Shares in Regus (LSE: RGU) have fallen 4% in Tuesday trade after the workspace provider released its latest set of interims. But I view this as mere profit-taking following recent strength.
The Luxembourg-based business advised that revenues soared 15% between January and June, to £1.08bn, a result that propelled pre-tax profit 7% higher to £84.3m.
Worsening economic conditions have dented revenues at Regus more recently. Indeed, chief executive Mark Dixon commented that “global macroeconomic uncertainty has clearly increased during 2016 and we have seen softening in revenue growth in some markets on the back of that.”
Still, the company remains confident that it can deal with this, advising that “we have planned prudently for 2016 and taken specific action early in the year to improve efficiencies across the business.”
On top of this, I believe Regus’s broad reach across the globe — the firm operates in 107 countries — should insulate it from the worst that Brexit has to offer. Just 20% of sales are sourced from the UK.
I reckon Regus remains a strong long-term selection worthy of a ‘conventionally’ expensive forward P/E multiple of 21 times.
Crude calamity
Engineering play Amec Foster Wheeler (LSE: AMFW) has seen its share price explode on Tuesday, the stock last 9% higher after its own financials were released.
Amec Foster Wheeler advised that revenues climbed 7% during the first half of 2016, to £2.84bn. But this couldn’t prevent the firm swinging to a pre-tax loss of £446m from a profit of £73m during the corresponding period last year.
The business continues to be hampered by the state of the oil market, and Amec Foster Wheeler swallowed a further £440m worth of writeoffs during January-June.
And chief executive Jonathan Lewis was hardly emphatic over the segment looking ahead, commenting that “our industry continues to face very challenging conditions, with capital projects across natural resources markets being delayed and cancelled in many parts of the world.”
Amec Foster Wheeler’s P/E rating of 9.4 times no doubt makes the firm an attractive selection for many bargain hunters. But I view today’s share price strength as nothing more than a fresh selling opportunity, and expect the engineer’s bottom line to continue toiling.
Paying off
Payment processing goliath Worldpay Group (LSE: WPG) was last dealing 5% higher from Monday’s close after investors greeted the firm’s latest financials with much fanfare.
Worldpay advised that revenues jumped 10% between January and June, to £2.14bn, with the number of transactions rising 15% to 7.2bn. As a result, underlying earnings surged 19% in the period to £217.9m.
And chief executive Philip Jansen believes Worldpay has plenty left in the tank — the firm’s head advised that “while the UK’s vote to leave the EU has resulted in increased uncertainty, we do not expect it to have a material effect on Worldpay’s trading performance.”
Indeed, Worldpay retains a bullish outlook as its geographic footprint continues to expand, and the huge product investment of recent times bolsters customer numbers.
Worldpay is clearly a firm on the up, and fully deserving of its premium P/E rating of 28.7 times, in my opinion.
