Not all boats necessarily rise or fall with the tide. Indeed the sturdiest ships seemed to be able to sail calmly through even the choppiest of waters.
Take the UK rail sector, which is presently being buffeted by headwinds due to constrained CP7 funding, the renationalisation of Train Operating Companies and the creation of Great British Railways - which together are causing order delays for suppliers.
However one company bucking the trend is blast/explosion proof door maker Booth Industries International. A subsidiary of specialist engineer Avingtrans (AVG ) that sells and services mission critical components to the defence, AI, rail, healthcare and nuclear power sectors.
Today it announced 2 new contracts. One for HS2 (£7.5m) and the other with Transport for London (£1.0m), worth £8.5m in aggregate. Here Booth will supply high-integrity steel doorsets for HS2’s Old Oak Common station over the next 4 years. Alongside conducting maintenance services for the tunnel doors on the Elizabeth Line for Transport for London. Further underpinning the group’s healthy FY’26 revenue and profit expectations.
In fact, Booth’s current order book with HS2 still exceeds £40m, notwithstanding the significant work already completed on the UK’s largest high speed rail line.
Mike Jenkinson MD of Booth commented: “The two new contracts are great news for our business and build on our work on Crossrail, the Northern Line extension and earlier phases of HS2. It demonstrates the value HS2 places on our unmatched design and manufacturing expertise, developing high-integrity doorsets that meet the most demanding safety and performance standards, as well as our proven experience delivering complex infrastructure projects around the world.”
Plus “the extension of our contract with Transport for London underscores the strength and reliability of our maintenance capabilities, which have been carefully developed and refined by leveraging decades of industry expertise.”
Wrt the numbers, Singer Capital Markets have a 525p/share target price (nb based solely on AVG’s Engineering division, and are forecasting FY’26 turnover, EBITDA & adjusted EPS of £183.2m (+13.7%), £20.0m (+20%) & 25.9p (+35%) respectively. On top Singers calculate that the medical devices division is worth between £85m-£140m, or another 251p-422p/share.
Watch out for the group’s May FY25 prelims on Wednesday 24th September 2025.