The Lemon Fool

Noting that the Chancellor is expected to announce more infrastructure spending in today's autumn budget statement, including road and rail improvements, can members suggest stocks best suited to benefit from such spending.

Carillion?

Or perhaps going a little smaller KIER (KIE) or even smaller Henry Boot (BHY), both have lengthy road contracts for A66 & A69, I believe. Kier is also established in the "affordable housing" market and Boot also to a lesser degree. But, DYOR.

richfool wrote:Noting that the Chancellor is expected to announce more infrastructure spending in today's autumn budget statement, including road and rail improvements, can members suggest stocks best suited to benefit from such spending.

I think it unwise to base an investment strategy on a politician's statement.

We hear figures like £23bn. The devil is in the detail. How much is genuinely new money? Where is it coming from? How much will actually materialise? What is the time span?

There is a partial answer to the time span question, in that the sum is end-loaded, with just £2.4bn being projected for 2017-8.

As one commentator noted (I paraphrase), a pipeline is just a pipedream until decisions are made. Government record on decisiveness is not encouraging.

Having said that, I do hold both the suggested Carillon and Kier. Both bought for my HYP about 6 years ago. If you want to take a gamble on the £23bn materialising, I think you could do worse than Kier, but DYOR of course.

richfool wrote:Noting that the Chancellor is expected to announce more infrastructure spending in today's autumn budget statement, including road and rail improvements, can members suggest stocks best suited to benefit from such spending.

Why would you think you can capitalise on something that is known about?

Bubblesofearth wrote:Why would you think you can capitalise on something that is known about?

Well until the Chancellor's statement, the actual extent of any infrastructure spending wasn't known.

Additionally I was conscious that it was a sector I had no exposure to, apart perhaps from the odd holdings within some IT's that I hold. Thus I saw it as an area to add to my portfolio, at some point. That said I have been looking for a long time, but didn't feel I was sufficiently knowledgeable on which were the right companies to look at/invest in. I had also been watching the IT infrastructure sector, but was put off by the large premia, along with the fact that those IT's have been rather too "in vogue" for quite some time already and that I would be buying in rather late in the cycle.

Kier is one of the companies I have been watching, but had had some reservations.

Thanks for the thoughts/input.

A topical article I came across on the HL website. Balfour Beatty, Carillion and Kier are mentioned:

https://www.hl.co.uk/news/articles/autu ... ure-stocks