Waterman Share Discussion Threads

[impvesta] 24/11/2015 07:26

Yes, a very positive IMS.

I found this statement rather strange:

"In particular, cash collection in the first three months has been strong, such that the Board now believes that the Group's net cash at the year end on 30th June 2016 will be higher than current market forecasts."

Focusing on expected cash balances in 7 months time seems rather unusual.

[battlebus2] 24/11/2015 07:17

A pretty upbeat IMS this morning....

[battlebus2] 11/11/2015 15:54

Yes always pleased to see HH on the share register, lots of upside to come imv.

[norbert colon] 11/11/2015 13:55

Yes very pleased to see HH coming on board. Ruffer using the liquidity and demand to reduce their holding which is understandable - they bought at a good price. Great to diversify the shareholder list.

[battlebus2] 11/11/2015 13:32

Great news.

[glaws2] 11/11/2015 13:26

And Hargreave Hale bought them.

[tromso1] 10/11/2015 15:37

And there's the RNS for Ruffer selling a load:

[tromso1] 10/11/2015 09:50

If so then can't be too long until Ruffer are out entirely and the price can move up freely without the overhang in the way.

[glaws2] 10/11/2015 09:40

4m odd shares sold yesterday at around 82p has probably weakened the price. As far as I can see that must be Ruffer reducing their 5.5m holding.

[battlebus2] 10/11/2015 08:32

Not a thing shanklin, just a bit of a pullback imv.

[shanklin] 10/11/2015 08:25

Anybody heard anything here please? Bit surprised at the share price fall yesterday and today.

[battlebus2] 02/11/2015 10:32

Great link Shanklin which prompted me buy again, held some for years so nice to be a holder again. Surely a bid target at some point as Norbert has pointed out on several occasions if they don't go on the acquisition trial themselves, initial target £1.

[shanklin] 02/11/2015 08:24

Paul Scott interview with CE

[impvesta] 02/11/2015 07:59

After hours RNS on Friday. Small share purchase by the CEO:

[norbert colon] 30/10/2015 07:33

RPS acquire Iris Environmental for 1.3 x sales, 6 x PBT or 5.5 x NAV.

They also acquire EIG Ltd for 1.1 x sales, 5.6 x PBT or 25 x NAV.



WYG have also been shopping and bought themselves North Associates for 1.7 x sales, 10 x PBT or 14 x NAV.



Even with the recent re-rating, Waterman are currently valued at only 0.3 x sales, 10 x 2015 PBT (or 7.5 x 2016 forecast PBT) and around 1 x Book. With the ongoing turnaround of the civils business and overall Group margin improvement, it is clear to see that Waterman are still a very attractive investment on numerous metrics.

[stegrego] 07/10/2015 21:37

I know that in the Midlands HA contract, they upped rates they charge for staff by between 10-15% depending on charge level.

Quite a large skills gap and demand is high for outsourced staff.

[shanklin] 06/10/2015 09:00

Thank you GHF

Cheers, Martin

[glasshalfull] 06/10/2015 08:58

Martin - Singers 2017/18 forecasts indicate a further 21% growth and earnings of 12.1p (£5.5m PBT).

Kind regards
GHF

[penpont] 06/10/2015 08:18

Thanks for that GHF - very good news indeed.

[shanklin] 06/10/2015 08:17

GHF

Thank you for details of the Singers upgrades, parts of which I have posted in another (S'opedia) place. Do you have the forecasts for 17/18 please?

Thank you, Martin

[glasshalfull] 05/10/2015 20:04

I concur with the comments above. An excellent set of results with bullish outlook. Congratulations to mangement & staff.

Most pleasing, from my perspective, is the aim to deliver 6% operating margins over the next 3-years. Such an achievement will accelerate earnings growth & valuation metric they are awarded by the market. In other words a "double whammy" benefit to the share price.

The results have indeed prompted Singers to significantly upgrade forecasts with the current year (15/16) earnings upgraded to 7.8p Adj EPS (from 7.26p) and next years (from 8.3p) to 10p.

That's 44% EPS growth in the current year and 28% EPS growth the following year.

Singers confirms that,

"Waterman’s prelims cap a year of significant progress. The results are in line with expectations confirming strong growth on all financial metrics.

Revenue increased by 22% to £83.9m, PBT by 93% to £2.7m and EPS by 126% to 5.4p.The dividend has doubled for the second year in a row to 2.0p.

Market conditions in the UK (89% of Group) are described as buoyant and the order book is up 8% at the year end.

Such is the Board’s confidence that a new 2019 aspiration has been announced to move towards an operating margin of 6.0% (3.3% in FY15).

The positive outlook prompts material upgrades and we introduce FY18 forecasts for the first time, anticipating a doubling of PBT over the three years from FY15. Waterman is in excellent shape with a compelling valuation (7.2x FY17 P/E, 5.6% yield)."


I agree and a buyer at these levels.

Kind regards,
GHF

[wjccghcc] 05/10/2015 08:28

Agreed. Assuming the investment pays off then there should be a big uplift in PBT going forward.

[shanklin] 05/10/2015 08:24

rik shaw

Indeed. Just finishing the sorting out of UK Civil and Transportation Consulting business should add £1.2m to the bottom line. And that is before the ongoing actions to grow the rest of the business, where the numbers have taken a short-term hit to pay for staff recruitment.

Nice to see the share price start to reflect this. Cheers, Martin

[rik shaw] 05/10/2015 07:09

Very encouraging:

'Given the recent strong performance, the Board now expects the Group to exceed the profit target during this financial year and we have already exceeded our ROCE target, a year early'