14-05-2012

Design and engineering consultancy group WS Atkins has turned to the US fixed-interest market to raise cash to repay drawn funds under the group's existing banking facility and for general corporate purposes.

08-05-2012

- Greek and French elections raise concerns - Aviva up after CEO departure - Tullow rises after further oil find in Kenya

08-05-2012

HICL Infrastructure, the infrastructure investment firm, is now the majority stakeholder in the Colchester Garrison private finance initiative (PFI) project after buying up a stake from design and engineering consultancy WS Atkins.

12-04-2012

If the health of a consultancy such as WS Atkins can be measured by the number of consultants it can afford to employ, and this is at least a crude measure of performance, then Atkins' UK business is in good shape. The company added a modest 100 staff members in the second half, the first real growth since 2009. In North America however, where in 2010 Atkins bought the privately owned consultancy The PBSJ Corporation, the picture is more mixed, not helped by the relatively high numbers of public holidays in the third quarter. Further downsizing took place in the autumn; the private sector is spending on health and IT, but states and the federal government seem gridlocked and this could last until the November elections and beyond. On the other hand, Atkins has won the job of providing Qatar's first central planning authority, although this does not preclude further significant work as preparations for the World Cup really get under way. The company´s share price has rallied sharply since the autumn but then come off a bit with the rest of the market. The shares, up 12p at 719½p last night, now sell on nine times' earnings. The company´s stock is attractive at this level, but there is no obvious reason for any immediate outperformance, Tempus says.

11-04-2012

Barclays, Centamin, Dignity, Dunelm, ITV, Michael Page, Optos, Shell, Smith & Nephew, Vedanta, Vitec, WS Atkins

11-04-2012

WS Atkins says that full-year results will be in line with market expectations despite some headwinds and forecasts an improvement in earnings in the current year.

10-04-2012

Domino Printing, Hargreaves Services, M&S, Michael Page, Petropavlovsk, Punch, Thomas Cook, WS Atkins

15-02-2012

A round-up of the biggest director deals today so far.

14-02-2012

British Land: Credit Suisse downgrades to neutral from outperform, target cut to 532p from 560p.

10-02-2012

Ferrexpo: Rennaisance downgrades to hold.

09-02-2012

Design and engineering consultancy group WS Atkins said it continues to trade in line with company expectations and its outlook for the year remains unchanged despite market headwinds.

13-01-2012

Markets turned south in afternoon trade on rumours of imminent action by ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) to downgrade the ratings of several Eurozone countries.

13-01-2012

The Footsie's earlier gains were pared by lunchtime as US stock futures slipped ahead of key earnings report from JP Morgan Chase & Co and the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index.

13-01-2012

Banks were leading the way on Friday with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) topping the charts, lifting the Footsie above the 5,700 level. Hopes that the sovereign debt crisis in Europe is easing lifted the mood on the markets, with investors looking ahead to a key Italian debt auction later today. Just five stocks on London's blue chip index were in the red early on. However, Invensys plummeted on the FTSE 250 after a profit warning.

13-01-2012

Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, said its 50/50 joint venture with Alstom, has been successful in the tendering process for the new signalling frameworks on behalf of Network Rail.

12-01-2012

House builder Galliford Try has gained a whopping 52% in the last 12 months, catching the eye of Tempus in The Times.

11-01-2012

Engineering consultancy WS Atkins is flush from winning a £70m contract to help Qatar develop its transport and infrastructure, The Times's Tempus column notes.

10-01-2012

Atkins, the engineering and design consultancy, has won a £70m contract with the Qatar government to co-ordinate the country's huge investment in transport and infrastructure.

01-12-2011

The Tempus column in The Times ponders which stocks would fit into a share portfolio consisting of stocks exposed to London and the South East only, and suggests that one would be Shaftesbury, the property company whose assets consist almost entirely of shops, restaurants and bars in the West End. Its full-year figures yesterday contained one startling table. Over the past five years, gross income from its property portfolio rose year on year through the recession, up another 13 per cent to £77.5 million. Their estimated rental value showed a slight dip in 2009, but that rising income suggests tenants merely continued to pay over the odds. The shares are unusual in selling at a premium to net assets of 8 per cent above the 463p a share at the end of September, up 11.8 per cent over the year. Still a long-term hold for those who believe the London economy will continue to outperform, reckons Tempus.

30-11-2011

Much has changed since the Independent's Investment Column looked at spread betting firm IG Group. For one thing, the economic outlook has turned darker, making IG's chunky prospective dividend yield of 5% (and higher on some estimates) look that much more attractive, the Indy reckons. The income, and the quality of the UK business, suddenly appears more valuable in light of the weaker trends in the global economy. Rising revenues in uncertain times, a quality franchise and a healthy dividend yield at a time when earnings across all manner of sectors are in question - make IG look like a good bet. At around 12 times forward earnings for next year, falling to under 11 times for the year after, IG is not expensive either. Take a punt on the shares, says the Indy.