WDS's $50 million win

Shares in WDS (WDS) bucked the market downtrend this morning after the engineering contractor announced it had secured more than $50 million worth of new contracts.

The news will bolster confidence in WDS’ earnings outlook for the current year with the market expecting sales to lift 1.5% for the current financial year to $356.5 million.

Analysts are expecting most contractors to post revenue declines due to the cut back in capital spending in the resources industry, but WDS has offset its exposure to the weak coal mining sector by focusing on energy projects.

Income from the new contracts, which are with Santos (STO) for its Gladstone LNG project and Vale for its Carborough Downs coal mine, will be booked in the current financial year.

WDS gained 1 cent, or 1.3%, to 75.5 cents in early trade when the ASX All Ordinaries is down 0.2%.

The stock, which is part of the Uncapped 100, is up more than 40% since we highlighted its potential on August 14.