http://www.credo-group.com/comment Just another WordPress weblog Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:43:50 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Serco's pre-close trading update is boringly predictable. It has reconfirmed its guidance. The only fun comes in counting the number of staff requirement to put out a statement of fewer than 100 words. Take a bow Charles King (Head of Investor Relations), Dominic Cheetham (Director of Corporate Communications) ... http://www.credo-group.com/comment/archives/486 Tim Jones of Interserve has remarked that the recent transfer of 13 PFI investments from the plc to the employees' pension fund was the first of its kind. Not so: Vinci did this back in 2005. But just because Mr Jones can't claim a first, doesn't mean he shouldn't ... http://www.credo-group.com/comment/archives/485 Cognetas, the private equity firm, has just sent me its latest brochure. In amongst its 30 pages, it boasts of the high returns it has achieved on a number of deals. We count nine where the IRR or cash multiple is disclosed, among them the support services companies ... http://www.credo-group.com/comment/archives/484 On 20th November MITIE bought Environmental Property Services. On 23rd November it reported its results for the half-year. Coming so quickly together these announcements have reinforced a couple of things we've been saying about MITIE: That MITIE's management is ambitious and brave. EPS, along with Dalkia's M&E business, ... http://www.credo-group.com/comment/archives/483 Here's The Telegraph's Questor column on Balfour Beatty today: Balfour Beatty is a good Buffett-style bet. And here's what we said earlier in the year: Would Buffett invest in Balfour Beatty? That's not to say we were right of course - Balfour Beatty's shares have underperformed in the last six ... http://www.credo-group.com/comment/archives/482 Balfour Beatty, Babcock and Morgan Sindall all made announcements in the last few days. What can we learn about the broader market from the particular experiences of these three companies? Balfour's was the most instructive. Its results provide a window on a lot of different segments. Here's Credo's ... http://www.credo-group.com/comment/archives/481 Everyone knows that a public spending crunch is coming. Most of us guess there will be a change of government too. So what should those grown fat on the public spending boom (1997-2009; RIP) do? Part of most people's strategy is to chum up to the Tories to ... http://www.credo-group.com/comment/archives/480 Here's a neat demonstration of how Serco is a cut above. Credo has periodically commented about waste. EU recycling directives and a push on PPP projects have made this a hot sector. Back in 2007 we noted that a host of sector players had identified waste as a ... http://www.credo-group.com/comment/archives/479 In calling for more public sector outsourcing, Adrian Ringrose is obviously talking his own book. But the "core" message from Interserve's chief exec was a good one. And the context for his big interview in the FT couldn’t have been better: sat alongside some predictable, but still shocking, ... http://www.credo-group.com/comment/archives/478 The world may be getting warmer (or not, says the BBC here), but the market for things green does seem a little cooler than a year or two back. As part of its acquisition of Alfred McAlpine, Carillion picked up its environmental consultancy, Enviros. Enviros had itself been bought ... http://www.credo-group.com/comment/archives/477