Weir (LSE: WEIR), Lamprell (LSE: LAM) and Wood Group (LSE: WG) lead the way for the oil & gas engineering industry.
The FTSE 100 (UKX) crushed its previous 52-week high of 5,989 today, and soared through the unimportant 6,000-point barrier, putting on 130 points (2.2%) by midday to reach 6,030. The reason, of course, is the deal reached in the US to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff".
Some individual constituents of the FTSE indices are on the way up, too, today. Here are three whose prices are rising:
Weir
Shares in FTSE 100 industrial engineer Weir Group (LSE: WEIR) gained 57p (3%) to reach 1,936p, on news of a disposal and an acquisition. Weir, which focuses on the mining, oil & gas and power markets, completed the sale of LGE Process on 28 December, for an enterprise value of £23m.
And on 31 December, the acquisition of Mathena Inc was completed. The purchase, as described on 20 December, involved an initial payment of $240 million, with up to a further $145 million depending on profit targets.
Lamprell
It seems a good day for support companies in the oil and gas sector generally, as Lamprell (LSE: LAM) shares put on 14p (15%) after the company announced that it has received banking covenant waivers from its lenders relating to some of its debts. The covenants were due to be tested on 31 December. Although revenues are still expected to continue to fall as we enter 2013, Lamprell ended 2012 in a better working capital position, with net cash of around $100 million.
We also heard positive news of progress in two of Lamprell's current contracts.
Wood Group
And to bring up our trio of oil & gas related companies today, we see John Wood Group (LSE: WG) shares up 21p (2.9%) to 747p, though the only news today is of two new executive directors joining the board. They are Mark Dobler, chief executive of the firm's GTS division and Robin Watson, chief executive of its PSN division.
Wood Group's share price has been falling since November, but it's still up over the past 12 months, and earnings forecasts look healthy.
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> Alan does not own any shares mentioned in this article.
