good for a punt, page-27

The mining boom is over - generally true. However, how will this impact a company like NWH that in its essence is an earthmover. with a bit of ancillary stuff like concreting tossed in.

Iron ore tonnage ex WA are increasing - that means more earthmoving in the production phase.

Tonnage-based royalties are being reaped by WA Government.

Royalties-for-Regions programs means more civil works - more earthmoving.

Lower iron ore prices means miners will negotiate hard, so margins for earthmovers are likely to be slimmer. Also, although earthmoving for production will increase, the work flowing from exploration and so-called greenfield opportunities will decline. However, both these negatives are accommodated by the Thomson Consensus Estimates for EPS and DPS being lower for 2014 and 2015 than they will be for 2013.

NWH has a lot of cash, which makes its debt-less-cash position strong, so dividends can be held at the 14-to-15 cent level, which view is supported by Thomson Consensus Estimates.

The decline in the SP from about $4 a year ago seems to be an over reaction. Not that the $4 was then a sensible SP.

I hold 50,000 shares at a cost of $80K, so I am behind - got the timing of my first 25,000 buy wrong. Such is life - I wish I were infallible.

I may have to wait a long time to wipe out my capital loss, but if the 14-to-15 cent fully franked dividend holds for a few years, that wait will not be too painful. My average buy-in price is $1.60, so the dividend-cum-franking yield should be good.