Thursday tips round-up: Millennium & Copthorne, Hargreaves Services, Quadrise

15th Sep 2011 06:31

Millennium & Copthorne hasn't had the easiest of rides in recent weeks. A glance at the company's interim management statement in early August doesn't go very far in explaining the slump. The update showed that pre-tax profits in the second quarter were up more than 90%. The company's strengths - and the affordable valuation of around 11 times forward earnings for next year - mean that we would not sell. But the market jitters - so obvious in the recent movement of its share price - mean that we would wait before checking in. Hold, says the Independent.As Britain turns its back on coal, the Chinese are building power stations powered by the stuff as fast as they can. This offers huge opportunities for experts from Western countries, where there is no longer a demand for their skills. Hargreaves Services has had people in China acting as consultants to the power industry there and, by the end of the year, the company should be signed up as the operator of a coal-powered station. Hargreaves shares, once largely unregarded in the City, have shot ahead since the end of last year but still sell on eight times this year's earnings; a good long-term punt if not an immediate buy, says the Times.Quadrise is involved in producing an in-house water emulsion fuel called MSAR (Multi Phase Superfine Atomised Residue), a low cost substitute for conventional heavy fuel for use in power generation plants and industrial and marine engines. According to WestHouse, a conventional refinery would generate a gross margin above input costs of around $6 per barrel of crude oil, and using MSAR could increase this by an additional $5 a barrel. For those who understand the risks, Quadrise could be interesting. Hold, says the Scotsman.A complex spread of plantations in the Far East and Australian cattle ranches, MP Evans is trying to prune itself into a less unruly state. By 2015, it is hoped to have a more streamlined business 70% reliant on Indonesian palm oil and 30% on Australian beef. A quick sum-of-all-parts calculation, putting a conservative valuation on the plantations and on the parts to be sold - reaches about 675p a share. This is not to say the shares are worth that - some sort of discount is to be expected, but the shares sell on around ten times earnings. Worth a look long-term for those growth prospects, if the restructuring raises Evans' profile in the City, says the Times.International Power's strategy is to build extra capacity in high-growth markets such as Latin America, 44% of capacity under construction, the Middle East, 26%, and Asia, 23%. For private investors, the main interest is the dividend on offer. The shares, having suffered this year from a variety of concerns including delays at the giant Jirau hydro project in Brazil, yield about 3.4%. Worth hanging on for future growth, the Times says.Modern Water, the Aim-listed desalination and water monitoring company, which has commercialised the process of "manipulated osmosis technology" developed by the University of Surrey, has just reported a 430-fold surge in revenues for the first half. Having recently won the world's first commercial contract to build a desalination plant using its patented technology in Oman, with a gross profit margin of 33% and a debt-free balance sheet holding £16.7m of cash, Modern Water looks to be in fine shape and well worth a punt, says the Independent.We opted to buy RSM Tenon in July, when the accountancy group was trading at levels far beyond last night's closing price. We'd moved in on the back of a share price fall that had left it looking undervalued. The market, however, decided otherwise. In our defence, yesterday's full year results did not bring the sort of bad surprise that you might have expected in light of the slump. if RSM looked undervalued earlier this year, it looks downright cheap now. Given the recent performance, we would not add to our holdings, but at around 4 times forward earnings, we would maintain our stake in the hope of a rebound, the Independent says.Please note: Digital Look provides a round-up of news, tips and information that is impacting share prices and the market. Digital Look cannot take any responsibility for information provided by third parties. This is for your general information only as not intended to be relied upon by users in making an investment decision or any other decision. Please obtain a copy of the relevant publication and carry out your own research before considering acting on any of this information.---RG