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Mike.Gayner
24-09-2007, 04:02 PM
Any thoughts on this IPO?

AMR
24-09-2007, 06:55 PM
They're the No1 engineering consultancy in terms of revenue, 2nd in terms of profits (Beca is No 1 there). Civil engineering is quite hot worldwide and has been for a while now, and they have no exposure to the US (from memory, they also have offices in the UK, Canada, and Ozzie.)

Dr_Who
24-09-2007, 07:52 PM
Why are they floating?

Mike.Gayner
24-09-2007, 09:21 PM
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10465509

Dr_Who
25-09-2007, 08:34 AM
It looks like the owners (private equity) is cashing up by offloading it to the public. Not my cup of tea.

TwinkleToes
25-09-2007, 11:10 AM
It looks like the owners (private equity) is cashing up by offloading it to the public. Not my cup of tea.

Owners retaining 51%. Staff retaining 24%. Looks good to me.

baxter
25-09-2007, 03:17 PM
It looks like Fishers will be in, and as they and all the other fund managers will be flush with kiwisaver cash I can't see much being left for anyone else. I'll take my lead post float from Fishers.

Mike.Gayner
25-09-2007, 04:02 PM
I will be waiting with baited breath on details regarding oversubscription etc - depending on the quality of the accounts RE: the prospectus (hopefully tomorrow), I might be quite keen on a parcel - but as you say, Baxter, there may not be a lot left with such a small float on a potentially great company.

AMR
01-10-2007, 03:15 PM
ASB Securities are not taking part in the float. Anyone know any brokers that are taking part?

Xerof
01-10-2007, 03:29 PM
FNZC and Macquarie are the arrangers

No public pool or oversubscriptions

BRICKS
01-10-2007, 05:55 PM
LIKE all the real good stock they don't let the MUGS in, not like Burger Fuel so just look ON..

Lizard
02-10-2007, 09:14 AM
I got a copy of the investment statement/prospectus last night. The offer price range of $1.45 - $1.70 seems to equate to a pro-forma P/E of 19.5 - 22.9 when fully diluted for 11.5m employee options and 0.9m convertible notes. Forward P/E of 15.9 - 18.7 on the same basis.

Profit margins seem lowish for this type of business. Also need to make allowance for reasonably generous employee share plans (up to 3% of capital per year) and possible low liquidity.

Real value is probably highly dependent on execution of growth strategy - i.e. can they create value by purchasing businesses using new equity? So expect a feedback loop on the share price and a valuation spiral. In a strong market, the chance of an upward spiral is increased.

Overall, I think it looks a fair listing in current market.

Dr_Who
02-10-2007, 09:37 AM
Liz, are they keeping the capital raised in the IPO for themselves or retaining for growth?

Lizard
02-10-2007, 09:58 AM
Approx 22m shares come from sale by an existing shareholder (Opus International (NZ) Ltd), while 7m are new shares issued by the company. However Opus International retain 90.5m shares (67% of capital) which are held under a lock-up for 16 months.

As I understand it, the main reason for public listing is to facilitate acquisitions via the ability to offer new equity as part of a purchase price. Any acquisitions are not included in forecasts.

TwinkleToes
09-10-2007, 11:16 PM
There is a very large demand with this issue as no one got the stock they wanted. The listing should therefore be very strong.

whatsup
10-10-2007, 08:39 AM
What are the dates for Opus ,prospectus, closing, listing and at what price , Iv heard $1.65 , whats theexpectations here.

troyvdh
10-10-2007, 09:00 AM
TT...you got that right.I managed to get a few...after jumping up and down (over the phone).The broking companies I rang all sounded really p..... off .
Having said that I suppose it always happens when something half decent is offered.

rymndchn
10-10-2007, 01:40 PM
Does anybody know of any brokerage company that still has Opus available?

I've already tried ASB Securities and Direct Broking who aren't doing it/ have already ran out of an allocation. I've also tried First NZ Capital who said that they are only allocating to their clients.

TwinkleToes
10-10-2007, 08:51 PM
Has been snapped up; very little available.

Scrunch
26-10-2007, 11:08 AM
Does anyone have any estimates as to what the listing price will be for Opus?

troyvdh
26-10-2007, 02:58 PM
Scrunch........now that is the $64000 question.


Those folk whose opinion I value rate this outfit...and all the 6-7 brokers I rang to get hold of some were p....d off about the allocations avaliable.

TwinkleToes
26-10-2007, 06:43 PM
A question of more interest to me is what direction the price will go in when it lists and how long will it take to get there? ie do we buy straight away or wait for stags to sell. If the profit is big enough perhaps there will be stags otherwise I don't see too much influence from stags because of the large unsatisfied demand.

So I feel the price will firm once the first sales are made. Have not heard of any gray market trades.

Mike.Gayner
30-10-2007, 06:52 AM
Anyone elses breath baited for the opening this morning? I'm interested to see how it will go, and dissapointed retail investors didn't get a crack at the float.

Dr_Who
30-10-2007, 08:32 AM
Anyone elses breath baited for the opening this morning? I'm interested to see how it will go, and dissapointed retail investors didn't get a crack at the float.

Retail investors can participate by bidding for the stock in the IPO. My broker asked me if I wanted any shares.

Hoop
30-10-2007, 08:56 AM
OIC.NZX - Opus International Consultants Limited Ordinary Shares

Last VWAP Buy Sell High Low First Volume Value


201 192

[Buy] [Sell] [Add to Watch] [Add to Portfolio]


Bids

Quantity No. Price
5,000 2 201
44,500 4 200
20,000 1 195
12,775 3 190
20,000 1 185
7,500 2 180
12,000 2 175
58,400 3 170
50,000 1 167
50,600 2 166
15,000 2 165

Asks

Price No. Quantity
192 2 16,000
195 1 50,000
200 1 15,000
Recent Trades
Price Volume Time Cond







Get Quotes Direct to your Mobile - Find out how here!

whatsup
30-10-2007, 10:15 AM
Opened at $1.99 dropped to $1.90 after 8 minutes!!!!

TwinkleToes
30-10-2007, 10:26 AM
Just getting rid of stags - up to 198 again.

Footsie
01-11-2007, 10:00 AM
This stock now appears fully valued.

Why insto's get all excited about new issues when there are unloved companies around like ABA, on low p/e's with EPS growth of 50%+ amazes me.

Sure OIC might run to 2.30 - but i wouldn't be buying up here
a fwd p/e of 20 +.... come on

TwinkleToes
01-11-2007, 10:48 AM
This stock now appears fully valued.

Why insto's get all excited about new issues when there are unloved companies around like ABA, on low p/e's with EPS growth of 50%+ amazes me.

Sure OIC might run to 2.30 - but i wouldn't be buying up here
a fwd p/e of 20 +.... come on

I believe it is still at a sizeable discount to similar companies in Australia.

Balance
02-11-2007, 06:37 AM
This stock now appears fully valued.

Why insto's get all excited about new issues when there are unloved companies around like ABA, on low p/e's with EPS growth of 50%+ amazes me.

Sure OIC might run to 2.30 - but i wouldn't be buying up here
a fwd p/e of 20 +.... come on

Isn't that what they said after Rakon and Delegats headed higher after their IPOs? I think it comes down to how likely the company is going to beat its prospectus forecast and then, grow and grow.

OIC has that potential but at this kind of price, I will wait for the next bit of news.

Footsie
02-11-2007, 04:52 PM
you cant compare RAK and DGL to OIC

DGL and RAK were/are growing earnings at 100%+

not OIC's 23%

If OIC were to make a large acquisition or suddenly upgrade then it might worth investing
Reminds me of BGR when that listed and ran to the high 2's

Still it was a nice stag

whatsup
07-11-2007, 09:53 AM
Up up and away.

troyvdh
12-11-2007, 05:06 PM
Am I the only one you thinks that the treatment by the mkt of one of the more decent listings offered recently is an embarrasment.
We hear constantly about the selling of NZ Inc yet 1/3 of shares have been flicked off for a few quick bucks.
I suspect that this is the sign of the times...i.e. celebration when a new shopping centre opens to satisfy the instant gratification needs of those transfixed with an orgy of retail bliss.

Or perhaps its more of an indication of peoples contempt of the market as a wealth creater.

boysy
12-11-2007, 05:11 PM
well clearly its been an achivement to be at the price it is despite the market moving the otherway.

boysy
14-11-2007, 02:58 PM
well market still responding well to OIC on asb securities buyer to seller ratio 20:1 up 7 today alone to 221

Footsie
14-11-2007, 05:24 PM
Twinkle

please name the aussie companies that have a similar valuation to OIC...
I mean what the fwd p/e now 23x

crazy

whatsup
15-11-2007, 09:53 AM
Up up and away and this is only the start ,with the acquations that Opus and work have in mind $3.00+ isnt too far fetched.

boysy
15-11-2007, 10:10 AM
heres hoping

Footsie
12-12-2007, 11:10 AM
This stock now appears fully valued.

Why insto's get all excited about new issues when there are unloved companies around like ABA, on low p/e's with EPS growth of 50%+ amazes me.

Sure OIC might run to 2.30 - but i wouldn't be buying up here
a fwd p/e of 20 +.... come on

As predicted......... All the funds now have their allocation. Stock reverts to realistic valuation.

winner69
21-02-2008, 08:36 PM
Isn't that what they said after Rakon and Delegats headed higher after their IPOs? I think it comes down to how likely the company is going to beat its prospectus forecast and then, grow and grow.

OIC has that potential but at this kind of price, I will wait for the next bit of news.

Good call that one Balance .... was about 230 when you posted that and now below issue price

Did beat prospectus forecast earnings by 4.7% but prob not too impressed with the 6% odd over last year

Usually not too good when a successful IPO (was 40% up once) falls back below the IPO price .... will it languish there?

AMR
21-02-2008, 08:59 PM
Industry wide slump...just take a look at Transfield, that's fallen a fair bit as well.

Disc: No shares in Opus. Work for competitor.

Steve
21-03-2008, 12:47 PM
How much of Opus's workload comes from government sources?

boxing_beaver
21-03-2008, 03:08 PM
A large portion of their NZ work is traffic infrastructure work funded by the govt or govt bodies, so id say a large chunk. Im sure someone else can confirm with actual numbers

COLIN
21-03-2008, 03:24 PM
How much of Opus's workload comes from government sources?
A report I saw, dated last month, Opus still derives almost 80% of its income from New Zealand but CEO Thompson forecasts that by 2012 revenue from international business will increase to match that from domestic operations.
Having emerged from the old Ministry of Works I would have assumed that Government and local body work constitutes most of that 80% but I do not have figures. Have you consulted the IPO prospectus for your answer?

Nevl
18-02-2009, 10:32 AM
http://www.sharechat.co.nz/news/scnews/article.php/ee438881

Looking good for the massive infrastructure spend. Anyone else looking?

Grimy
18-02-2009, 07:28 PM
http://www.sharechat.co.nz/news/scnews/article.php/ee438881

Looking good for the massive infrastructure spend. Anyone else looking?

Currently holding.

macduffy
19-02-2009, 05:47 AM
Currently holding.

Also holding.

Figuring that this is one of the better defensive stocks on NZX at this time.

AMR
21-02-2009, 10:15 AM
From the viewpoint of a JAFA the government stimulus has not covered the fall in local authority spending as councils try to cut rates with several councils within auckland aiming to reduce rates to inflation. Also the "greater Auckland" plan has caused council budget managers to try a 'wait-and-see' approach so things are quite slow at this point.

Not quite the way I would like it, the work is there and needs to be done. These are good projects being canned by councils and they will eventually bite us in the proverbial later like the harbour crossing a few years back.

stone small green
08-12-2009, 10:37 AM
anyone know where the 1m share comes from?
directors?

stone small green
08-12-2009, 10:38 AM
it's a long time since last post..humm.

troyvdh
08-12-2009, 11:40 AM
giday...last week someone has been nibbling along at 1.60....cant be for the yield.

ratkin
23-01-2010, 05:02 PM
Report on tonights news that there are to be drastic cuts in new roading infrastructure spending. Cant be good news for opus

winner69
23-01-2010, 06:39 PM
Is that so ratkin

Bloody government and their great statements this time last year when they were going to spend up big to keep the economy going and people in jobs .... like build more roads and all that sort of stuff

One great promise was to upgrade an extra 10,000 HNZ units .... talking to a subcontractor involved in this work -- extra units upgraded ZILCH

I understand schools are finding it hard to get extra funding for repainting etc ..... and the insulation scheme seems to have come to a grinding halt as well

So what do we get from all these promises ... probably a revamped stadium in Auckland ..... and a bloody cycle track

As nearly OIC profits come out of NZ this is not good news .... and with UK being their second biggest market not much hope there either I would say

Interesting stuff

winner69
23-01-2010, 06:41 PM
Wonder if Opus design cycle tracks?

elZorro
25-01-2010, 02:02 PM
Wonder if Opus design cycle tracks?

I have a cousin working there, I'll ask :)

A few years back staff were given some sort of bonus or the opportunity to have shares in the company, not sure how that worked out long term. Last I heard everyone was busy at Opus, they certainly do a big variety of work, and some clever people working there.

