Sabine I tend to keep my eye on the major miners active in WA–...

Sabine

I tend to keep my eye on the major miners active in WA– namely, BHP, RIO and FMG, so I'll comment on those wins

BHP, South Flank – 18/07/18 Bulk earthworks and concreting, $167m. 15 months starting in September 2018.

RIO, Koodeideri – three contracts:

• 17/05/2019 – Bulk earthworks for rail formation, $137. 70 weeeks beginning August 2019.
• 21/05/2019 – 3 large Apron Feeders, 11 Slide Gates and 2 Belt Feeders, $18m. This post dates the 3 April mention of RCRMT having $22m in the bag.
• 24/01/2019 – Bulk earthworks for plant, $65m. Commenced April 2019, scheduled completion December 2019.

FMG, Eliwana Rail Stage 1, first announced December 2018 at circa $53m. Updated later to $63m. it is probably now completed. and await for more work from Stage 2. Ministerial approval has not yet been given, although FMG is letting contracts, perhaps with a subject-to-approval provision.

$1.5b is about as much as NWH may want to handle in FY20, so it may be reticent to take on more. Of course it would be very interested in work that it can handle in FY20 that spills into FY21, and beyond. Also, now that NWH is on the cusp of using up its tax losses, it will watch CAPEX much more carefully, so it may not be keen on work that requires sinificant CAPEX.

When Mr Market is in an exuberant mood, he loves to see contract announcements, and he reacts irrationally bullish. When he is spooked by doom and gloom, as now is the case; he focuses his mind on worst-case scenarios. MND has recently announced three contract wins, but its SP retreated. As an aside, MND is focusing on smoothing its revenue in a cyclical business – that is, trading off margin in return for stability by securing more long-term maintenance business, which makes a great deal of sense.