Latest news with #Forterra
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Dozens of colourful penguins waddle into Southend for start of new art trail
Dozens of colourful penguins have waddled into Southend as a new art trail gets underway. The "Waddle-on-Sea" art initiative, organised by Havens hospices and Wild in Art, sees more than 31 super-sized penguin sculptures and 72 baby penguins placed around Southend and Leigh. These penguins arrived today and will remain on display until September 3. The penguin plinths, made from concrete and costing around £4,505 to manufacture, were donated by building product specialists Forterra. Volunteers from BTMK, Rickard Luckin, Able Group and Rossi's (Image: Havens hospices) This event, which is backed by the Echo, comes after a success of two previous art trails, Hares About Town and Herd In The City, Vanessa Harvey from Havens hospices said: "We are incredibly grateful to Forterra for creating the bespoke plinths especially for the trail. "Thanks to their kind donation, the sculptures look amazing and are standing proud. "We can't wait for everyone to meet them." Read more WACTH: A13 dashcam footage which rumbled Porsche driver's £74k insurance claim Police issue appeal as south Essex gym re-opened after early hours break-in The penguins were carefully placed on their plinths by the "Penguin Patrol" and sponsors of the event. Information stickers were then added by Revive Digital, BTMK, Rickard Luckin, and Rossi's. In September, the large sculptures will be auctioned to raise money for the charity, Havens hospices, which provides specialist care and support for people of all ages who are living with incurable conditions and their families. Sunny Southpole, designed by Neil Fendell, standing proud (Image: Havens hospices) Trail-goers can buy a map of the trail from Havens hospices charity shops, the Pier Information Centre, The Forum, Leigh Library, and at Waddle-on-Sea HQs at The Royals Shopping Centre and 141 Leigh Road. Alternatively, a Waddle-on-Sea app can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play. Havens hospices relies on donations and fundraisers to continue providing free care for those who need it. A sneak peek at one of the penguin's (Image: Havens hospices) The charity's work is supported by initiatives such as Waddle-on-Sea. Last year's event Herd In The City, raised £580,000 for Havens hospices. For further details about the trail or the charity, visit or follow the event on Instagram at waddleonsea and Facebook at @waddle-on-sea.
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Forterra plc (LON:FORT) Stock Is Going Strong But Fundamentals Look Uncertain: What Lies Ahead ?
Forterra (LON:FORT) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 20% over the last three months. However, we wonder if the company's inconsistent financials would have any adverse impact on the current share price momentum. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Forterra's ROE today. Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits. We've found 21 US stocks that are forecast to pay a dividend yield of over 6% next year. See the full list for free. Return on equity can be calculated by using the formula: Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Forterra is: 7.8% = UK£18m ÷ UK£225m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024). The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. That means that for every £1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated £0.08 in profit. Check out our latest analysis for Forterra We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. Assuming everything else remains unchanged, the higher the ROE and profit retention, the higher the growth rate of a company compared to companies that don't necessarily bear these characteristics. When you first look at it, Forterra's ROE doesn't look that attractive. Although a closer study shows that the company's ROE is higher than the industry average of 5.5% which we definitely can't overlook. Still, Forterra has seen a flat net income growth over the past five years. Remember, the company's ROE is a bit low to begin with, just that it is higher than the industry average. So that could be one of the factors that are causing earnings growth to stay flat. As a next step, we compared Forterra's net income growth with the industry and discovered that the industry saw an average growth of 4.6% in the same period. Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. If you're wondering about Forterra's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry. Forterra has a high three-year median payout ratio of 54% (or a retention ratio of 46%), meaning that the company is paying most of its profits as dividends to its shareholders. This does go some way in explaining why there's been no growth in its earnings. Additionally, Forterra has paid dividends over a period of nine years, which means that the company's management is determined to pay dividends even if it means little to no earnings growth. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company over the next three years is expected to be approximately 51%. Regardless, the future ROE for Forterra is predicted to rise to 15% despite there being not much change expected in its payout ratio. Overall, we have mixed feelings about Forterra. Primarily, we are disappointed to see a lack of growth in earnings even in spite of a moderate ROE. Bear in mind, the company reinvests a small portion of its profits, which explains the lack of growth. With that said, we studied the latest analyst forecasts and found that while the company has shrunk its earnings in the past, analysts expect its earnings to grow in the future. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page for the company. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Forbes