Their SP has followed the mining sector etc droop all last year, but not by the same percentage. Now almost back to the trading area of 2-3 years ago. So yes, looks like a defensive stock and pays a dividend..

Arbitrage
25-01-2010, 08:07 PM
Like all large engineering and planning consultancies there have been redundancies at Opus over the last 6 months or more. However they do have a strong relationship with local government and therefore a good baseload of work.
It is still pretty tough out there and there is only limited new development happening (apart from ongoing government funded work).
Their next report will be very interesting...

Lizard
17-02-2010, 05:33 PM
Very good result out of OIC today. Quite happy with this one. :)

Catalyst
04-08-2010, 08:11 PM
Key points from OIC's six month result to 30 June 2010:

- Revenue flat
- EBITDA $18.3m, up from $10.9m pcp (eliminating $7m loss in UK in pcp and $2m improvement in Aus)
- NPAT $10.4m, up from $5.1m pcp (tax rate of 34.5% vs 29% pcp)
- $40m net cash position

On the surface it seems to be a good turn around from last year. I know a couple of brokers were forecasting NPAT of $11-$12m for this result but the higher than expected tax rate explains about $0.7m.

My full year forecast is essentially double above, ie EBITDA $37m, NPAT $21.5m.

Current Market cap = $1.75 x 141.4m shares = $247m
EPS = $21.5 / 141.4m shares = 0.152
PE = $1.75 / 0.152 = 11.5x
EV/EBITDA = ($247m - $40m) / $37m = 5.6x
Gross divi yield = 7.6c / 175 / 70% = 6.2%

I value OIC at around the $2 mark using:
PE multiple of 13x = 0.152 x 13 = $1.98
EV/EBITDA multiple of 7x = (7 x $37m + $40m) / 141.4m shares = $2.12
DCF of free CFs at 11.5% discount rate = $2.28

Lizard
05-08-2010, 08:50 PM
Thanks Catalyst - good post.

I keep waiting for OIC to get cheap again, but every time I'm rousing myself to buy more, some analyst goes and puts another "BUY" on it and it shoots up past where I'm happy paying. So all I'm holding is my measly IPO allocation.

Anyway, I thought the result was a little better than I'd expected - though I know I wasn't as optimistic as some brokers. My valuation sits at $1.93 for now.

Can anyone explain why they keep such high cash levels and yet still run bank debt?

macduffy
06-08-2010, 08:02 AM
Can anyone explain why they keep such high cash levels and yet still run bank debt?

I don't know the answer to that, Lizard, but it's possibly got something to do with the difficulty of arranging new credit lines in these difficult times. Or perhaps it's just a very conservative attitude to financing.

I hold a few OIC myself.

macduffy
26-08-2010, 11:41 AM
Interesting to note an article yesterday to the effect that "...new markets in the Middle East and Asia are also now 'on the radar' ...." for Opus.

When I asked a question at last year's AGM as to the potential for work in Asia I got a distinct impression that this was the preserve of the Malaysian parent company and a "no go zone" as far as OIC was concerned.

I'd like to think that the change reflects recognition of Opus' expertise?

Catalyst
06-09-2010, 12:24 PM
Opus will obviously be another beneficiary of the Christchurch earthquake given it has a strong presence in road and infrastructure engineering throughout NZ.

Based on the current share price of $1.62 and my forecasts for the full year to 31 December 2010 (basically double the recent six month result), OIC is still trading on undemanding multiples given it is debt free and is cum a 3.4c fully imputed dividend (record date next Friday 17 Sep).

PE = $1.62 / ($21.5m/141.4m shares) = 10.7x
EV/EBITDA = ($1.62 x 141.4m shares - $40m net cash) / $37m = 5.1x
Forecast Gross yield = 8c / 162c / 70% = 7.0%

daniel
19-12-2010, 09:53 AM
Good analysis Catalyst. A quality stock fairly priced (at the moment). Given time it will be a $2 stock. To me it's a firm hold by the time it gets to $2.30.

macduffy
17-01-2011, 07:43 AM
I wonder if OIC can be expected to benefit significantly from the work resulting from the Australian floods?

The latest interim report included reference to "our ongoing work for Logan City Council (Queensland) has included the design, project management and risk analysis for future road and drainage schemes" in the segment on Australian operations. Revenue in Australia accounted for about 16% of Group total.

I hold a few.

percy
14-02-2012, 04:43 PM
Today's result was excellent.I brought a few for my Valentine.

ratkin
14-02-2012, 05:21 PM
Today's result was excellent.I brought a few for my Valentine.

And they say romance is dead

elZorro
15-02-2012, 11:10 AM
Today's result was excellent.I brought a few for my Valentine.

Percy, great idea, I should try that.. Opus claimed back $1.4 million in R&D tax credits. Good on them, but anyone know what they were researching? A relative works in the Hamilton branch, they're a bit quiet at the moment.

percy
15-02-2012, 11:49 AM
Thanks elZorro for giving me an excuse for ringing the company.David Prentice was out of the office,so I left my name,phone number and email address ,and asked "what are they researching and developing"? Be interesting to see if and or how quickly they reply.I will post as soon as I know.

Opus
13-04-2012, 07:15 AM
Hi Percy,
Just a confirmation, we responded directly to the question about the R & D credits, but it does not seem to have been posted - our response was:

This was a benefit from the NZ R&D regime which the Government has since discontinued, and will not be repeated in future years although we do benefit to a lesser extent from the R&D regimes in our other countries. To qualify, projects must display (among other criteria) a degree of acquiring new knowledge or undertaking innovative work to resolve scientific or technologically uncertainty. Some of the larger projects that met all required criteria were Transmission Gully, Ontrack Dart 2 , Dunedin Three Waters, Whangamata Waste Water and Mill Road. - Opus

percy
13-04-2012, 02:15 PM
Hi Percy,
Just a confirmation, we responded directly to the question about the R & D credits, but it does not seem to have been posted - our response was:

This was a benefit from the NZ R&D regime which the Government has since discontinued, and will not be repeated in future years although we do benefit to a lesser extent from the R&D regimes in our other countries. To qualify, projects must display (among other criteria) a degree of acquiring new knowledge or undertaking innovative work to resolve scientific or technologically uncertainty. Some of the larger projects that met all required criteria were Transmission Gully, Ontrack Dart 2 , Dunedin Three Waters, Whangamata Waste Water and Mill Road. - Opus

Thank you for posting a reply.

Snow Leopard
11-06-2012, 10:27 AM
Seven year contract in the UK (https://nzx.com/companies/OIC/announcements/223721)

best wishes
paper Tiger

Lizard
13-08-2012, 03:42 PM
Sadly, I don't think that half year result is going to add much towards our prospects in the ST comp this year, PT. Not that it's bad... just think we could have a soft six months for the share price until there is something more to go on at FY.

At least we got a tad more on the div.

Snow Leopard
14-08-2012, 10:44 AM
Sadly, I don't think that half year result is going to add much towards our prospects in the ST comp this year, PT. Not that it's bad... just think we could have a soft six months for the share price until there is something more to go on at FY.

At least we got a tad more on the div.

Do you think anyone would notice if I changed my OIC for something else?

Must admit to being a tad disappointed with the figures but I still like the company.

best wishes
Paper Tiger

Lizard
14-08-2012, 11:24 AM
Do you think anyone would notice if I changed my OIC for something else?


You'd only get away with it if you changed mine as well... :D

percy
14-08-2012, 03:00 PM
Paper Tiger and Lizard.
I am pleased to see that PRIDE has forced you two "rogue rotters" to support the SP.
Fair punishment for EVIL thoughts.

Hoop
14-08-2012, 07:58 PM
Hi Percy,
Just a confirmation, we responded directly to the question about the R & D credits, but it does not seem to have been posted - our response was:

This was a benefit from the NZ R&D regime which the Government has since discontinued, and will not be repeated in future years although we do benefit to a lesser extent from the R&D regimes in our other countries. To qualify, projects must display (among other criteria) a degree of acquiring new knowledge or undertaking innovative work to resolve scientific or technologically uncertainty. Some of the larger projects that met all required criteria were Transmission Gully, Ontrack Dart 2 , Dunedin Three Waters, Whangamata Waste Water and Mill Road. - Opus

Thanks Opus for the info..

I personally think it's great having the companies interact with us on the Sharetrader forum....I see it is the first post... so from me a customary welcome and I hope we will see more from you.:)
Cheers
Hoop

macduffy
07-02-2013, 03:07 PM
The HCC contract is for seven years and presumably will take time for OIC to gear up and become profitable. They mentioned increasing UK staff by over 130 and that's not done quickly nor without cost.

I hold a few. More optimistic about the revenue benefits from Christchurch than the UK, at this stage.

JayRiggs
14-02-2013, 11:26 AM
Are Opus meant to be reporting today?
No announcement yet as of 12:25pm. I bought a few shares yesterday, hoping for a good result...

percy
14-02-2013, 11:55 AM
I think they report next Thursday the 21st Feb.

percy
14-02-2013, 03:26 PM
Well today was the reporting date I got from Craigs, so shame on them for getting it wrong!

they may have meant Optus.!??

macduffy
14-02-2013, 03:42 PM
they may have meant Optus.!??

That seems likely!

Optus' Q3 profit down 9.2% to $160m - if anyone's interested.

:sleep:

JayRiggs
22-02-2013, 09:29 AM
Does anyone know if Opus are reporting today?
According to the Forsyth Barr newsletter, they say today, but no announcement yet...

Baaarney
22-02-2013, 12:53 PM
Several announcements at 1.20pm this afternoon, including 4.9cps final div ....

OIC Opus has good year 1:20pm, 22 Feb 2013 | FLLYR Opus Has Good Year
Opus International Consultants (Opus) had, in many respects, a very good year in 2012, with revenue up, some important major project wins and strong progress on numerous improvement and business development initiatives.

Growth in Operating Revenue was pleasing, up by 3.6% to $407.5m, but the challenging conditions in some markets were reflected in a 2.4% reduction in EBIT to $30.1m, said Chairman Kerry McDonald. NPAT was $23.4m, down 4.6% but after removing the effect of the prior year R&D tax credit, NPAT was up 1%.
While the on-going, serious fiscal and other difficulties in our main market economies are of concern, said Mr McDonald, the Group is now achieving real momentum and progress in its comprehensive and fundamental improvement processes.
The NZ business continued to perform strongly and achieved EBIT of $30m, a 7.9% increase on 2011. Our strong presence in Christchurch was a contributing factor and we expect further growth as more projects come to market, said Chief Executive, Dr David Prentice. Early successes as part of the Christchurch Central Recovery Plan include the major anchor project to lead the consortium to deliver the design and development of the Avon River Precinct.
The operations in Canada and the UK both reported a substantial improvement. While the UK recorded an EBIT loss of $0.6m, this was a 49% improvement on 2011, and the Canadian business improved its EBIT result by 28% to $1.3m.
The UK team grew by over 120 staff in 2012 following the award of a long-term asset management contract with the Hertfordshire County Council. This was a major win - one of the largest in our history, achieved in the face of continued economic uncertainty and intense competition in the Eurozone markets.
In Australia, Operating Revenue increased 21% on the previous year to $78.5m following a series of growth initiatives. These included the successful integration of the new acquisition, Opus Rail. However, the EBIT loss of $0.9m reflects a number of one-off costs and the sharp decline of the Australian non-resource market.
While business conditions continue to be challenging, they also bring new opportunities, said Dr Prentice. And we continue to strongly focus on delivering business improvements to increase efficiency, productivity and profitability.
Mr McDonald announced a fully imputed Final Dividend of 3.9 cents per share and a special dividend of 1 cent per share to utilise some imputation credits at 30 cents in the dollar before the change in the rate. This brings the total Dividend for the year to 8.9 cents per share.
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Dr David Prentice
Managing Director
Tel: 04 471 7022

percy
22-02-2013, 04:52 PM
I'm satisfied with that. Steady as she goes, with the potential for a pick up in its international operations once conditions improve. NZ, and Chch in particular, doing well. And the yield is still better than the bank!

Note to self. Buy more if price slips below $1.95.

They are very strong in ChCh, and I think with the rebuild starting to gather pace OIC should pick up a good deal of business .
You could think "we are well positioned."

Lizard
22-02-2013, 08:50 PM
I remain positive on OIC - lots to like in the presentation, even if it is frustrating that results didn't improve in 2012. I currently value at $2.14 with upside potential.

whipit
05-03-2013, 11:14 AM
Rough ride- Near 52 week high to a 52 week low in under a month. :confused:

tobo
26-04-2013, 11:56 AM
starting to stabilise.
And Christchurch hasn't gone away.
Watching chart

Snow Leopard
26-04-2013, 12:08 PM
starting to stabilise.
And Christchurch hasn't gone away.
Watching chart

To mis-quote the man:

"This is obviously some new usage of the word stabilise that I was not previously aware of."

