County Durham-based Hargreaves Services, involved in mineral trading, coke production, waste handling and specialist bulk road haulage, pulled in £20m of fresh cash through an oversubscribed 243p float back in November.

Already trading at a bumper premium, the shares gained further ground on the £2.1m acquisition of bulk liquid transport concern Gilbraith, which chief executive Gordon Banham says is long established, based in the North West, and boasts a 48-strong tanker fleet.

As well as its handsome reputation and client base, Gilbraith extends Hargreaves’ geographic coverage by adding a ‘dedicated’ North West depot to its Midlands base. Hargreaves has the UK’s biggest bulk delivery fleet and is the largest independent importer of domestic and industrial coal.

Banham recently unveiled a 50:50 joint venture with UK COAL – known as Coal 4 Energy – to market and distribute product to the light industrial and domestic market. The mix of UK COAL’s productive capacity and Hargreaves’ logistics and marketing skills should help the joint venture meet demand more efficiently, ultimately benefiting consumers. A year ago, Hargreaves bought the Monckton Coke & Chemical Company, owned by UK COAL for over a decade.

Hargreaves did not disappoint at the interim, reporting impressive 104% turnover growth at £70.8m, with profits boiling up to £3m (£1.25m) – Banham also flagged up forward order books on the rise in all divisions.

For the year to May, analysts have set their stall out for normalised pre-tax profits of £6.6m from a top line £150m, producing earnings of 19.5p and placing the shares on a forward multiple of 20 in line with the sector. That looks fairly full for now. But Hargreaves is worth holding on its long-term earnings visibility in growth markets, which analysts consider relatively recession proof. Hold.

Hargreaves Services	AIM	£131.37m	500.00p	0.00p
Click here for interactive charting
Other company articles:
Exploration Insights by Robert Tyerman			06/10/2008
Coal boost for Hargreaves			15/09/2008
Directors’ Dealings			31/03/2008
Hargreaves expansion to renew profits stream			03/03/2008
Strong first half at Hargreaves			14/02/2008