POINT ROBERTS, Wash., December 4, 2006 - http://www.water-stocks.com/ (WS), an investor and industry news portal for the water sector, continues its InvestorIdeas.com™ ‘Follow the Money’ series with perspectives on investments within the water industry. Global water shortages, aging equipment and continued contamination from pollution drives investments into infrastructure and water purification. Water sector participants such as WaterBank of America (USA) Inc. (OTCBB: WBKA), a manufacturer of hygienic ice cubes and bottled water and Hendrx Corp (OTCBB: HDRX), an established manufacturer of atmospheric water generators, are looking to benefit from the market drivers leading to long term growth for the water business.
Globally the water industry has been estimated as a $400 billion market with signs of long term growth ahead, especially with countries such as China continuing to drive the market as they focus on alleviating many of the region’s water issues such as shortages and contamination from pollution associated with accelerated economic growth. China plans to spend $125 billion on water treatment and recycling over the next five years opening its door to foreign investment and participation in their water market.
Hendrx Corp, (OTCBB: HDRX), a water technology company focused on water generation, filtration, ionization, and purification devices, has targeted their efforts to address many of the needs of developing countries such as China. George Solymar, Chief Executive Officer of Hendrx describes, “The main reason China’s needs have escalated is a result of concentration in population, industry and agriculture. This concentration is to the point where the natural water supply has been overstressed and can no longer accommodate the growth without drastically impacting the environment. As a result, global solutions have to be found to minimize the impact on the environment.”
WaterBank of America’s (OTCBB: WBKA) Chief Operating Officer, Stu Levitan adds, “With all the warnings issued to travelers and citizens with respect to water and ice consumption in China and elsewhere, our secured, ready to freeze ice cubes, ICEROCKS, is a natural complement to all the measures being taken to upgrade China’s water resources. We predict ice consumption from a safe, secure package will be the norm rather than the exception in the near future.”
According to Neil Berlant, Water Group Managing Director and First Vice President at The Seidler Companies, “The capital that is going into the water business is going primarily into two areas; infrastructure and water quality. Infrastructure in general, which is the ever growing demand for pumps, filters, membranes, pipes, etc is driven by the natural deterioration of the infrastructure, which is very old and that process is accelerating. This is coupled with a growing need for higher quality water and more treatment.”
In terms of stock market performance, many of the large water stocks, in particular within the water utilities group, have experienced significant price appreciation since the beginning of the year. Companies such as: SJW Corp has seen its stock price rise over 50%; American States Water Co. has realized an increase of $5.50 per share or 17%; Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. has seen a 18% stock price increase, and United Utilities is up almost 27% since January.
Demand is driven by both the enormity and the increasing need to accommodate the natural deterioration of the existing water systems. “In the aggregate the estimates to replace the aging infrastructure within the United States represents as much as $1 trillion over the next twenty years. That is the backdrop for the enormous amount of growth that’s going to be moving forward over the next decade,” describes Berlant.
Bill Brennan, President & Managing Partner, AquaTerra Investment Management describes consolidation as a key strategy to help address the high costs that accompany repairing and replacing aging infrastructure and equipment. “As the costs associated with treating and distributing water continue to escalate, systems of all sizes are under pressure to maximize efficiency in order to remain financially viable. Larger systems not only possess the greater financial resources required to make these upfront investments, but are also able to spread fixed costs over a greater revenue base. Evidencing the clear benefits of scale, roughly 35% of very small systems operate at a loss while about 90% of very large systems are profitable.”
Recent acquisition activity supports the advantages that consolidation offers. Patrick O’Keefe, CEO of Watts Water Technologies recently stated that $55,573,000 or 24% of the Company’s sales increase in the third quarter was achieved primarily through their acquisitions of Core Industries Inc., Dormont Manufacturing Company and ATS Expansion Group. Watts Water Technologies’ stock price has appreciated approximately 35% since the beginning of the year up over $10.00 with its recent close of $41.90.
U.K. water utility AWG Plc recently announced that it will be acquired by a group of pension funds from Australia and Canada in addition to 3i Group Plc, a world leader in private equity and venture capital, in a deal worth approximately $4.12 billion. Thames Water, owned by German utility RWE AG, is being sold to Kemble Water Limited, a consortium led by Macquarie’s European Infrastructure Funds for close to $14.84 billion.
In addition to the deteriorating infrastructure, there is also a growing demand for a higher quality of water. There is an escalating necessity for a level of water quality that can accommodate the increasingly precise water treatment needs encompassing new systems, as well as the rising purity requirements within electronics manufacturing, food processing, as well as power generation, which is the single largest consumer of high purity water in the country.
According to BCC Research, the US market for municipal drinking water treatment technologies such as membrane filtration, ozone disinfection, and UV radiation, will experience 10.7% growth by 2011 increasing from its current market size of $1.3 billion to $2.1 billion.
To Read More: http://water-stocks.com/Articles/120406a.asp
Featured Water Portal Sponsors: (WS is compensated by HDRX and WBKA as disclosed in disclaimer.)
WaterBank of America (USA) Inc. (OTCBB: WBKA), a manufacturer of hygienic ice cubes and bottled water with a strategy to create and acquire a “bank” of top quality springs to address global water scarcity problems. For More Info: http://www.water-stocks.com/CO/WBKA/Default.asp
Hendrx Corp (OTCBB: HDRX), a manufacturer of atmospheric water generators, filtration, ionization, and purification devices. For More Info: http://www.water-stocks.com/CO/HDRX/Default.asp
http://www.water-stocks.com/ (WS), a portal within the InvestorIdeas.com content umbrella, does not make recommendations but offers investors research, news, blogs, RSS Feeds, online conferences, interviews and links to public companies within the water sector.
Our Current List of Water Stocks: http://www.water-stocks.com/Water-Stocks/Stock_List.asp
InvestorIdeas.com Disclaimer: http://investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Our sites do not make recommendations, but offer information portals to research news, articles, stock lists and recent research. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. We attempt to research thoroughly, but we offer no guarantees as to the accuracy of information presented. All Information relating to featured companies is sourced from public documents and/ or the company and is not the opinion of our web sites. These sites are currently compensated by its "featured companies." WaterBank of America (USA) Inc. (OTCBB: WBKA) currently pays InvestorIdeas.com $10,000 monthly, $2,000 in cash per month and $8,000 in shares per month. Hendrx Corp. (OTCBB: HDRX) Five thousand dollars per month and a one-time five thousand dollars equivalent in shares.
For More Information Contact:
Dawn Van Zant 800-665-0411
Ann-Marie Fleming 866-725-2554
Email: dvanzant@investorideas.com or afleming@investorideas.com
Web Site: http://water-stocks.com/
Source: Water-Stocks.com, Hendrx Corp, WaterBank of America (USA) Inc.
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