Best Wishes
Paper Tiger

percy
26-04-2013, 02:50 PM
Maybe stabilise as per land in ChCh Red Zone.
Still sinking stabilise.

tobo
27-04-2013, 11:02 AM
what I meant was - it fell 30 cents, now it's making falls in the region of 3 cents, so I am watching to see when it stops falling, which may be soon (or may not...that's why I am watching.)
I was wondering about the two big projects that Opus is shortlisted for (Transmission Gully & Hawkes Bay Makaroro Dam). But I gather that the successful bidder for Transmission Gully is not expected to be announced til next year. Long term stuff, eh. Is that right?

stoploss
27-04-2013, 11:29 AM
what I meant was - it fell 30 cents, now it's making falls in the region of 3 cents, so I am watching to see when it stops falling, which may be soon (or may not...that's why I am watching.)
I was wondering about the two big projects that Opus is shortlisted for (Transmission Gully & Hawkes Bay Makaroro Dam). But I gather that the successful bidder for Transmission Gully is not expected to be announced til next year. Long term stuff, eh. Is that right?

Don't hold your breath on Transmission gully they have talked about this since the 1960's...plenty of political risk here as with the electricity sector. The Greens favour cancelling this and spending the money on a rail loop in Auckland. Who knows if they get a say maybe they will just print a couple of billion extra and do both, presumably Opus will pick up some fees anyway but this is no sure thing ......

benjitara
06-05-2013, 09:39 PM
I'm interested in knowing what the tech analysis guys say on this. It looks like there's been a rally past the cyclical slide but on little volume? I did some fundamentals (although they can often be quite individual for me) and thought this company was a good buy around a month ago at $.170-$1.75. which, at the moment would be a accurate assumption.

JayRiggs
24-06-2013, 12:13 PM
I'm no technical analysis expert, but my observations.
I see the share price at a 2yr low.
The graph from the past 2 months looks like a descending triangle and OBV has been trending downwards for about 5 months. Looks like it can fall below 1.65?

These other civil engineering type companies on the ASX like Forge, MacMahon and Downer have been going down recently in similar fashion too.

benjitara
17-07-2013, 02:07 PM
Not anything to do with the sp but the new trimble building in Christchurch that Opus has consulted on is an impressive looking structure. Makes me think there's a future in this city!

Lizard
13-08-2013, 12:45 PM
I think OIC is interesting here at $1.70 - though I did pick them in the comp at higher prices, so my judgement may be flawed.

However, with this half year result and a stronger second half forecast, it seems likely they may have passed the "dip" in earnings and be invested in increased capacity for the next leg of growth. Analysts have previously been divided as to whether FY 2013 would see earnings advance or decline and this result may not yet provide confirmation as to who is correct. The chart is not signalling either a buy or a sell at present, so maybe one to watch for possible re-rating in 4-8 months time.

benjitara
13-08-2013, 01:09 PM
well I did some financials a while back and thought the company was slightly under valued at the current level so bought in. The global scene seems to be improving and the Asian-middle east is a interesting connection they have. While New Zealand has been very strong through the last few years it will hold up due to the infrastructure needed from the earthquake (generalisation). I think it's a slow burn but i'm slightly more positive about the company over the next 12-18 months. I wouldn't think we'd see huge increases in SP though.

percy
13-08-2013, 02:57 PM
well I did some financials a while back and thought the company was slightly under valued at the current level so bought in. The global scene seems to be improving and the Asian-middle east is a interesting connection they have. While New Zealand has been very strong through the last few years it will hold up due to the infrastructure needed from the earthquake (generalisation). I think it's a slow burn but i'm slightly more positive about the company over the next 12-18 months. I wouldn't think we'd see huge increases in SP though.

I sold out,but still hold COF in Aussie who face the same challenges.Lot of projects being put off or on the back burner.Take awhile for SPs of both company's to move a great deal higher.

Joshuatree
13-08-2013, 03:18 PM
Percy ,Camden is back and sharing his thoughts on COF on H/C ,worth a read. Long term story im holding for.

percy
13-08-2013, 03:23 PM
Percy ,Camden is back and sharing his thoughts on COF on H/C ,worth a read. Long term story im holding for.

Thanks Joshuatree.I am on a computer at Blenheim library,running out of time,but have noted it in my diary to go to H/C and read Camden when I get home.

aido
14-08-2013, 11:14 AM
I bought in last week for same reasons. OIC has some really solid technical expertise. However, I wish they would upgrade the website & promote themselves more (like competitors).

Crisis
04-09-2013, 09:46 AM
Interesting strategic expansion worldwide, well done Opus.

Mista_Trix
04-09-2013, 10:11 AM
Hmmm I wonder how much positive movement we'll see with this, could it be a turnaround point.

benjitara
04-09-2013, 10:23 AM
Well it's good news. Quite a large acquisition when you consider their current levels of participation in the Canadian market. If they maintain the Canadian margins it'll certainly make the bottom line a little better and the SP could start looking a little cheap at current levels. With this and the increased activity in NZ hopefully really kicking in over the next two or three years we could see reason to be a little more positive about the company. I see Stewart Wier went into aussie but shut operations down a couple of years ago. I like the move anyway, good news and big enough to see good gains if managed properly.

benjitara
04-09-2013, 01:17 PM
Certinaly a welcome relief to shareholders who have been holding patietntly without much reward. Glad I'm still holding, and as you say benjitara, hopefuly this is a sign of things to come.

Yes. I was seriously contemplating selling out a few weeks back but held on due to the long-term outlook close to home and the fact that the mid-year report showed some positive signs for their overseas businesses (even though their main revenue lies in New Zealand) As I said this isn't a flash in the pan move. A considerable move to expand in a market they obviously think has potential. I still think the SP is undervalued by around 5%, decent yield too.

benjitara
20-01-2014, 09:20 AM
Good to see in the press this morning that Opus research has been carrying out studies in partnership with the Christchurch city council about inner city living. I see the anchor projects in chch rebuild as very important for opus in the next 18 months so any relationship can only be positive.

BlackPeter
10-02-2014, 01:30 PM
preliminary results are out:

https://www.nzx.com/files/attachments/188977.pdf

more revenue, less profit ... and all of this based on a much higher leverage than last year - not really exciting, thought they might do better ...

winner69
10-02-2014, 01:42 PM
preliminary results are out:

https://www.nzx.com/files/attachments/188977.pdf

more revenue, less profit ... and all of this based on a much higher leverage than last year - not really exciting, thought they might do better ...

Something I get interested in from time to time but the numbers never look that exciting enough

All the ebit made in nz .....maybe f the rest if world started generating profits this would make them more attractive (to me)

Pete - you said leverage had an impact. Sure did

BlackPeter
10-02-2014, 01:53 PM
and this is the directors spin on the result:

https://www.nzx.com/companies/OIC/announcements/246799

... for beginners: "delivering strong performance" means apparently "profits are falling"!

Under Surveillance
10-02-2014, 02:12 PM
and this is the directors spin on the result:

https://www.nzx.com/companies/OIC/announcements/246799

... for beginners: "delivering strong performance" means apparently "profits are falling"!

..... and also means "dividends are falling":

Final dividend H2 2013 3.9 cents; 2012 4.9 cents; 2011 4.7 cents
Total dividend for FY 2013 7.9 cents; 2012 8.9 cents; 2011 8.5 cents

macduffy
10-02-2014, 04:31 PM
Yes, I've become rather disillusioned with Opus over recent years as performance continues to lag potential. I can't help harbouring a suspicion that this company's main purpose is to serve as the "parent" company's arm in those far-flung outposts of NZ, Australia, Canada and Britain. Asia? - off limits!

benjitara
10-02-2014, 08:55 PM
I'm not worried about the New Zealand/ Australian figures really. At the moment Canadian revenues and profits will determine my participation in terms of holding this stock. The total expenditure on the Canadian business took its operations there into line with New Zealand operations and North American revenues will continue to grow to become the second most important part of their business. All other areas of operation apart from Aust look to be continuing to grow which is positive. Canada and the acquisition there looks well placed to attract better margins and growth....
I like the stock and still believe it is fairly priced at the moment

benjitara
18-08-2014, 04:00 PM
Not the half-yearly I've been waiting for... NZ and Aus must be worrying them. I would have thought the chch situation and recovery in other sectors would have given them ample opportunities to gain greater market share.
Interestingly I still see the stock as being undervalued even at $1.70. I do hope they get their act together though. One more report like this will test my resolve.

BlackPeter
19-08-2014, 08:21 PM
Not the half-yearly I've been waiting for... NZ and Aus must be worrying them. I would have thought the chch situation and recovery in other sectors would have given them ample opportunities to gain greater market share.
Interestingly I still see the stock as being undervalued even at $1.70. I do hope they get their act together though. One more report like this will test my resolve.

Looks like somebody else was disappointed as well - selling some 450000 shares at a nice discount: $1.62 - or was this you?

Overall a bit surprised by the market reaction after the results announcement ... I thought 6 months ago that Opus did quite bad with adding all this additional debt due to the Canadian merger, and was this time sort of pleased that the merger showed some benefits for them (with Canada and RoW compensating for the NZ and Australian downturn).

They managed as well to get the debt to asset ratio slightly down again (60% down to 58.5%) and managed to shift some current liabilities into more long term commitments - so I would have thought that the share is now slightly more worth than it was 6 months ago after the announcement. Go figure ...

Okebw
19-08-2014, 09:20 PM
Anyone looked at the divie for this on nzx?

$25 per share apparently :p

https://www.nzx.com/markets/NZSX/securities/OIC/dividends

BlackPeter
20-08-2014, 12:08 PM
Director (Alan Isaac) buying - not big (10.000 shares), but better than nothing ...
https://www.nzx.com/files/attachments/198762.pdf

winner69
20-08-2014, 12:16 PM
Anyone looked at the divie for this on nzx?

$25 per share apparently :p

https://www.nzx.com/markets/NZSX/securities/OIC/dividends

Looks like 4 cents to me plus supplementary plus imputation credits

Lizard
20-08-2014, 12:16 PM
I'm a bit tired of holding OIC and going nowhere, but agree it is probably too cheap down here. Would like to see more consistent performance and better communication with shareholders though. Maybe asking too much in a contracts-based industry.

winner69
20-08-2014, 12:19 PM
Director (Alan Isaac) buying - not big (10.000 shares), but better than nothing ...
https://www.nzx.com/files/attachments/198762.pdf

Only an indirect interest

Okebw
20-08-2014, 12:22 PM
Looks like 4 cents to me plus supplementary plus imputation credits

They've fixed it now. Must have someone from NZX watching us. It was listed as 2500 cents and 19 cents imputation yesterday

benjitara
20-08-2014, 12:23 PM
Well said. I'm still holding and I'm hopeful that we see a increase in bottom line soon as their margins are under pressure.. I don't like the fact they're shouting on about opportunities in the islands! Nz revenues and profits should be their main concern. The trimble building is no piece of art either, I walk the dog past it 3 times a week... I predict a steadied full year of 500million rev.. still if, that turns out to be ball park then OPUS is still a competitive buy option at current prices...

James108
20-08-2014, 09:43 PM
Would be nice if margin increased in the UK.. currently at ~1.4% by my calc. Should be atleast 7% even with rapid expansion like we are seeing, when growth slows to a more manageable pace should be 12%+

benjitara
21-08-2014, 08:22 AM
Would be nice if margin increased in the UK.. currently at ~1.4% by my calc. Should be atleast 7% even with rapid expansion like we are seeing, when growth slows to a more manageable pace should be 12%+

I agree that margins are very small but I wouldn't think they'll ever produce a 7% margin. This is a very competitive environment and they are dealing with local governments. They do not have "moats' from which to increase their margins. The revenues will come down to what they can offer in expertise and experience for mine...

BlackPeter
22-08-2014, 08:27 AM
Sounds like Opus announced a restructuring round in NZ to save costs:

http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/opus-staff-face-redundancies-amid-patchy-nz-performance-db-p-161097

Bobcat.
22-08-2014, 08:59 AM
Sounds like Opus announced a restructuring round in NZ to save costs:

http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/opus-staff-face-redundancies-amid-patchy-nz-performance-db-p-161097

Not everyone reading this thread is a paid subscriber to NBR. Would you mind summarising, BP?

benjitara
22-08-2014, 10:30 AM
The NZ performance really is perplexing to me. The company should be buoyed by current market conditions in New Zealand and yet they keep on going on about competition and "patchy" conditions. This is meant to be their biggest market. Are the cuts structural or are they simply pulling out of some areas that have traditionally been revenue makers for them? not sure how to take this.

percy
22-08-2014, 10:40 AM
The NZ performance really is perplexing to me. The company should be buoyed by current market conditions in New Zealand and yet they keep on going on about competition and "patchy" conditions. This is meant to be their biggest market. Are the cuts structural or are they simply pulling out of some areas that have traditionally been revenue makers for them? not sure how to take this.

Every man and his dog are fighting to get ChCh rebuild business.Coffey,Downer,Betacom,not to mention all the local ChCh companies.Google ,and you find pages of them.Only firm making money is Toyota,as they are all driving Toyota cab things.

BlackPeter
22-08-2014, 10:44 AM
Not everyone reading this thread is a paid subscriber to NBR. Would you mind summarising, BP?