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
Moving Trailers With A Robot – Autonomous Yard Shifters Are On A Roll
Multiple autonomy providers are delivering new capability to streamline operations at logistics ... More yards. While autonomous trucking has recently launched on Texas highways, several companies are moving fast to deploy self-driving yard trucks at scale. Hundreds of vehicles are already re-positioning trailers at ports and logistics yards, with new orders rolling in steadily. Will autonomous trucks in the logistic yard space outpace on-road autonomy? At the recent Advanced Clean Technology (ACT) Expo in California, I discussed progress and outlook with yard autonomy leaders, plus some up and comers. At the event, Forterra, ISEE, and Outrider highlighted progress and partnerships with truck-makers – these moves are vital to stimulate broad uptake in the surface logistics space. HubPilot, the newest entrant into this space, updated attendees from the Expo stage. Providers of yard tractors, such as Kalmar/Ottawa, Orange EV, Terberg, and TICO are making it clear to these developers what their customers want. Although early development required pristine yards free of pedestrians and other vehicles – to make the job simpler for the robots – today's customer insists on efficient and safe operations in mixed traffic with pedestrian activity, as well as robustness across a range of weather situations. Currently, most trailer moves are done with diesel tractors. This proportion is expected to steadily drop in the coming years, since the stay-at-home nature of yard operations (compared to long haul) is a very good fit with EV and CNG operations. The autonomy providers are generally agnostic to the type of powertrain. ISEE / TICO ISEE AI and TICO announced a strategic partnership at ACT, which will result in autonomy-capable yard trucks rolling off the assembly line next year. But ISEE is not waiting for this key inflection point. According to Debbie Yu, Co-Founder and President of ISEE, 'our trucks are currently live at a Fortune 100 logistics service provider hub, actively handling production moves, with the tech upfitted on standard TICO tractors. In these operations, hundreds of thousands of autonomous trailer moves have already occurred.' She added that additional customer deployments across North America are planned for later this year. For a terminal tractor to relocate a trailer, air hoses and a power line need to be connected between the two units. ISEE demonstrated a robotic arm for this purpose in 2024. The company is now doing trials with customers using an 'auto connect' rig that interfaces with a modified trailer. Providing autonomy on new trucks is the most straightforward way to enter the market. But what about the huge installed base of yard tractors working across the world? Can they be upgraded? This depends on a lot of factors, but ISEE and TICO see this as a key market; they have launched an autonomy retrofit program for existing vehicles currently in the hands of customers. Forterra / Kalmar Forterra has forged a production relationship with OEM Kalmar which will result in new terminal tractors equipped with Forterra's 'AutoDrive' autonomous driving system. Kalmar's Ottawa AutoTT™ is an autonomous terminal tractor designed to improve efficiency and safety in distribution centers, container terminals, and industrial yards. The AutoTT™ is currently undergoing its second round of testing as Kalmar moves closer to bringing it to market, with full production anticipated by 2026, the company says. The partnership between Kalmar and Forterra was established in early 2024. In an interview with Gabe Sganga, Forterra's VP of Commercial Growth, he stressed that, compared to human operations, autonomous performance should be the same if not better. 'In our deployments to date, AutoDrive enabled trucks are exceeding the expectations of our customers,' he said. "In a given hour of operation, AutoDrive has consistently matched or exceeded historic move metrics," he added. He emphasized that their customers value consistency and predictability over quickness. Working with Kalmar, Forterra is now scaling up and adding new sites. New orders are being finalized, Sganga says, noting that 'customers are both freight carriers and shippers, including several consumer products companies.' In particular, Q125 'saw an uptick in large orders being placed,' he added. Forterra provides end to end tractor-trailer auto-coupling with technology partners Electrans and Stoughton. Kalmar's automation-ready terminal tractor features an integrated drive-by-wire system and hardware kits essential for autonomous operation. These enhancements, produced at Kalmar's manufacturing facilities in Ottawa, Kansas, will allow customers to seamlessly integrate autonomous solutions into their logistics and yard management strategies, including in environments requiring complex maneuvers. The first autonomous solution will be available for the Kalmar Ottawa T2 diesel tractor followed by the recently announced Kalmar Ottawa T2 EV electric terminal tractor. Outrider / OrangeEV / TICO Outrider Founder and CEO Andrew Smith provided an update on their progress during an interview at ACT. Founded in 2017, Outrider was the first significant initiative in commercializing autonomous yard truck services. Outrider is working closely with multiple Fortune 500 customers to scale autonomous yard operations in package shipping, e-commerce, retail, grocery, consumer packaged goods, intermodal rail, and automotive manufacturing. Mr. Smith said that the Outrider system 'has executed hundreds of thousands of autonomous trailer moves across multiple distribution sites with dozens of vehicles.' 