Oil and gas engineering services provider Lamprell´s (LAM) shares took a knock on Wednesday following the company´s guidance for flat or little-changed revenues this year and next. The reaction looks a little overdone. Such an outlook was to be expected given current subdued industry conditions in the North Sea. As well, the company´s operating profits came in at $52.9m, marking a significant recovery from a difficult 2012.
Is a dividend on the way? Yes. The prospects in that regard are improved thanks to the recent sale of Inspec, the non-core testing business, for $66m. Significantly, its problematic legacy assets seem to have been resolved. Even so, given that flat revenue outlook and the fact the stock is changing hands at about 14 times' earnings investors should be in no hurry to buy, says The Times´s Tempus.
North Sea oil producer EnQuest´s (ENQ) focus on smaller assets that are worthwhile, but out of the scope of its larger rivals, should offer the company greater visibility on revenues than can be found at the typical explorer. Investors, however, reacted very negatively to its production forecast of between 25,000 and 30,000 barrels a day for this year, which came in a tad below expectations.
That is chiefly because the atrociously bad weather this year will delay the start of production at its Alma/Galia field until the second half. On the other hand, its Kraken field will begin to flow towards late 2016 and bring production up to the targeted 50,000 barrels of oil a day. Given it's relatively lower risk yesterday´s share price fall affords investors a decent entry point if they have a long-term horizon, Tempus writes.
BUSINESS PRESS HEADLINES:
The Head of the Office for Budget Responsibility yesterday warned that given the very rapid house price rises in some parts of Britain one may see “bubbly activity”, such as people willing to buy 'off-plan' or when they do not intend to live in the homes which they are purchasing. That comes as the average price of a London home is expected to see a steep increase over the next six years, to 650,000 pounds from 458,000, The Daily Mail says.
In what amounts to a very embarrassing scandal for Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and HSBC (HSBA), the US central bank has forbid their American units from paying higher dividends or launching share buybacks this year. That comes after the Federal Reserve found “significant deficiencies” in their capital planning processes. They are not alone however, financial giant Citigroup´s 2014 dividend and buyback plans were also blocked, The Times writes.
Energy regulator Ofgem wants the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which comes into force next month, to investigate if big suppliers should be forced to divide their generation and supply businesses. More specifically, it wants a study on how more suppliers can be encouraged to enter the market and how best to take advantage of the roll-out of smart meters. As a part of that effort Ofgem warned that “any new serious breach of the rules which comes to light will be likely to attract a higher penalty,” The Scotsman says.
Legal & General (LGEN) boss Nigel Wilson sees the at-retirement market for individual annuities shrinking to just £2.8bn after 2015 from £11.9bn once the reforms in the last Budget are implemented. In essence, many people will choose to take responsibility for their retirement savings instead of entering into a lifetime contract. He also believes that more of them will turn to their properties to generate income, either by renting them or through equity release products, The Daily Mail reports.
Bank of America has reached a $9.3bn settlement with the FHFA, covering roughly $57.5bn worth of mortgage backed securities, over allegations that the bank misrepresented the securities to the government chartered mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Fredie Mac. As part of the deal the lender will have to repurchase $3.2bn of those instruments at fair market value. That will hit its bottom line for the first quarter with a $3.7bn charge. Its former Chief Executive has been banned from being a director of any public company for three years, according to The Times.
Swiss banking giant UBS has suspended another four traders as part of an international investigation into the possible manipulation of the foreign exchange market. Some authorities believe that the scope of the scandal could be larger than that provoked by the rigging of the Libor rate. According to Bloomberg, the members of staff were located in New York, Singapore and Switzerland. The UK regulator announced its investigations in October, as did the US Department of Justice, The Times writes.