O.K. - shall try - it is a long article. The guts (next to repeating the HY-results) are in my view:

Staff received yesterday a letter from management proposing a "consultation" based on lower than expected projects in NZ in combination with higher than expected bid costs. As well - company don't envisaging a turnaround in the near future and expecting staff reduction in locations with low productivity. No specific numbers or locations announced (they just start the consultation).

FoBar described half year results as disappointing and downgraded earnings estimate for 2014 to $37M and for 2015 to $44M. They consider Opus "well positioned" to leverage off the ChCh rebuild (though not really realised so far) but expect competitive pressure on margins to increase.

percy
22-08-2014, 11:07 AM
Two brokers' view of the result.
Craigs; Result below expectations.
Macquaries;Underperform.

Bobcat.
22-08-2014, 11:11 AM
Yes, despite many bids put together for NZ work - Christchurch rebuild, Transmission Gully, etc - very few have been won. There are some growth opportunities for Opus offshore -e.g. Canada is still looking promising after their recent acquisition, and the UK now no longer needs to be carried by NZ...but Australia is still a concern. IMO, that's where there needs to be more rationalisation and flexibility in its operations (more on-the-fly projects responding to flooding related infrastructure damage, etc).

Meanwhile, restructuring the NZ Operation may give management a good excuse to weed out more of what still remains of the old reluctant-to-budge Ministry of Works glide time culture.

Looking at its chart, there is often a dump before the sp slowly climbs back. I think I'll wait for $1.50.

Heffner
22-08-2014, 12:30 PM
I currently hold OPUS but am thinking it is almost time to sell up and move on and potentially should have already done so.

A friend of mine warned me a year or two ago to be careful with Opus as he worked for one of their competitors and said they were reknowned for really low cost tenders. This lead a lot to believe they were hardly making a dime on the projects they won.

From looking at the most recent financials, the high revenue and low profit pretty much confirms that this is indeed true. It's great to get work but there needs to be a margin unless you are trying to force others to withdraw from the market.

James108
22-08-2014, 03:07 PM
I assume the "big one off project loss" transmission Gully?

Percy I work for a competitor of Opus and I assure you that some companies are doing well out of chch. This may be changing though as the "money for jam" insurance jobs are finishing.

percy
22-08-2014, 03:56 PM
I assume the "big one off project loss" transmission Gully?

Percy I work for a competitor of Opus and I assure you that some companies are doing well out of chch. This may be changing though as the "money for jam" insurance jobs are finishing.

Yes I can see that you are right.

Lizard
22-08-2014, 04:01 PM
Two brokers' view of the result.
Craigs; Result below expectations.
Macquaries;Underperform.

FNZC - Outperform
Forbarr - Outperform

Guess that makes it a market!

Personally, I'm in the "hold till I can get a better exit, because it's still cheap but I'm not terribly pleased with them" camp.

benjitara
22-08-2014, 04:37 PM
[QUOTE=Lizard;500079]FNZC - Outperform
Forbarr - Outperform

Guess that makes it a market!

Personally, I'm in the "hold till I can get a better exit, because it's still cheap but I'm not terribly pleased with them" camp.[/QUOTE

Your thinking is my thinking. brother to brother...

Under Surveillance
22-08-2014, 05:02 PM
FNZC - Outperform
Forbarr - Outperform

Guess that makes it a market!

Personally, I'm in the "hold till I can get a better exit, because it's still cheap but I'm not terribly pleased with them" camp.

I share the sentiment. I've no time for the Chairman (mind you, he's necessarily a - probably willing - puppet of the majority owners, who seem to derive satisfaction from trophy factors rather than returns) and dwindling hopes of the relatively-new CEO.

The challenge is to identify what to settle for as a better exit. The mean price target for the 4 analysts whose efforts are reflected on the Yahoo Finance website is 217, the range 201-240. Before the recent H1 result the mean was 234, the range 201-265.

Baaarney
23-08-2014, 07:35 AM
The letter to staff talks about restructuuring the business support divisions. IT is complete and a small number of staff (<6) have left. I have heard that the HR team has recieved additional letters informing them of restructure and Finance was also specifially mentioned for restructure.

The letter also specificaally mentions reduction in staff, redeployment of staff to offices where there is work, reducing indirect costs (sponsorship, travel etc). It was inestering to note that one issue specifically identified was "significant project losses accross a range of projects including landscape architecture, structural design, architecture and buildings services".

I would not hald my breath about the change away from the Ministry of Works culture - many of these people are considered too expensive to make redundant due to the nature of their original Ministry contracts.

I see the main risk to the NZ business as the change towards the contractor lead NZTA NOC (Network Outcomes Contracts) for highway maintenance. I know of at least 3 contracts that were help by Opus have been lost through the recent tendering of the NOC contracts.

I have held and accumulated since listing (was an employee at the time) but will be looking to exit in the short-term.

Under Surveillance
23-08-2014, 09:56 AM
Thanks, Baaarney. Good insights.

Given that the Ministry of Works finished in 1996, and so "Opus NZ" has been about for 18 years, do you reckon this assertion (from the H1 report summary) will put the wind up the cosseted drones, or be seen as more vacuous flannel, or ....?

Investment in building a high performance culture and focussing on efficiency and productivity remains of paramount importance.

Tomtom
27-08-2014, 12:13 AM
Did a bit of work for them...10 years ago now I think. David Prentice had just joined but I actually knew Kevin much better.

Nice people, which makes it sad they have to fire a few, however not really a company I've ever been tempted to invest in. It is surprising they didn't make headway in Christchurch.

JayRiggs
24-09-2014, 11:58 AM
Opus awarded road maintenance contract in Western Bay.
http://www.sunlive.co.nz/news/83249-154m-roading-contract-awarded.html

Keep it up Opus boys.

Baaarney
28-10-2014, 03:43 PM
Some bad news, $5.5M costs due to a one-off project loss and bidding costs. Not many details on the affected project

************

28 October 2014
Project loss impacts Opus second-half result
Opus International Consultants (Opus) has reported that a large project will impact
second-half trading. However, the impact on net profit after tax may be more than offset
by a favourable fair value accounting adjustment release.
In the half-year to 30 June 2014, Opus achieved strong top line growth but margins in
the New Zealand business were impacted by a loss on a project, and bidding costs of
$1.9m. These are now expected to rise to a full year cost of $5.5m.
“Despite strong work in hand and five successful wins with our contracting partners on
long-term NZ Transport Agency Network Outcomes Contracts, the New Zealand result
has been further impacted by the substantial one-off project loss,” said Chief Executive
and Managing Director, Dr David Prentice.
Dr David Prentice stated that the project, is in a non-traditional discipline, with unique
and unusual complexities. “A full review is underway to identify possible areas to reduce
the expected loss,” said Dr Prentice.
“Opus continues to be strongly focussed on a comprehensive range of important business
improvement initiatives”.
ENDS

winner69
28-10-2014, 04:27 PM
Part of that announcement is Dr David Prentice stated that the project, is in a non-traditional discipline, with unique and unusual complexities. “A full review is underway to identify possible areas to reduce the expected loss,” said Dr Prentice.

Is that a long winded way of saying we went into something new and stuffed up big time ....and the loss may be bigger than we think

winner69
28-10-2014, 04:34 PM
Love the way some companies handle the finances. Often favourable fair value adjustments are treated as not normal and they report a normalised number to reflect operations. Count it this year as normal and next year year is a bit tough

Oops we have a problem this year .....we stuffed up so we can offset the good stuff that we don't really say too much about with the bad stuff which is REAL but not really "normal"

I look forward to seeing the story at the next and subsequent profit reports to see how they paint the best possible picture.

What they telling you today is we stuffed up but profit not going to be affected ....get it

Under Surveillance
28-10-2014, 04:37 PM
An incoherent announcement, in my view, which begs questions and so fails to fully inform the market.

Clearly, in knocking 10% off the share price today, the market was not consoled that “Opus continues to be strongly focussed on a comprehensive range of important business improvement initiatives”.

winner69
28-10-2014, 04:40 PM
An incoherent announcement, in my view, which begs questions and so fails to fully inform the market.

Clearly, in knocking 10% off the share price today, the market was not consoled that “Opus continues to be strongly focussed on a comprehensive range of important business improvement initiatives”.

Don't think incoherent is strong enough

Read it a few times now and still don't have any idea what they are saying ....except that $5.5m loss is just the beginning with more to come

Maybe they think nobody would read it

winner69
16-12-2014, 10:23 AM
PRICE WAS $1.82 last results announcement in August and then there was the downgrade or was it a upgrade in October

Share price still drifting .... $1.40 now and still trending down

For how much longer this trend?

BlackPeter
16-12-2014, 11:04 AM
PRICE WAS $1.82 last results announcement in August and then there was the downgrade or was it a upgrade in October

Share price still drifting .... $1.40 now and still trending down

For how much longer this trend?

Good question - think this is a similar game which played out recently with TTK and MVN. Not sure I expect the PE to go much below where it is now (9.3 forward PE at 1.40), but people don't seem to like dividend stocks just now.

Minus:
Not sure, whether OIC management is the best money can buy, and it looks like as well they have too much old wood in their ranks. Yes, and they made a mistake in losing money in bidding for a big project they didn't get.

Plus:
Both forward PE as well as past PE are below 10
Dipping oil price should be good for them as well - governments and corporations with a lower oil bill have more money left for large building projects.
Oh - did I mention ... they pay as well a reasonable dividend.

Don't think they will fall much further - and not too concerned about their outlook.

Discl: Holding

percy
16-12-2014, 11:26 AM
Another company who miss targets.
Going to take a pretty good result before I will look at them again.

Under Surveillance
16-12-2014, 12:21 PM
I hold, but wouldn't guess where the financials are going short term or long, let alone the share price. In my experience OIC makes little effort to communicate straightforwardly to minority shareholders (though it goes overboard with marketing and PC gush in the overblown annual report). That OIC bought back 394K shares from the employee share ownership plan at 160 cents each, 2 days after the October "update", suggests the employees lack enthusiasm for ownership prospects. And the gross dividend yield of 7.57% at 140 looks reasonable only if profits and so dividends hold up, and the chances of that are obscure.

Lizard
16-12-2014, 05:58 PM
I still hold too... nuts... they're on "two strikes" with me, so won't take much to make me sell... I've probably been too patient so far, but still think a better exit is a good possibility.

BlackPeter
21-01-2015, 09:00 AM
A long and narrow Bollinger channel appears to still narrow down. As well - Buy Back notice today (https://www.nzx.com/files/attachments/206967.pdf). Chance for a breakout upwards?

percy
21-01-2015, 09:47 AM
And all pigs loaded,ready to fly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol.

Under Surveillance
21-01-2015, 11:47 AM
A long and narrow Bollinger channel appears to still narrow down. As well - Buy Back notice today (https://www.nzx.com/files/attachments/206967.pdf). Chance for a breakout upwards?

The buy back itself was a breakout upwards, as Opus paid 182.7 cents for each of the shares bought back, whereas for the previous buy back, in October, they paid only 160 per share.

Baaarney
21-01-2015, 12:31 PM
I was surprised at the buy back price. Shares have not traded at 180 since last June. At that price perhaps I should ring them directly and see if they are interested in buying my shares

I also note that the announcement on 27 Nov stated "There will be further related announcements in coming weeks." Its now 7 weeks and no more news - perhaps they should have said months.

On a less cynical note, full year report due next month

BlackPeter
21-01-2015, 01:23 PM
And all pigs loaded,ready to fly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol.

Hmm - it sounds like you believe that Opus is still overvalued. Where do you see them sitting - and why?

percy
21-01-2015, 01:59 PM
Hmm - it sounds like you believe that Opus is still overvalued. Where do you see them sitting - and why?

The NZ business appears to be losing its strong market position.
There is a huge amount of competition in their sector,and OIC are now just another player.
They are one of those companies who are unable to achieve what they set out to do.
A serial under performer.The sp at $1.44 is well under the 200day EMA $1.64.
I don't see them sitting in my portfolio again any time soon.

BlackPeter
21-01-2015, 03:57 PM
The NZ business appears to be losing its strong market position.
There is a huge amount of competition in their sector,and OIC are now just another player.
They are one of those companies who are unable to achieve what they set out to do.
A serial under performer.The sp at $1.44 is well under the 200day EMA $1.64.
I don't see them sitting in my portfolio again any time soon.

Thanks for that, though I asked where you see them sitting (value-wise), but instead you told me, where you don't see them sitting (in your portfolio) ;).

Question - do you exclude them just based on TA reasons (I guess, everybody can see where their SP is sitting) - or do you have as well a view on their fundamental value? I guess they could be a deep-value play (looking at their EPS) - or they could be just a bunch of old, tired and overpaid ex-bureaucrats who forgot that they are not anymore resting for the ministry of whatever, but that they need to do some work to earn an honest buck.

Their EPS so far is not too exciting, but at least consistent (15 to 16 cts per share), though they took admittedly a lot of additional leverage on their balance sheet to pay for their Canadian extension (and so far are able to pay for that interest without reducing their EPS, but neither did it grow).

