March 2006 Archives

As the world depletes it sources of fresh water, increasingly there are efforts to convert the omni-present salt water into fresh. One company in the Caribbean is doing a great job of that, Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (CWCO).

Yesterday at 12:03pm I submitted a comment to “carriertom” where I commented about my Caymanian accountant friend Jeff Parker, and his CWCO. By coincidence, ROBTV interviewed Jeff a few hours later, and you can see the replay.

Go to ROBTV.com and click on the Video Replay link, and then Thursday March 30. Go to 6:00pm Stars and Dogs (“Technology to take the salt out of water”) and click on the Replay. Then slide the play bar down until you get to about 24:00 minutes. The next three and a half minutes will show the Parker/CWCO interview. [ more ]

Ashland Inc. (ASH) announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase the water treatment business of Degussa AG, branded under the Stockhausen name, in a transaction valued at approximately $144 million (120 million euros). Five manufacturing facilities located in Germany, China, Brazil, Russia and the United States are included in the transaction. The Degussa water treatment business posted 2005 sales of nearly $250 million. [ more ]

Calgon Carbon Corp. (CCC) announced results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2005. The company said it lost $5.7 million, or 14 cents per share, in its fourth quarter, compared to a $900,000 profit, or 2 cents per share in the corresponding quarter of last year.

The loss was wider than expected. On average, seven analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial expected the company to report a loss of 5 cents per share for the quarter. [ more ]

Calgon Carbon Corp. (CCC) said it will have to correct its previously issued financials for the first three quarters of last year due to invoice accounting errors, resulting in a bigger loss than reported.

Calgon said the restatement stems from a review of its invoices for certain legal services. The review identified invoices totaling $1.4 million that weren't recorded as expenses in a timely manner, Calgon said. [ more ]

Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (CWCO) might very well be the most boring company name on the planet, this is a decidedly spicy little water story. It's got some similarities to Mexican airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario Del Sureste (ASR)—namely, that if tourists keep flocking to where it operates, business prospects look pretty good. Even better, Consolidated Water produces an essential resource in parts of the world that have few other alternatives for fresh water. [ more ]

Shares of IDEX Corp. (IEX) hit a new all-time high Wednesday after an analyst said the company's sales will benefit from robust commercial and industrial construction worldwide.

Idex produces pumps, compressors, meters and other engineered products used in commercial and industrial applications. The analyst projected 10 percent growth for the company in 2006, citing strong feedback from industrial contacts, robust order patterns in global industry and an innovative product pipeline. [ more ]

Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (CWCO) announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.06 per share.

The dividend is payable April 30, 2006, to shareholders of record at the close of business March 31, 2006. [ more ]

Water stocks are sparkling. Companies focused on collecting, distributing, and purifying the mundane and precious liquid have risen handsomely over the last year, and water management appears poised to become an increasingly vital industry in the future. However, the situation poses a dilemma to investors: With many water stocks at or near the top of their 52-week range -- including all of the ones we're featuring below -- is now still the time to jump on board? Or would it be prudent to hold off on the sector? [ more ]

Aqua America, Inc. (WTR) announced that its subsidiary Aqua Illinois, Inc. (Aqua) has entered into an asset purchase agreement to acquire the water system of the Village of Manteno. The purchase price for the system, which serves approximately 10,000 residents in the Kankakee County community, is $4.5 million.