'Outrider has an EV-first approach to yard automation given significant benefits to customers including lower long-term cost of ownership, elimination of on-site emissions around warehouse associates, and automated charging,' said Mr. Smith. That said, he emphasized that the Outrider System is designed to be agnostic to the platform vehicle. Noting that Outrider-powered OrangeEV electric yard trucks have been operating for several years, Mr. Smith revealed as well that 'TICO will be offering its latest yard truck design with the Outrider system.' The timing of commercial availability will be announced at a future date, he said. The newest version of the Outrider system, announced in January, integrates advanced reinforcement learning capabilities allowing for fluid robotic movement through complex distribution yard settings full of outside actors such as over-the-road trucks, maintenance personnel and site employees. The Outrider System includes over a dozen proprietary safety mechanisms specifically designed to address the hazards of distribution yard automation. Outrider's patent protected TrailerConnect robotic arm system addresses trailer brake and electric line connections with no modification to trailers already in circulation. Outrider also offers compatibility with any specialized coupling systems for captured fleets of retrofitted trailers or chassis, Mr. Smith said. Hub Pilot HubPilot, backed by Mitsubishi Electric, takes a unique approach to yard autonomy by combining their HubDrive Autonomous Drive System with support from their YardSense system to provide infrastructure-based perception. Trailer connections are accomplished by way of a 3D camera and a Mitsubishi Electric robotic arm. This past winter, the HubPilot system operated through a Michigan winter which had multiple occasions of snow each month. According to Craig Suydam, Lead Engineer/ Business Development – Advanced Engineering at Hub Pilot, 'Testing during this time at a customer deployment allowed us to expand our operational design domain into more inclement weather. Also, during this period, we have been able to reduce our switch time (coupling and uncoupling trailers) by an estimated 30%.' Charging Robots With Robots Also present at ACT was Rocsys, which offers hands-free charging solutions for automated fleets operating at logistics centers. Their platform pairs with any industry-standard charger to create an entirely hands-free charging process for electric vehicles, enabling self-driving vehicles to charge without the need for a human operator to plug them in. Polly Crispin, Senior Business Development Manager at Rocsys, commented that 'this provides a critical step toward a fully autonomous fleet operation[PC1] and allows terminals to increase efficiency, improve safety conditions for on-site personnel, and plan for future fleet expansions.' Rocsys systems have been deployed in ports and logistics centers throughout the US and Europe. Deployments are under way with terminal operators, vehicle OEMs, and a large retailer.[MH2] The company recently announced a major project with APM Terminals Maasvlakte II at the Port of Rotterdam, one of the most advanced[MH3] automated container terminals in Europe, to enable 24/7 hands-free charging of 30 Terberg electric automated terminal trucks equipped with Embotech's Level 4 AV Kit for autonomous operation. Robot Connect Tradeoffs At the outset of autonomous yard tractors development, using robot arms to connect air hoses and power was seen as the fastest path to market. This approach could provide connections to virtually any trailer. During the last several years, as major logistics organizations have evaluated the autonomy capability and found it viable for their operations, the approach to tractor-trailer connections may now be going through a transition. Large fleets like J.B. Hunt, Knight-Swift, and UPS own and operate their own trailers. The 'captured pool' of trailers can be retrofitted to unlock the advantages of auto-connect capability rather than use of a robotic arm. Lawrence Bader, Advanced Transportation Technology LLC, recently retired from a long career in truck technology at UPS. As he sees it, 'Developers of autonomous terminal tractors seem to be steering away from complex robotic arms in favor of streamlined auto couplers. Fleets piloting autonomous operations today, particularly those with captured trailer pools, are prioritizing faster connections and long-term durability that can scale. Trailer OEM's and fleets are collaborating on ways to retrofit existing trailers while future-proofing new builds for an auto coupler solution.' Mr. Smith of Outrider offered another perspective, saying, 'Developers of autonomous tractors which have not addressed how to connect autonomously to the millions of trailers currently in circulation depend on modifying captured trailer fleets. Outrider is fully compatible with auto coupler systems for captured trailer fleets that require trailer retrofits and this can be a good solution for a limited set of customers. Given the durability, speed and reliability of the latest Outrider TrailerConnect robotic connection system, however, most enterprise customers and 3PL partners are not planning to execute major trailer retrofit programs or wait years for universal adoption of new standards that auto couplers require.' This dynamic will take some time and play out and will be interesting to watch. Proliferating Behind The Fence The total number of autonomous yard trucks in current operations is not known. The buzz indicates that things are moving quickly. Few details are in public view. A side conversation at a recent conference revealed that one shipper has implemented yard tractors throughout their logistics center; where there used to be 200 human driven trucks, there are now 200 autonomous yard shifters. With factory built autonomous yard tractors entering the market soon, a steady and robust adoption of yard autonomy over the coming years is clearly on the horizon. Disclosure: Richard Bishop is an Advisor to and/or an equity holder in the following companies mentioned in this article: Forterra, Outrider.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Forterra's (LON:FORT) Dividend Will Be £0.02