I do agree that there are currently not too many laurels left for them to rest on ... and I am rather disappointed that they so far didn't seem to manage to capitalize on the huge Christchurch rebuild opportunities. On the other hand - it looks like that these opportunities arrived a bit slower than what anybody expected - and it is true, the Christchurch rebuild brought a lot of competitors into the country (which is probably a good thing, though not necessarily for OPUS).

percy
21-01-2015, 04:42 PM
Thanks for that, though I asked where you see them sitting (value-wise), but instead you told me, where you don't see them sitting (in your portfolio) ;).

Question - do you exclude them just based on TA reasons (I guess, everybody can see where their SP is sitting) - or do you have as well a view on their fundamental value? I guess they could be a deep-value play (looking at their EPS) - or they could be just a bunch of old, tired and overpaid ex-bureaucrats who forgot that they are not anymore resting for the ministry of whatever, but that they need to do some work to earn an honest buck.

Their EPS so far is not too exciting, but at least consistent (15 to 16 cts per share), though they took admittedly a lot of additional leverage on their balance sheet to pay for their Canadian extension (and so far are able to pay for that interest without reducing their EPS, but neither did it grow).

I do agree that there are currently not too many laurels left for them to rest on ... and I am rather disappointed that they so far didn't seem to manage to capitalize on the huge Christchurch rebuild opportunities. On the other hand - it looks like that these opportunities arrived a bit slower than what anybody expected - and it is true, the Christchurch rebuild brought a lot of competitors into the country (which is probably a good thing, though not necessarily for OPUS).

I think you covered all the reasons I am not attracted to them.I held a couple of years ago.Future prospects and yield looked good. They seemed to miss the boat.Growth did not come their way.
I try to buy companies who deliver on their promises.Growing companies have the capacity to increase their dividends,which flows onto increasing share price.From memory I paid about$1.80 and sold at $2.05.If I find a share that has good prospects, I sell my poor performing shares to pay for the new share.This way I try to have only good performing shares in my portfolio.Opportunity costs affect your returns. Selling OIC was the right decision.
I should point out every second Toyota Hi Lux on Christchurch roads is owned by some consultancy company.More consultants than corner dairies in ChCh.OIC has no point of difference.

winner69
10-02-2015, 07:41 AM
This OIC announcement is all about a major restructure

It seems to say that there are at least 7 new senior managers ....or are

Extract - The major restructure reduces the New Zealand senior management team reporting to Peter Mathewson, Managing Director New Zealand,from 14 to 6. The new general management positions includes three operational roles as well as business development & growth, commercial & major projects and corporate services.

Umm ....or can't I read. Was price sensitive as well

https://www.nzx.com/companies/OIC/announcements/260415

Under Surveillance
10-02-2015, 12:13 PM
This OIC announcement is all about a major restructure

It seems to say that there are at least 7 new senior managers ....or are

Extract - The major restructure reduces the New Zealand senior management team reporting to Peter Mathewson, Managing Director New Zealand,from 14 to 6. The new general management positions includes three operational roles as well as business development & growth, commercial & major projects and corporate services.

Umm ....or can't I read. Was price sensitive as well

https://www.nzx.com/companies/OIC/announcements/260415

I took it that Mathewson will now have 6 positions reporting to him, rather than 14, so there will now be a total of 7 where there were 15.
The price sensitivity might relate to 8 whopping severance pay outs.
But you never know with Opus, they might believe that shareholders will be so surprised and grateful for signs of action that they'll be pleased to swallow the costs and to bump the share price up.

macduffy
10-02-2015, 01:41 PM
I took it that Mathewson will now have 6 positions reporting to him, rather than 14, so there will now be a total of 7 where there were 15.
The price sensitivity might relate to 8 whopping severance pay outs.
But you never know with Opus, they might believe that shareholders will be so surprised and grateful for signs of action that they'll be pleased to swallow the costs and to bump the share price up.


I doubt whether Opus are too concerned about either the shareprice or shareholder reaction. The company's main purpose is to extend the majority Malaysian shareholder's reach to New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the UK. At least, that's how it has appeared to this sceptical shareholder for some time.

:(

BlackPeter
11-02-2015, 01:34 PM
Good to see a positive announcement from Opus: they've been awarded a 20 Million dollar (over 5 years) contract in Saudi Arabia. New market for them, and obviously not without risk - but on the bright side .... it looks like a good chance for recurring revenue. All good.

https://www.nzx.com/companies/OIC/announcements/260529

BTW - does anybody know when their 2014 results are due? NBR article on Monday said February 10 (i.e. yesterday), but this was probably just another bad researched piece of information. They published them last year on February 10, though ...

Under Surveillance
11-02-2015, 02:28 PM
BTW - does anybody know when their 2014 results are due? NBR article on Monday said February 10 (i.e. yesterday), but this was probably just another bad researched piece of information. They published them last year on February 10, though ...
Their website says "February 2015".
The NZ Herald of last Friday had the same date as NBR.
The release dates in the last 3 years I have recorded as Monday 10 February 2014, Tuesday 23 February 2013 and Tuesday 14 February 2012.
Last year I asked the OIC why they did not pre-notify the release dates of FY and H1 results and got the fingers and advice that they complied with their listing obligations.
The results seem to come out late in the day NZ time, which might be so Kuala Lumpur gets the heads up at a civilised local time.

BlackPeter
11-02-2015, 05:24 PM
Their website says "February 2015".
The NZ Herald of last Friday had the same date as NBR.
The release dates in the last 3 years I have recorded as Monday 10 February 2014, Tuesday 23 February 2013 and Tuesday 14 February 2012.
Last year I asked the OIC why they did not pre-notify the release dates of FY and H1 results and got the fingers and advice that they complied with their listing obligations.
The results seem to come out late in the day NZ time, which might be so Kuala Lumpur gets the heads up at a civilised local time.

cheers - looks like they don't want to set themselves under pressure. Maybe this gives them the time to negotiate a handful more contracts?

Tomtom
11-02-2015, 05:46 PM
I doubt whether Opus are too concerned about either the shareprice or shareholder reaction. Seems a reasonable explanation of actions to date.

Obviously I'm no expert but I'd have reasoned that in Engineering and Architecture a large firm could easily retain market share. They must have some advantages of scale like more specialists, expensive tools, better staff availability etc. than the small firms? I'd love an insight into if they are really using their resources to create a competitive advantage or if they are pretty much proposing similar solutions to everyone else in that market.

PSE
11-02-2015, 06:23 PM
Having worked as a consulting engineer (SKM - taken over by Jacobs) I would say in general in the NZ market the smaller companies have an advantage in terms of lower overheads and fees.
If you work for OIC and build a client base you are going to question why you should pay 2/3 of the money you are making to someone else. A small consultant may be able to pay you a larger cut and keep the fee to the client competitive as well.
Larger companies have credibility in terms of scale, some larger clients (I.e. global) like to see this. Consultancy game depends on retaining the few highly skilled specialists and foisting the graduate hours en mass.
As I see it if OIC has large clients with a steady pipeline of work then it is in a strong position. If it is scratching around for the rats and mice in the NZ market then it is at a disadvantage to the smaller companies with low overheads.
I am not holding this, recently have bought into Cardno CDD on the ASX instead with the strong kiwi dollar. It is selling for twice the price of OIC in Aussie dollars but made 4x the profit last year and has a stronger balance sheet with half its operations in the US. Not too exposed to the ongoing resources implosion - except for an ill timed foray into shale for which the CEO was unceremoniously dumped, causing a share price hammering.
CEO is not really important if they continue to treat their engineers well.
Sorry for talking about another company on the OIC thread, just explaining why I haven't examined it in detail as it failed the early thresholds of value for me.

PSE
11-02-2015, 06:42 PM
By IPO standards OIC did well to still be selling for the float price 8 years later. Generally I wait for them to prove themselves or crash, I guess OICs strategy stated at time of IPO of growth by acquisition wasn't as successful as CDD.
I love how they claimed the work for the state hydro department in their blurb, not sure those guys are still working there :)

Tomtom
12-02-2015, 09:30 AM
BTW - does anybody know when their 2014 results are due? NBR article on Monday said February 10 (i.e. yesterday), but this was probably just another bad researched piece of information. They published them last year on February 10, though ... Sorry I missed this the first time, Feb 17th.

BlackPeter
12-02-2015, 10:05 AM
Sorry I missed this the first time, Feb 17th.

Thanks for that. May I ask what your source is (so that I can check next time myself)?

Tomtom
12-02-2015, 02:43 PM
I e-mailed their investor relations team and asked.

BlackPeter
17-02-2015, 01:19 PM
Results are out and look (given the earlier warning) not too bad:


"Opus International Consultants delivered strong top line growth in 2014 with revenue up 17% on 2013 to $539.6m. NPAT was up 15% to $26.2m and Return on Equity was 18.4%, compared with the NZX 50 average of 11.5%. Operating cash flow remained strong at $32.1m, up 29%, and the full-year dividend increased by 13% on the prior year.

“However, this result was significantly impacted by accounting adjustments and a previously reported significant project loss of $4.5m,” said Chairman Kerry McDonald.

EBIT was $37.4m, up 9%, but underlying EBIT of $32.6m was down 2.8% on the prior year; affected by weaker performances in New Zealand and Australia.

The difference between EBIT and underlying EBIT reflects a deferred consideration release of $11.5m in Canada and an impairment of goodwill adjustment of $6.7m in Australia."

Obviously - the lions share of the big revenue increase is coming from the Canadian acquisition ... and they had as well to massage the books to show an improved EBIT. On the other hand - EPS 17.5 cents / share, i.e. they can afford the higher divvie; The UK revenue starts to become material (still low - around 50M, but not any more just symbolic) ... and if we add the recent Saudi project - at least they are not stalling.

BlackPeter
17-02-2015, 01:29 PM
And all pigs loaded,ready to fly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol.

Ah well percy - $1.52 as we speak, which would be a clear upwards breakout from the Bollinger channel. Who knows - maybe pigs can fly after all?

7074

Lizard
18-02-2015, 06:47 AM
The increased dividend should see some support through to around $1.65? I'm not quite sure on the NPAT - I couldn't quite see enough detail to be sure on adjustments, but if it needs similar adjustments to EBIT, then perhaps underlying is steady at around $22m. Outlook didn't seem too chirpy - could see a significant slowdown in Canada off O&G activity, so perhaps another year of running on the spot to hold ground, although it is too soon to call.

percy
18-02-2015, 08:23 AM
Ah well percy - $1.52 as we speak, which would be a clear upwards breakout from the Bollinger channel. Who knows - maybe pigs can fly after all?

7074

Yes well ???? hopefully it looks as though I am wrong yet again.
I did see a broker's projection somewhere that valued them at $2. [thought they were mad!!!]
Sorry, but I still lack enthusiasm for Opus.

BlackPeter
24-03-2015, 05:39 PM
Ah - well despite the recent SP trip into the lower atmosphere - the share price came down again and I just received the annual report with an invitation to join the AGM to celebrate the companies success and to re-elect our experienced board members.

So lets see - over the last 3 years the NZX50 did rise by roughly 70% (that's average SP increase including dividends).

The OIC share did drop in the same time frame by 35% in value (that's excluding dividends), but even the 25 cents dividend we received over these 3 years didn't bring us overall out of the red.

Sure - lets duly re-elect the guys and gals responsible for this destruction in share holder value and hope for the best. Right?

Anybody else intending to send the board a message?

macduffy
25-03-2015, 07:08 AM
Ah - well despite the recent SP trip into the lower atmosphere - the share price came down again and I just received the annual report with an invitation to join the AGM to celebrate the companies success and to re-elect our experienced board members.

So lets see - over the last 3 years the NZX50 did rise by roughly 70% (that's average SP increase including dividends).

The OIC share did drop in the same time frame by 35% in value (that's excluding dividends), but even the 25 cents dividend we received over these 3 years didn't bring us overall out of the red.

Sure - lets duly re-elect the guys and gals responsible for this destruction in share holder value and hope for the best. Right?

Anybody else intending to send the board a message?

I would, but I've already left the register. Didn't see any point in staying around, going nowhere!

:(

PSE
25-03-2015, 03:02 PM
I would, but I've already left the register. Didn't see any point in staying around, going nowhere!

:(
Sorry BP I love a good fight but as I mentioned I like CDD better. Come on some of you passive sleepy investors get fired up and get your money working for you.
Is this one under majority control by some malaysians?
Here is a case of some kickass shareholder activism to inspire yall.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/26699945/emeco-faces-bump-with-rentco-plan/

PSE
25-03-2015, 03:03 PM
We reserve our right to take action against the directors for breach of fiduciary duty to shareholders, I need to keep that line in my back pocket for future reference. Also calling an emergency shareholder meeting to sack the board, these guys aren't mucking about.

Jim
17-05-2015, 07:18 PM
Ah well percy - $1.52 as we speak, which would be a clear upwards breakout from the Bollinger channel. Who knows - maybe pigs can fly after all?

7074

The pig has landed on a mud pond and is sinking HELP !!!

