesterday 192p. Still happy with my profit c.40%. Best of luck for those still holding

[bletherer] 28/4/2006 14:31

Squaregain's Investors Intelligence gives RPS as a bull breakout today, upside target 220, stoploss 178. I wouldn't actually bet any money on the basis of this service as their computer programme gets it wrong quite frequently, but it's nice to have the targets. In this case 220 is pretty obvious as it's the previous all-time high. I will most likely trim my position a bit if we get up there though at some point I expect RPS to break out into new all time highs. Having spent over 5 years "consolidating" from its millennium heights I'd be surprised if it blasts straight through without a bit of indecision, but once it does the chart pattern indicates to me a likely explosive breakout - 300 could come into range quite rapidly IMO.

[scumdog] 28/4/2006 13:23

Added today, share price movement looking good - I think an American oil services company released a good set of results a couple of days ago - could be the catalyst here.

[tommy ten chins] 28/4/2006 08:55

Bit of a spike, wots going on?

[adam7] 06/4/2006 15:41

Now ex-divi....still gaining

[tommy ten chins] 06/4/2006 12:01

So what will happen next........... ?

[scumdog] 04/4/2006 15:05

What a stunning "cup with handle" chart!

[adam7] 23/3/2006 19:15

ben gunn. I'm confident with a short term target of 200p by August Cant see any downside and should cope well with any general market retrenchment