The board of Forterra plc (LON:FORT) has announced that it will pay a dividend on the 4th of July, with investors receiving £0.02 per share. Including this payment, the dividend yield on the stock will be 1.6%, which is a modest boost for shareholders' returns. We check all companies for important risks. See what we found for Forterra in our free report. If it is predictable over a long period, even low dividend yields can be attractive. However, Forterra's earnings easily cover the dividend. This means that most of what the business earns is being used to help it grow. Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 103.0% over the next year. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 18% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range. Check out our latest analysis for Forterra It's comforting to see that Forterra has been paying a dividend for a number of years now, however it has been cut at least once in that time. This makes us cautious about the consistency of the dividend over a full economic cycle. Since 2016, the dividend has gone from £0.04 total annually to £0.03. Doing the maths, this is a decline of about 3.1% per year. A company that decreases its dividend over time generally isn't what we are looking for. With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to see if earnings per share is growing. Earnings per share has been sinking by 19% over the last five years. Such rapid declines definitely have the potential to constrain dividend payments if the trend continues into the future. However, the next year is actually looking up, with earnings set to rise. We would just wait until it becomes a pattern before getting too excited. Overall, it's nice to see a consistent dividend payment, but we think that longer term, the current level of payment might be unsustainable. The company is generating plenty of cash, which could maintain the dividend for a while, but the track record hasn't been great. We would probably look elsewhere for an income investment. Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. Without at least some growth in earnings per share over time, the dividend will eventually come under pressure either from competition or inflation. See if the 10 analysts are forecasting a turnaround in our free collection of analyst estimates here. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield dividend stocks. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
When Should You Buy Forterra plc (LON:FORT)?
Forterra plc (LON:FORT), is not the largest company out there, but it received a lot of attention from a substantial price increase on the LSE over the last few months. The company is inching closer to its yearly highs following the recent share price climb. With many analysts covering the stock, we may expect any price-sensitive announcements have already been factored into the stock's share price. However, could the stock still be trading at a relatively cheap price? Let's examine Forterra's valuation and outlook in more detail to determine if there's still a bargain opportunity. AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early. According to our price multiple model, which makes a comparison between the company's price-to-earnings ratio and the industry average, the stock price seems to be justfied. We've used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because there's not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stock's ratio of 22.43x is currently trading slightly below its industry peers' ratio of 22.67x, which means if you buy Forterra today, you'd be paying a decent price for it. And if you believe Forterra should be trading in this range, then there isn't much room for the share price to grow beyond the levels of other industry peers over the long-term. Furthermore, it seems like Forterra's share price is quite stable, which means there may be less chances to buy low in the future now that it's priced similarly to industry peers. This is because the stock is less volatile than the wider market given its low beta. See our latest analysis for Forterra Future outlook is an important aspect when you're looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so let's also take a look at the company's future expectations. Forterra's earnings over the next few years are expected to double, indicating a very optimistic future ahead. This should lead to stronger cash flows, feeding into a higher share value. Are you a shareholder? FORT's optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around industry price multiples. However, there are also other important factors which we haven't considered today, such as the track record of its management team. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at FORT? Will you have enough confidence to invest in the company should the price drop below the industry PE ratio? Are you a potential investor? If you've been keeping an eye on FORT, now may not be the most advantageous time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the optimistic forecast is encouraging for FORT, which means it's worth further examining other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop. It can be quite valuable to consider what analysts expect for Forterra from their most recent forecasts. At Simply Wall St, we have the analysts estimates which you can view by clicking here. If you are no longer interested in Forterra, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Sign in to access your portfolio
