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WYG's turnaround continues

WYG has continued to turn around its fortunes, with strong cash generation and a bulging order book.
December 3, 2014

WYG (WYG) focused on winning contracts during the first half, and was rewarded with 10 per cent growth in the order book to £95.5m. The company was sufficiently confident six months ago to restart the final dividend; now it has announced its first interim dividend for six years.

IC TIP: Buy at 106p

Revenue for the UK business, which does engineering and consulting work in a wide range of sectors, increased by 13 per cent to £40m year on year. This was mainly thanks to a number of new contract wins with some of its largest existing clients, including Sainsbury's. The company also acquired Alliance Planning in September, making WYG one of the UK's biggest planning consultants. The UK order book totalled £50m at the half-year-end - up 28 per cent year on year.

A delay at the end of last year in the signing of the seven-year EU budget, which funds pre-accession reform contracts in south-eastern Europe, held back the group numbers. Revenues from Europe, Africa and Asia dropped to £15.6m, from £19.8m in 2013. But management said the order book should bounce back in the second half, boosting revenues next year.

Broker WH Ireland expects adjusted EPS this year of 7.5p, up from 6.4p in 2013-14.

WYG (WYG)

ORD PRICE:106pMARKET VALUE:£70m
TOUCH:105-106p12-MONTH HIGH:117pLOW: 93p
DIVIDEND YIELD:0.8%PE RATIO:26
NET ASSET VALUE:30p*NET CASH:£6.6m

Half-year to 30 SepTurnover (£m)Pre-tax profit (£m)Earnings per share (p)Dividend per share (p)
201363.9-0.74-1.5nil
201463.2-0.42-0.70.3
% change-1---

Ex-div: 29 Dec

Payment: 23 Jan

*Includes intangible assets of £19.3m, or 29p a share