Under Surveillance
17-05-2015, 08:19 PM
I think you can forget BlackPeter's Bollinger channel and look to the bollocks channelled by the Chairman and CEO though the annual report and AGM, for the mire the OIC shareprice is in recently.

For example, the Chairman told the AGM on 22 April that the board recognised that the shareprice does not reflect the value of the business. Such is the confidence in the OIC hierarchy that shareholders seem to have taken this as acknowledgement that the price was unjustifiably high, and bailed.

The CEO threw detail about at the AGM, such as big losses early in 2015 FY in Australia and Canada, but some gains elsewhere, savings from redundancies, etc etc but would not reconcile these into an overall summary, saying that OIC doesn't do profit forecasts as a matter of policy. A natural reaction in the face of a confusion of detail is to assume the worst in aggregate and steer clear or hunker down.

The chairman told the AGM that OIC's work on capital structure and options, mergers and acquisitions versus organic growth, and dividend policy are all important elements that acknowledge the inappropriate share price and guide the board's policies. Throwaway mumbo jumbo such as that has clearly not impressed market participants. Neither has the analysts who cover OIC lowering their collective expectations since the AGM.

For all the above, I have a hunch that OIC has been a little oversold, so bought some at 128 on Friday, to add to a holding started with a buy at 115 in July 2009.

percy
17-05-2015, 08:29 PM
The pig has landed on a mud pond and is sinking HELP !!!

I think you have mistaken an oxidation pond as a mud pond.!!!!!!!!!!!!!! More stink than sink. lol.

BlackPeter
18-05-2015, 07:33 AM
I think you have mistaken an oxidation pond as a mud pond.!!!!!!!!!!!!!! More stink than sink. lol.

Ah well - how do the say: "Schadenfreude is the best of all joys ...". Yes, looks like the rise was short and the following slope long (ideal conditions for a skiing pig).

7356

I do agree that management could do a better job in running the show as well as communicating (but than, they always could - couldn't they?). Still find it difficult to see why anybody would want to sell shares with a PE between 8 and 9, a 12 month price target of between 138 and 195 (medium 165) and a quite consistent and good dividend (they so far easily can afford).

Maybe some people put more emphasis on the stylish finish than on the healthy heart ... I do agree - it looks like a pig and moves like a pig, but I think it has still a lot of potential. Hey - pigs can fly and ski;).

As well - the current problems in Australia and Canada are mainly due to the low oil price environment - and so far it looks like oil is recovering. At this stage happy to hold and enjoy the divvies.

percy
18-05-2015, 07:47 AM
I was going to post "I am sure that long term shareholders will enjoy the last laugh",however, I think I would be better to change it to,"I hope they do."

BlackPeter
29-05-2015, 08:42 AM
interesting - more than a million shares changed hands yesterday ... highest volume for nearly one year - and the price seems to hold.

PSE
06-06-2015, 06:11 PM
Ah well - how do the say: "Schadenfreude is the best of all joys ...". Yes, looks like the rise was short and the following slope long (ideal conditions for a skiing pig).

7356

I do agree that management could do a better job in running the show as well as communicating (but than, they always could - couldn't they?). Still find it difficult to see why anybody would want to sell shares with a PE between 8 and 9, a 12 month price target of between 138 and 195 (medium 165) and a quite consistent and good dividend (they so far easily can afford).

Maybe some people put more emphasis on the stylish finish than on the healthy heart ... I do agree - it looks like a pig and moves like a pig, but I think it has still a lot of potential. Hey - pigs can fly and ski;).

As well - the current problems in Australia and Canada are mainly due to the low oil price environment - and so far it looks like oil is recovering. At this stage happy to hold and enjoy the divvies.
I don't think schadenfreude is too helpful.
Per my previous comments OIC was too expensive for me but cheaper now. I think the oil and gas thing is temporary, hence my buying of WOR and CDD with the strong AUD.
CDD has just taken a 200m writedown on it's PPI acquisition, seems like a similar situation to the OSW acquistion so maybe some writedowns coming for OIC?.
If I was sure the guys running OIC would stick to their knitting and not do anymore stupid aquisitions then I would be interested. By the sounds of it though they haven't yet got this out of their system?
Share buyback is the best way to maximise shareholder value if your acquisitions are not working out.

BlackPeter
18-08-2015, 01:46 PM
Opus reports robust group result; 34% EBIT increase in New Zealand; dividends
up

Opus International Consultants (Opus) has reported a robust result for the
first six months of 2015. In the half-year ended 30 June 2015, earnings
before interest and tax (EBIT) increased by 40% to $20.0m, and net profit
after tax (NPAT) increased by 60% to $15.9m.
Operating EBIT was $11.9m, an increase of 2.3% on the prior year. The
difference between EBIT and operating EBIT reflects a deferred consideration
release of $8.1m in Canada on the purchase of Opus Stewart Weir (prior year
$2.6m release).

The increase in EBIT and NPAT were achieved despite a 4% revenue decrease to
$255.7m.

sweet & somewhat unexpected (given the shape of the mining industry) ... expect a nice SP recovery:t_up:

Edit:
how could I forget: and the package comes with an improved dividend as well (4.1 cts plus 2 cents special dividend) ... :t_up:

benjitara
18-08-2015, 02:07 PM
I've held this stock in the past but sold out long ago. Why is it that every time they report a decent result I still feel underwhelmed. Take this result, looks good on first glance but really their revenues are getting the squeezed especially in their main markets. Only so much cost cutting you can do...

James108
18-08-2015, 02:46 PM
Although Opus' acquisition of Stuart Weirs was horribly timed you have to hand it them that the contract appears solid with good provision for payment based on earnings (or lack thereof).

BlackPeter
18-08-2015, 03:05 PM
I've held this stock in the past but sold out long ago. Why is it that every time they report a decent result I still feel underwhelmed. Take this result, looks good on first glance but really their revenues are getting the squeezed especially in their main markets. Only so much cost cutting you can do...

I see what you mean ... on the other hand, you can't really expect a company with mining as an important customer to flourish in times like these ... and to their credit - the (small) revenue slump was expected (and long predicted), the earnings increase was not. I prefer under-promising and over delivering. Suits me.

Looking at their markets: I don't know of any engineering company (with mining as customer) currently performing well in Australia - and I guess Canada will be similar. Great that they managed to keep the respective losses under control. Great as well that they managed to get the corner in NZ ... and the UK sector (though still small) looks quite promising - doesn't it? Respectable that they successfully managed to open up new markets (Fiji, Middle East) - I assume they are not alone trying that at this time.

PSE
18-08-2015, 07:27 PM
All the consultancies in Australasia are struggling so that staying steady is doing well in this environment.
Jacobs hasn't split out their SKM earnings but I am sure they are having trouble digesting it.
Similarly my holdings in WOR and CDD have been punished, I think overpunished but don't see the same opportunity in Opus.
Presumably Opus is not involved too much in mining or oil and gas which is a good place to be. Whilst oil should recover I am not as confident about iron ore - it will take many many years.
There is no money in Fiji really, the regime their periodically gets in a mood about NZ and kicks out our engineers.
Don't know about growth stocks, not my comfort zone but I think there is not a lot of growth in the sector.
Maybe you can pick the best of the bunch with lot of detailed knowledge about the organisation and its prospects. Too hard for me.

Bobcat.
19-08-2015, 10:35 AM
Opus' UK business unit is going from strength to strength off some good rep in rail and nice % of forward contracts.

NZ business unit reaping the benefits of 12 months rationalisation and cost cutting, with a very good improvement in EBITDA.

Australia and Canada struggling somewhat. Canada's misfortune is not helped by its national oil infrastructure spend falling away, but their forward contracts % is healthy; Australia's misfortunes are nothing new...and IMO due more to mismanagement.

All up, a surprisingly good result, and I expect upward pressure on the share price through to at least the 6.1c divi's record date. And who knows? We may have just witnessed yesterday a pivot to the beginning of a long-overdue upward trend-line...now wouldn't that be nice. If their Australian business is further downsized and/or radically improved then that would put the icing on the cake...enough for me to buy more on the way up.

Discl: holding.

PSE
19-08-2015, 03:42 PM
Opus' UK business unit is going from strength to strength off some good rep in rail and nice % of forward contracts.

NZ business unit reaping the benefits of 12 months rationalisation and cost cutting, with a very good improvement in EBITDA.

Australia and Canada struggling somewhat. Canada's misfortune is not helped by its national oil infrastructure spend falling away, but their forward contracts % is healthy; Australia's misfortunes are nothing new...and IMO due more to mismanagement.

All up, a surprisingly good result, and I expect upward pressure on the share price through to at least the 6.1c divi's record date. And who knows? We may have just witnessed yesterday a pivot to the beginning of a long-overdue upward trend-line...now wouldn't that be nice. If their Australian business is further downsized and/or radically improved then that would put the icing on the cake...enough for me to buy more on the way up.

Discl: holding.
Thanks for that Bobcat a good bit of what I am talking about in terms of analysing their prospects. I always feel that knowing the specific projects and how they are performing would be great information but not sure how the average investor could get this info. Are they longstanding clients delivering consistent work I would like to know.
I am not talking insider trading of course, it seems that most companies disclosures are high on weasel words and short on useful facts.

BlackPeter
20-08-2015, 07:23 AM
Thanks for that Bobcat a good bit of what I am talking about in terms of analysing their prospects. I always feel that knowing the specific projects and how they are performing would be great information but not sure how the average investor could get this info. Are they longstanding clients delivering consistent work I would like to know.
I am not talking insider trading of course, it seems that most companies disclosures are high on weasel words and short on useful facts.

Here is a list of their (completed) projects: http://www.opus.co.nz/projects/ . Lots of information available ... though obviously nothing commercially sensitive. Still quite impressive.

BlackPeter
26-08-2015, 08:26 AM
director buying (some - 10k shares):

https://www.nzx.com/files/attachments/219331.pdf

On the flip side ... the company should really invest into a better fax machine ;), but than it might not have been an OPUS fax which skewed the 2nd page ...

Mista_Trix
30-10-2015, 08:53 AM
... and once again we bounce off $1.16 yesterdays low. If it can hold where it is and stay above that, its looking promising to have bottomed.
Others thoughts?

I've been periodically buying over the last few weeks, I've had it on my watch list for the last 9 months, and its looking too good not to at these levels.
Solid company currently unloved by the market.

Jantar
30-10-2015, 09:06 AM
......
Solid company currently unloved by the market.
Unloved by some of its clients as well. But locked in with no alternative for some things. As soon as there an alternative we're gone.

Crackity
30-10-2015, 09:26 AM
Unloved by some of its clients as well. But locked in with no alternative for some things. As soon as there an alternative we're gone.

Opus prepared a long term maintenance plan for a body corp industrial property I am involved with - it was totally underwhelming and went back for factual corrections twice. Based on this experience I have not investigated Opus shares further.

BlackPeter
30-10-2015, 10:54 AM
Opus prepared a long term maintenance plan for a body corp industrial property I am involved with - it was totally underwhelming and went back for factual corrections twice. Based on this experience I have not investigated Opus shares further.

Well, it certainly appears to be some sort of mixed bag. Particularly in NZ they still seem to have too many people working for them with the old ministry of works attitude - and yes, you are not the first one commenting on the quality of some of their proposals. Their growth (admittedly from a low basis) in the UK and the Middle East could however indicate a team with different attitudes over there.

As well - they manage to keep the revenue flowing (admittedly not really growth worthwhile talking about, if we discount the purchased growth of their Canadian subsidiary Stewart Calder).

I would be interested in how recent your experience with them is - I had some hope that they learned something out of last years cook up ... and the subsequent restructure should have given them some opportunity to implement these learnings.

Just looking at the fundamentals - it is hard to discount a forward PE of 6, particularly if it comes with an average PE (over the last 5 years) of 7.4; The whole package comes with a good (and so far reliable and for them affordable dividend) - and from memory this year even a special dividend on top. Balance sheet looks a bit high on leverage (talking about the Canadian sub), but not too concerning given todays interest rates ... and if & when oil recovers, the sky should be the limit for the share price (this might obviously take a bit of time).

discl: holding - and the fundamentals look for me just too good to sell, while the sentiments hold me back from buying some more ... if this makes sense ;).

Crackity
30-10-2015, 11:13 AM
Well, it certainly appears to be some sort of mixed bag. Particularly in NZ they still seem to have too many people working for them with the old ministry of works attitude - and yes, you are not the first one commenting on the quality of some of their proposals. Their growth (admittedly from a low basis) in the UK and the Middle East could however indicate a team with different attitudes over there.

As well - they manage to keep the revenue flowing (admittedly not really growth worthwhile talking about, if we discount the purchased growth of their Canadian subsidiary Stewart Calder).

I would be interested in how recent your experience with them is - I had some hope that they learned something out of last years cook up ... and the subsequent restructure should have given them some opportunity to implement these learnings.