Aqua also entered into an agreement to operate the village's water system pending regulatory approval and the transaction's closing, which is expected later this year. Under this agreement, Aqua is handling the system's operations, water quality testing and routine maintenance of wells, pumps, treatment facilities and water mains. [ more ]

Artesian Resources Corp. (ARTNA) announced that basic and diluted net income per common share for 2005 were $1.26 and $1.22, as compared to $1.12 and $1.08 in 2004. Revenues for 2005 were $45.3 million, up 14.4% from $39.6 million in 2004. Net income available to common stockholders was $5.0 million, compared to $4.4 million last year, also a 14.4% increase. [ more ]

Middlesex Water Co. (MSEX) reported earnings applicable to common stock of $8.2 million, or $0.72 per basic share, for the year ended December 31, 2005, compared with $8.2 million, or $0.74 per basic share, in 2004. On a fully diluted basis, earnings per share was $0.71 for 2005 compared to $0.73 per share in May 2004. Earnings per share decreased by $0.02, due to the full effect of the 700,000 common stock share offering in 2004 and shares issued under the Company's Dividend Reinvestment Plan during 2005. [ more ]

Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (CWCO), which develops and operates seawater conversion plants and water distribution systems in areas where natural supplies of drinking (i.e., potable) water are scarce, today reported its operating results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2005.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2005, total revenue increased 40.3% to approximately $7.4 million, compared with approximately $5.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2004. Net income decreased to $1,649,499, or $0.13 per diluted share, versus $2,085,389, or $0.17 per diluted share, in the quarter ended December 31, 2004. [ more ]

Southwest Water Co. (SWWC) said it returned to fourth-quarter profitability, as revenue increased 14 percent.

Southwest Water earned $1.4 million, or 6 cents per share, compared with a loss of $410,000, or 2 cents per share, for the same quarter in 2004. Revenue grew to $52 million from $45.5 million in the year-ago period. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected the company to earn 7 cents per share. [ more ]

American States Water Company (AWR) reported basic and fully diluted earnings of $1.58 and $1.57 per share, respectively, for the twelve months ended December 31, 2005 as compared to basic and fully diluted earnings of $1.19 and $1.18 per share, respectively, reported for the same period ended December 31, 2004. Basic and fully diluted earnings were both $0.30 per share for the three months ended December 31, 2005 as compared to basic and fully diluted earnings of $0.16 per share reported for the same period ended December 31, 2004. [ more ]

ITT Industries, Inc. ( ITT), a leading provider of water treatment technology, today announced that it has been awarded a sole source Ultraviolet (UV) Water Framework contract by United Utilities Plc. of the United Kingdom. This is the first major framework contact award for UV potable water disinfection by a U.K. utility.

The contract calls for the design, supply, installation, testing, commission and maintenance of ITT's WEDECO Enclosed Ultraviolet Reactor Systems for potable water disinfection. The United Utilities contract covers a period of two years with an option to extend. The contract award was based on ITT WEDECO designing and supplying seven water treatment plants throughout Northwest England. Each UV treatment system is designed to fit local needs, but initial designs may treat flows up to 72 million liters of water per day. Over the contract period, the installed base may be valued in excess of $2.5 million. [ more ]

Ashland Inc. (ASH) announced that it has acquired the assets of Nanjing Clear Environment Protection Co. Ltd., executing its strategy to further invest in the water treatment business in the rapidly expanding Chinese market. Ashland has formed a new company, Ashland (Nanjing) Chemical Co. Ltd., which will integrate Nanjing Clear with Ashland's existing water technologies business in China. [ more ]

Aqua America, Inc. (WTR) reported net income for the year ending December 31, 2005 grew 14 percent to $91.2 million, from $80.0 million, for the full year 2004. Corresponding diluted earnings per share, on a GAAP basis, increased 11 percent to $0.71 per share from $0.64 per share for 2004, on three percent more shares outstanding. Earnings in 2004 benefited from a $2.3 million pre-tax gain in the fourth quarter from the sale of the company's Geneva, Ohio water system. The gain was recorded as a reduction in the operations and maintenance expenses in the fourth quarter. Excluding the gain, 2004 diluted earnings per share were $0.62. [ more ]

Biotech, energy, steel and semiconductors have charmed investors with their muscular start to the year. But there's one little group that has paradoxically been on fire this year, and it may be the most liquid investment opportunity in the world.

With an introduction like that, you just had to figure that I am referring to the most humble natural resource in the world, and that is water. [ more ]