Amey hits five-year high
Amey, the support services and building group, reckons its prospects are the best for five years. The order book is £3.5bn and it is earning between 10 per cent and 15 per cent profit margins on its public finance initiative service contracts.
McAlpine acquires Ryan
Infrastructure services group Alfred McAlpine has boosted its support services division – financed through the £461m disposal of its residential homes business – with the acquisition of Preston-based Ryan Utility for £5.6m. Working alongside McAlpine's existing utility support firm, Kennedy, Ryan will help raise McAlpine's profile in the north-west. Ryan employs more than 900 staff and offers services including design, materials procurement, asset replacement and maintenance services. Its forecast revenue for the year is £56m, most of which has been generated by long-term contracts with Transco and United Utilities. The company's future workload is projected at £200m.
Energis pins hopes on outsourcing
Telecoms operator Energis is the latest company to move into outsourcing. Chief executive David Wickham hopes that any downturn will encourage customers to outsource functions, including e-mail provision and web hosting, with specialists such as Energis. The move aims to compensate for reduced demand for Energis's other services. Energis is well placed to offer outsourcing – it has £430m worth of orders in the pipeline for its core business. But the company is not immune to the slowdown in the business telecoms market. Its latest results disappointed the City, despite an earlier revenue warning in July. Core UK operations kicked in with cash profits of £88.5m, against City forecasts of around £96m, while profit margins slipped from 24.8 per cent to 24.4 per cent.
Source
The Facilities Business
Postscript
Malcolm Craig is editor of Stockmarket Confidential