Just looking at the fundamentals - it is hard to discount a forward PE of 6, particularly if it comes with an average PE (over the last 5 years) of 7.4; The whole package comes with a good (and so far reliable and for them affordable dividend) - and from memory this year even a special dividend on top. Balance sheet looks a bit high on leverage (talking about the Canadian sub), but not too concerning given todays interest rates ... and if & when oil recovers, the sky should be the limit for the share price (this might obviously take a bit of time).

discl: holding - and the fundamentals look for me just too good to sell, while the sentiments hold me back from buying some more ... if this makes sense ;).

A couple of years ago BP - maybe they have improved since then.... I
also note Opus has an attractive div yield and seems to have found support level at current price.
probably more upside than downside :)

Mista_Trix
30-10-2015, 06:02 PM
[QUOTE=Crackity;595727and seems to have found support level at current price.
probably more upside than downside :)[/QUOTE]

Triple bottom off multiple intra-day trading at a benchmark of $1.16.
Which was again held today, looking good for a very slow and steady climb upwards, I'm happy to be in for the next 9-18 months... hopefully I've found the bottom... time will tell :-S

DYOR GLTOH :)

Mista_Trix
26-11-2015, 01:26 PM
... and again its bounced nicely of $1.16 yesterday ... so again I topped up :)

Mista_Trix
18-12-2015, 02:39 PM
Looking good, and with the other days news of company share buyback, looking even better.

Under Surveillance
18-12-2015, 07:13 PM
Looking good, and with the other days news of company share buyback, looking even better.
If you're referring to the buyback notice given on 10 December, what is there is to be happy about in Opus paying $2.09 a share in cash to buy back 1.2 million shares?

James108
18-12-2015, 08:17 PM
I bought at 1.18 and looking to buy more at these prices

BlackPeter
03-03-2016, 08:26 AM
.. just wondering - is this the well known and famous formation "breakout after a sextuple bottom"? 6 month highs ... and at least it looks like somebody wants in (though at still moderate volumes):

7922

I guess the fact that OIC survived so far the meagre years (and not too bad) and that at some stage the world will need to start drilling again might help as well ...

Tomtom
12-03-2016, 02:11 AM
CEOs served about 6 years this year, average tenure for an NZX listing is 6.4 years and the last appointment was internal. Could be a little optimism and I might get interested if there are a few changes as some of the price metrics are still very attractive if under-performance can be addressed.

macduffy
12-03-2016, 07:51 AM
CEOs served about 6 years this year, average tenure for an NZX listing is 6.4 years and the last appointment was internal. Could be a little optimism and I might get interested if there are a few changes as some of the price metrics are still very attractive if under-performance can be addressed.

Opus is NZX-listed but it's majority/controlling shareholder is a Malaysian company. I wouldn't put very good odds on an appointment being made from outside the group.

BlackPeter
19-03-2016, 01:14 PM
Anybody else watching the slow motion drama around the share price? Will it turn into a golden cross ... or will the price bounce back at the MA50 / MA200? Anyway - more exciting than watching a match of cricket (agreed - this is my very personal view ...) ... or like watching grass growing / or paint dry.

On a more serious note: I think the current oil price recovery helps OIC. The question is .. how long can the world afford to continue with stalling any new oil infrastructure? When the glut is over, than it is too late to start .... it takes years from a first plan to pouring the good oil ...

macduffy
19-03-2016, 02:06 PM
This may sound like a rather naive question from a former OIC shareholder but has the company ever been particularly active in the oil and gas sector? They have operations in NZ, Aust, Canada and the Middle East etc but havn't their activities been more related to roading, bridges and municipal projects than to oil and gas?

BlackPeter
19-03-2016, 02:33 PM
This may sound like a rather naive question from a former OIC shareholder but has the company ever been particularly active in the oil and gas sector? They have operations in NZ, Aust, Canada and the Middle East etc but havn't their activities been more related to roading, bridges and municipal projects than to oil and gas?

Yes and no .... if you look at their Canadian subsidiary (Stewart Calder) - the oil and gas industry used to be their main customer ... and the reason for the Australian shrinkage is as well the bust in the mining sector (not just, but as well oil).

From the recent annual report:


The markets and operating environments in Australia and Canada were more challenging. Oil prices collapsed and natural resource prices fell – resulting in diminished oil and gas and natural resources project work and investment projects.

percy
19-03-2016, 05:01 PM
A change of direction.
Does every employee of Opus have one or two company cars.?
Drive past any Opus branch and there are enough cars to sink a battleship.
Luckily they are sitting in their car park,not out on the road burning up petrol.
The expensive 4 wheel drives with no mud on them stick out to me.
OK, PGW own more new 4 wheel drive vehicles,which are always on the road.Would hate to pay their petrol bill.!

James108
20-03-2016, 05:18 PM
Opus is now my biggest holding, will buy more if SP goes sub $1.2 again.

I believe their NZ operation alone justifies their current SP, I was also pleasantly surprised that Canada did not contribute a loss.

BlackPeter
02-04-2016, 11:26 AM
I guess - hanging at their fingernails - but technically did OPUS pass this week the Golden Cross!

Share price is above (well, at) MA50 and above MA 200!

Time to buy some more or wait for the AGM in 10 days?

BlackPeter
12-04-2016, 02:52 PM
OK - so I made it this morning into Christchurch to populate the AGM and good I did, otherwise David would have been alone (just kidding, but not too far off - it was more the quality rather than quantity of share holders catching the eye, and as always good to see the reps of the share holder association attending;)

In case you are one of the roughly 2755 share holders who did not attend - here is a summary of my impressions. Obviously - I am human, fallible and these notes are not reviewed ... i.e. take them with care and, if not sure, ask before making hasty (or any) decisions based on them:

First impression: Large venue, little attendance ... maybe 20 to 25 share holders and about the same number of Opus staff / reps thinly spread throughout a room which could probably take 150 to 200. To be fair ... they claimed that their meetings in Akl or Wellington get more attendance (which may be true). Still - I shouldn't moan too much, glad that they came to Christchurch!

Catering - probably healthy (orange juice and low fat rolls, not sure about the lemmings), but we came anyway for the info and the talk - didn't we?

Despite the large number of Opus reps did I observe only limited "mingling" after the meeting. I've seen clusters of shareholders and clusters of Opus staff together - missed opportunity? On the other hand - I talked with several board members and the CEO ... i.e. the opportunity was there for whoever wanted to take it.

Both chair as well as CEO talked about the new strategy in very generic terms. They talked more about the process to get there, but nearly nothing about where they got. At face value it looks like oil is out and transport, buildings and water are in the new sector based business strategy. Keeping their cards however very close to the chest - the message is basically "we do have a new and promising strategy and plan to announce soon more about it. Trust us."

Some talk about exciting new technology (3D scanning and printing of buildings was mentioned);

Business performance this FY: 2016 so far somewhat below budget (I think they meant across the business, but this was not clear), NZ started slow, UK strong, Canada under pressure, Australia early signs of improvement;

Shareholder questions (in no particular order ...):

Question asked why various share buybacks above market price in FY 2015; Answer: this was just buying back shares for the the Employee Share Ownership plan, which did not work out (due to SP going down instead up). No detriment to other share holders given that shares have been bought back at issue price;

Max from the NZSA raised some concerns about the reporting of "adjusted" profits". Chair indicated that he felt it appropriate under the circumstances;

Question why the Malaysian business was not separately reported on? A: No requirement and joint venture developed slower than originally intended; They will consider to report separately next time;

Q: What distinguishes Opus from its competitors?
A(1): Experience and skills in asset management - "getting more out of an existing asset"
A(2): embracing of new technology like 3D modelling and printing, use of drones, data, knowledge ....

Questions re share price and share holder relationship: A: They do talk with analysts and give presentations; Big Malaysian share holder might somewhat reduce the dynamic and certainly the market depth); They are open to ideas how they could (further?) improve the relationship with share holders. Send David Prentice (or probably better Allison Swan) an email ...

Q: Does the company expect in the current financial year further impairments? A: Based on today's knowledge - No;

NZSA noted that they use the same auditor for (I think) 17 years ... and wondered whether it could be good to have at some stage a new pair of eyes looking over the books


My impressions? They did hold their cards very close to the chest (in my view closer than what I see at other AGM's); The board felt a bit "stiff", but when approached it was possible to discover the human element. Atmosphere? I think in parts I still felt some of the old Ministry of Works culture (just an impression, I can't point to hard evidence) ... but on the other hand did the (still rather new) CEO David Prentice convey to me enthusiasm and new ideas ... felt like a breath of fresh air. However difficult to assess from the outside how much progress he already made in changing the culture.

Discl: holding (obviously) ... and don't intend to change my holding based on this meeting;

Under Surveillance
12-04-2016, 09:11 PM
As one of the absent 2755 my thanks, Black Peter, for taking the time to post your impressions and details of the questions and answers.

James108
12-04-2016, 10:18 PM
I'm not impressed with all the talk of growth, I really wish Opus would stop trying to grow (by aquisition) and just return (more) cash to shareholders.

It is funny that they are talking about going to a service line, rather than geography structure. The consultancy I work for did just that and is now back to geography based (after being aquired).

troyvdh
13-04-2016, 12:17 AM
Giday...I hate to say it...I used to follow companies like this....potential blah blah....like the worlds most expensive EQ.....occurred in the backyard....!!!!...have a wee look at the 5 year chart....just saying

BlackPeter
13-04-2016, 07:42 AM
Giday...I hate to say it...I used to follow companies like this....potential blah blah....like the worlds most expensive EQ.....occurred in the backyard....!!!!...have a wee look at the 5 year chart....just saying

Troy, you are right - purely based on the past 2 years performance (looks pretty cyclical before that to me) is this probably not the right company to invest in. Actually - might be interesting to correlate their SP with resources (particularly the oil price) - I am sure, there are commonalities. But how do they say in every prospectus "past performance is no indicator for future performance" - and every trend is going to change at some stage.

Personally do I think that their dividend performance is (based on today's SP) quite satisfactory (and they do earn their dividends) ... and I don't see them dropping much further down. Gives you some leeway to wait for the recovery, which I am sure will come at some stage (maybe now, maybe later). BTW ... for all the TA fans ... I am sure you noticed that the share price recently passed the "Golden Cross".

Talked as well with some other share holders - and it sounds like there is at least one new fund tipping their toes into the game (wondering whether they are responsible for the recent buying activity). So - I don't know how this all is going, and I agree that there is so far no hard evidence for an improvement in the financials. Still - cautiously optimistic. And sure - it might make sense to wait for more confirmation .... might just mean to buy in later and higher (though it obviously might save you some money as well).

James108
29-05-2016, 03:51 PM
Since 2009 Opus have spent approx $90M on purchase of investments, current market cap is approx $200M.

2009 EPS was 13 cps, 2015 EPS is 14 cps. A huge amount of value has been destroyed here. I do not believe Opus has sufficient skill to allocate capital appropriately, which is why this talk of growth worries me. I would have thought they had learnt after buying a consultancy servicing the tar sands business, in the height of the oil boom (tar sands are very far up the cost curve, quite a risky acquisition).

On the up side the New Zealand business appears very stable and consistently maintains EBIT between $26-30M (with FY2015 considerable above average). I still believe that the current SP could be justified with the NZ business alone and there is value for a shareholder here... as long as it is not destroyed by an acquisition-happy management.

Also thanks Black Peter for taking the time to write your thought about the AGM back in April.

macduffy
29-05-2016, 04:38 PM
Bear in mind that Opus is the NZ/Aust/Canada/UK arm of a bigger company whose interests may not always coincide with those of the minority NZ shareholders.
Disc: I sold mine some time ago.

BlackPeter
24-06-2016, 10:06 AM
OIC recently downgraded by some analysts: New consensus opinion is now $1.31 (current SP 1.15), predicted earnings for 2016 are 10 cents. Still feels that the recent market reaction (down to 1.15) is a bit harsh - Opus was always a good dividend payer (around 9 cents pa) and always made enough money to afford this dividend (EPS avg 15 cents pa).

Looking at their currently subdued performance: main culprit are the problems of their Canadian sub (Stewart Weir), which should come right if oil goes up again. Some impact might have as well the outcome of the Brexit referendum (a Bremain might help, though I suppose the Brits will need to maintain their railway anyway) and of course, what happens with the Australian resource sector (mining maintenance).

If we consider that the Saudis just declared the end of the oil price war (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/29d0cef2-389c-11e6-a780-b48ed7b6126f.html#axzz4CRl6H2hw) and that the Bremain is in my view the more likely outcome, than I would I see OIC mid term rather going up than down. Just my view ... but I put some money on it (couldn't resist to accumulate at $1.15) - DYOR;

benjitara
16-08-2016, 04:22 PM
Awful looking 6 months. Margins coming down. Macro features have impacted their business but they don't seem to be able to combat or react to this in any positive way at the moment. Hard to watch really.

winner69
16-08-2016, 04:43 PM
You should be proud of one thing

UK ....was named Company of the Year by New Civil Engineer (NCE) at the NCE100 awards.


Didn't read any more - but saw they lost $23m

Snow Leopard
16-08-2016, 05:47 PM
I was going to go through the accounts but they seem to be the statuary minimum requirements only.

Spotted the word strategy a couple of times in the announcement and they are still going to pay a dividend.

Best to watch from the sidelines for a while longer.

