Newspaper Tips & Round-Up

LONDON (ShareCast) - For a consulting engineer, which relies upon a large number of small, short-term contracts, even a brief lull in trading can feel like for ever. So it is something of a relief that, faced with the most persistently tough conditions of recent times, WS Atkins was able to avoid accompanying yesterday's full-year figures with a profit warning.

At 557p, up 18p, a 4.7 per cent dividend yield is attractive, as is a forward multiple of less than seven times earnings once cash is ignored. However, in the belief that the tidings from Whitehall are only likely to get worse, the Times (1832.HK - news) says pass. The Independent would like some evidence that the shares are showing some signs of life before buying. Hold for now.

Almost everyone has heard of Tiny Rowland's Lonrho (LSE: LONR.L - news) - although the company is a very different beast than it was at the height of his powers in the 1970s. The mining assets of the company are now in Lonmin (LSE: LMI.L - news) and many of the other businesses have been sold off. The company is now valued at just £62m - but everything is now in place for significant growth over the medium term.

In the first half of the year the company managed to post a small pre-tax profit of £600,000, although it is likely that the group will be loss-making for the full year. However, the Telegraph feels that the company's valuation is too low for an entrepreneurial business operating in a growth market. Investors should not put a great deal of money in the shares and regard them as a longer-term speculative buy, but the stance on the shares is positive.

More than half of RPC sales are to food producers — such as Kraft, Unilever (LSE: ULVR.L - news) and Nestlé — which provides resilience. Also encouraging is that weakened competition has pushed more business RPC's way, while increased polymer capacity in the Middle East has contained the effect of oil-price rises. Meanwhile, the shift to plastics from other packaging materials, such as glass and tin, is intact. RPC is a much-improved business in a difficult sector. At 170p, up 5p, or eight times earnings, and yielding 5.5 per cent, hold on, says the Times.

There was good news for Rolls-Royce at the Paris Air Show this week, as the group revealed it had secured significant new orders. The shares remain a buy, says the Telegraph.

Imaginatik (LSE: IMTK.L - news) was up 13 per cent yesterday and even chief executive Mark Turrell agrees that the share price is news driven. It could well be another year (assuming there is no bid to send the stock skywards) before the investors get a fillip as good as yesterday. As such, the Independent would pause before buying. Hold.

Alexon's immediate problem is that it has struggled to shift old stock. The bigger bind is that competition in mid-market womens's clothing is fierce and Alexon has a stable of brands — Dash, Eastex, Kaliko and Alex & Co — that are in danger of looking tired.

The company has a sound balance sheet and greater focus than at any time in the past decade: it is targeting a series of niche markets in the 45-plus age range that, for demographic reasons, are expected to grow. Equally, its autumn/winter collections have won good reviews. However, at 50p, or ten times current-year earnings, and the shares up fivefold from their February low, it is too soon to call the turn. Avoid, says the Times.

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