The GR Engineering Services Ltd (ASX: GNG) share price jumped more than 15% to $1.63 in early trading, after the construction and engineering company upgraded its full-year results expectations.
GR Engineering expects revenues in the second half of the 2016 financial year (FY16) to be similar to the first half of around $127 million, however, the company says it now expected earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of around $26 million and profit before tax (PBT) of around $25 million for FY16.
Should the company meet that guidance, it will represent a major increase over last year's financial results. 17% jump in revenues, a 28% rise in EBITDA and a 45% rise in PBT.
That's an unusual result for a company heavily involved in the mining services sector – with many others seeing falling revenues and margins over the past few years and likely to continue into next year.
Monadelphous Group Limited (ASX: MND) is expected to post lower earnings in FY16, after reporting a 38% fall in first-half net profit on the back of a 30% fall in revenues. The company is widely regarded as one of the best in the mining services sector, but still expects lower earnings this year.
Mining capital expenditure is still falling and has yet to hit bottom – although that is expected in 2017. That could see other mining services companies report disappointing results this financial year, but investors might want to pay close attention to their outlook statements. A number have already started moving, with Ausdrill Limited (ASX: ASL) up 329% year-to-date and NRW Holdings Limited (ASX: NWH) a whopping 472%.
At the current price of $1.63, GR Engineering is trading on a P/E ratio of just over 14x, but is paying a dividend yield of around 6.9% fully franked. That may be a reasonable price to pay – although the share price has doubled since the start of this year.