Best Wishes
Paper Tiger

BlackPeter
17-08-2016, 10:09 AM
Looks like I got this one wrong :(. One of the ugliest red arrows in my portfolio ... Thank god for diversity :sleep:.

So - what happened?
NZ still is (and always was) their biggest operation ... and while revenue is sort of static, margins are dropping. However - still looking ok-ish (above 10%), and this part of the business is clearly profitable.
Outlook - the market looks promising, the bigger question is - are they the right people to get the orders? I guess they have an enthusiastic CEO, but is he able to bring the old Ministry of Works into the (not so new anymore) millennium?

Australia ...
small subsidiary with small loss (and low revenue compared to the invested capital) - though loss is not that material and who knows, maybe their big customers (mining and Co) are now really recovering ... the signs are there.

UK ....
best looking of their overseas adventures, but still rather small (though in the meantime larger than Australia and still less capital efficient than the NZ business). Still - would love to see the other subs coming up with at least comparable earnings and revenue growth ...

Well, and than there is Canada:
They paid big money in 2014 for Stewart Weir ... at a time the oil and gas industry was booming. Over the last 18 months they had to write off nearly $70m in "goodwill" from their books ($141.9m down to $74.4m) to represent the dropped earnings potential of their
Canadian assets.

Take the Canadian write offs out of the balance sheet and OIC would look much better.

So - I guess the big question is:
did they buy a dog ... and Stewart Weir is keeping to go downhill from here? If that's the case, it would probably not kill the company but result in another 3 to 4 years with big write offs ... or - is this all a unlucky coincidence (obviously the downturn in the oil and gas industry was real)) and things are improving from here (as some indicators appear to show)?

Not sure - I like to be optimistic, but PT's wait and see strategy might have its merits with this stock.

BlackPeter
23-08-2016, 03:30 PM
Former Director (Fraser Whineray) buying: https://www.nzx.com/files/attachments/241957.pdf

Surprised that he needs to disclose, but the purchase is in my view a good sign. He seems to feel the shares are currently undervalued, and he doesn't even need to support OIC anymore.

Under Surveillance
23-08-2016, 04:41 PM
Former Director (Fraser Whineray) buying: https://www.nzx.com/files/attachments/241957.pdf

Surprised that he needs to disclose, but the purchase is in my view a good sign. He seems to feel the shares are currently undervalued, and he doesn't even need to support OIC anymore.
Now that Whineray has moved on, the only Director with a beneficial interest in OIC shares seems to be Prentice. Perhaps chairman McDonald will splash out with coinage from his $120K p.a. fee and buy himself a minimum-sized parcel to demonstrate his conviction OIC will survive.

macduffy
23-08-2016, 05:53 PM
Now that Whineray has moved on, the only Director with a beneficial interest in OIC shares seems to be Prentice. Perhaps chairman McDonald will splash out with coinage from his $120K p.a. fee and buy himself a minimum-sized parcel to demonstrate his conviction OIC will survive.

I don't think there's any doubt that OIC will survive. It forms a very important part of its Malaysian majority shareholder's empire - the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Not a lot of joy for minority shareholders though.

Tomtom
24-08-2016, 07:54 PM
Eventually the Malaysians may want some of their money back however and that should give some shareholders hope that eventually things will change.

percy
25-08-2016, 06:11 AM
Been a little while since I have read this thead.Seem to remember the sp was $1.20 and expected to rise.
Well that did not happen and the huge down trend remains intact.
OIC is now a serial under achiever,which I think is sad, as it should be a pretty stable business.
The board and management have let shareholders down badly.

Hectorplains
25-08-2016, 05:34 PM
Been a little while since I have read this thead.Seem to remember the sp was $1.20 and expected to rise.
Well that did not happen and the huge down trend remains intact.
OIC is now a serial under achiever,which I think is sad, as it should be a pretty stable business.
The board and management have let shareholders down badly.

No surprise, they're referred to as "Hopeless" at work.

BlackPeter
07-10-2016, 10:53 AM
Been a little while since I have read this thead.Seem to remember the sp was $1.20 and expected to rise.
Well that did not happen and the huge down trend remains intact.
OIC is now a serial under achiever,which I think is sad, as it should be a pretty stable business.
The board and management have let shareholders down badly.

You are absolutely correct ... should have listened to you (and KW) ;)

Discl: out with a loss - (what else?) ...

The last straw for me was to see the industries which contributed to OIC's weakness now rising again for some time ... but OIC just keeps dropping. A good contractor to oil suppliers should by now see the benefits of the rising oil price. I assume now that there is more to the Canadian losses than just a weak oil price ... and the fact that this huge investment (Stewart Weir) they made some years ago does not even feature in their new strategy might speak for itself.

GLAH - and I guess we will need now somebody else to keep this thread going. Any volunteers?

James108
07-10-2016, 12:20 PM
You are absolutely correct ... should have listened to you (and KW) ;)

Discl: out with a loss - (what else?) ...

The last straw for me was to see the industries which contributed to OIC's weakness now rising again for some time ... but OIC just keeps dropping. A good contractor to oil suppliers should by now see the benefits of the rising oil price. I assume now that there is more to the Canadian losses than just a weak oil price ... and the fact that this huge investment (Stewart Weir) they made some years ago does not even feature in their new strategy might speak for itself.

GLAH - and I guess we will need now somebody else to keep this thread going. Any volunteers?

I agree the investment in OSW was terrible and I definately underestimated the impact this would have on Opus. I should have sold when they announced such a large HY loss for OSW (only two days after I topped up... sigh). Further Tar Sands are far up the cost curve so will not recover until oil is much higher than it is currently.

However if you look at the HY EBIT for NZ it is $15m. Current valuation seems very attractive to me based on the NZ business. However result is being dragged down by OSW and Australia, if management closed these business' (Maybe they could get a few millino for them? Considering they were going to pay up to $80m for OSW) I would be happy.

I don't see OSW turning around any time soon given how far up the cost curve tar sands are, maybe they cna break even in a year or two.

Tomtom
16-11-2016, 10:16 PM
This earthquake business seems the sort of endeavor where the judicious application of human intellect might be called upon and I have reason to believe that Opus has a few captive boffins.

Is there any reason to believe Opus may be in a better position to capitalise on current New Zealand events than they where when the Christchurch earthquakes occurred? Might an incoming tsunami eventually raise even the most hapless of engineering consultancies?

James108
16-11-2016, 10:22 PM
This earthquake business seems the sort of endeavor where the judicious application of human intellect might be called upon and I have reason to believe that Opus has a few captive boffins.

Is there any reason to believe Opus may be in a better position to capitalise on current New Zealand events than they where when the Christchurch earthquakes occurred? Might an incoming tsunami eventually raise even the most hapless of engineering consultancies?

I was also wondering this, they do a lot of work for nzta and I would assume they would be involved in the slip remediations, depending on if they are looking after the stretch of road concerned

Baaarney
17-11-2016, 07:24 AM
Yes, Opus do look after the North Canterbury network. the Marlborough Roads entity is further north - just not too sure where the boundary is. All the network contract details can be found on the Agency website (http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/state-highway-maintenance/wall-planner/)(as at nov 15), but is all up for renewal in the next 6-8 months so I would expect that tendering is likely to be underway already.

(sadly) my feeling is that benefits are more likely to be with the contractors, who then use subcontract consultants to assist. The scale of the work and the health and safety risks, lead me to believe that contractors will be better place to manage the work methods and risk management which will drive what solutions are practicable.

Lola
17-11-2016, 08:11 AM
Now that Whineray has moved on, the only Director with a beneficial interest in OIC shares seems to be Prentice. Perhaps chairman McDonald will splash out with coinage from his $120K p.a. fee and buy himself a minimum-sized parcel to demonstrate his conviction OIC will survive.

Would not expect him to. He cut his teeth at the NZ Institute of Economic research. Then a long stint at a protected outfit called Comalco. Dont think economists make great biz men. Too much thinking going on. But like any economist would say "on the other hand you never know".

Snow Leopard
02-02-2017, 05:42 PM
Snuck their results out in minimal form just before the market close.

A quick scan says that the underlying company is not dead yet and indeed is in fact profitable at about 4.5cps (+/-0.7) at this stage.

Get rid of the dross - ie everything except NZ and it would be a nice little earner.
Maybe they can turn their non-NZ stuff around but maybe they will not.

Still paying a dividend, but purr-sonally I am not putting any money in to it.

Best Wishes
Paper Tiger

Disc: do not hold.

James108
02-02-2017, 05:56 PM
Snuck their results out in minimal form just before the market close.

A quick scan says that the underlying company is not dead yet and indeed is in fact profitable at about 4.5cps (+/-0.7 at this stage).

Get rid of the dross - ie everything except NZ and it would be a nice little earner.
Maybe they can turn their non-NZ stuff around but maybe they will not.

Still paying a dividend, but purr-sonally I am not putting any money in to it.

Best Wishes
Paper Tiger

Disc: do not hold.

I'm marginally happy with result, nz business still very profitable. Looks like Another waste of money with foray into Middle East and North Africa however.

Management starting to sound like they have got the message to stop wasting shareholders money. Time will tell if that is the case though.

stoploss
23-02-2017, 07:53 AM
I'm marginally happy with result, nz business still very profitable. Looks like Another waste of money with foray into Middle East and North Africa however.

Management starting to sound like they have got the message to stop wasting shareholders money. Time will tell if that is the case though.

Not sure about the wasting shareholders money bit James ...... "The court had heard that Projenz, and other contracting firms including Opus and Hiway Stabilizers, had lavished thousands of dollars on long lunches, electronics and local and international travel and accommodation on members of Noone and George's team."

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11805571

BlackPeter
11-03-2017, 10:28 AM
Look at that:

8740
(graph courtesy to yahoo finance)

It sort of feels the stars might start to align again for OIC: Above MA50, MA100 and MA200 - and now we even managed to crack the Golden Cross.

Question is - is this the start of a sustainable uptrend? At least the industry should do well over the next handful of years with all the backlog in building / repairing infrastructure and now Trumps money spending spree. Or is this just another bear trap?

The other question is as well ... did OIC manage to resolve their inherited problems (like Ministry of Works performance and spending culture)?

I guess some other companies in the infrastructure and building industry perform currently quite spectacular (e.g. DOW.AX), while others are clearly held back by incompetent boards and high inefficiencies (FBU). In which basket should we put Opus?

stoploss
27-03-2017, 09:17 PM
mmmm....

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/90747910/westland-ratepayers-pay-100000-for-cakemaker-sewage-plan

BlackPeter
12-04-2017, 12:57 PM
Still straddling the MA200 (with positive outlook?) and yesterday's AGM made certainly an impression on the share price.

Just looking through the presentation - it is still a mixed bag, but the number of goodies are clearly increasing: good growth in NZ and (the much smaller) UK, they managed to turn North America finally around and Australia looks neutral. Just imagine how great this company could be if they would not have bought into Stewart Weir ... typical case of management grandesse by spending ways too much by buying a cyclical company at peak prices ...

Anyway ... management making now more positive noises and the market seems to agree.

https://www.nzx.com/companies/OIC/announcements/299738

https://www.nzx.com/files/attachments/256448.pdf

percy
12-04-2017, 02:23 PM
Yes starting to look a lot better.
Be interesting seeing how long it takes them to loose their reputation as "serial under performers."
It was certainly well deserved.!

Baaarney
14-08-2017, 08:59 AM
Takeover offer today of $1.78 after stagnating at $1 for last 2 years. Sadly already sold out last year otherwise would be in boots and all at that sort of premium

https://www.nzx.com/files/attachments/263350.pdf

James108
14-08-2017, 09:18 AM
Good morning for me, Opus no longer my worst performing investment. I always thought there was a bit of value in oic being hampered by squandering of money in acquisitions.

percy
14-08-2017, 09:26 AM
What a cracker surprise.
A friend of mine suggested I buy some as they had a lot of people working on the Kaikoura earthquake.
Luckily I took his advice, and brought a small parcel.

trader_jackson
14-08-2017, 09:42 AM
Takeover offer today of $1.78 after stagnating at $1 for last 2 years. Sadly already sold out last year otherwise would be in boots and all at that sort of premium

https://www.nzx.com/files/attachments/263350.pdf

Holders are extremely lucky - not all underperforming companies get a golden ticket - well done if you hung on.

winner69
14-08-2017, 09:51 AM
Holders are extremely lucky - not all underperforming companies get a golden ticket - well done if you hung on.

Even the SPCA hang on to dogs for longer than they should - in the hope a nice generous person tuns up and gives it s loving home

carrom74
14-08-2017, 09:57 AM
Takeover offer today of $1.78 after stagnating at $1 for last 2 years. Sadly already sold out last year otherwise would be in boots and all at that sort of premium

https://www.nzx.com/files/attachments/263350.pdf

if the offer price is at $1.78 then why the SP is stagnant at $1.60?

James108
14-08-2017, 09:58 AM
It is not entirely luck imo an argument can be made for the market undervaluing Opus. There has also been a lot of consolidation in engineering professional services (the one other engineering consultancy I have owned also got aquired).

But yes, I do feel lucky.