Turkey of the week: call in profits on this pricey engineer

This engineering firm's share price has soared three-fold from its 2009 lows. But right now, it's on a toppy valuation. It's the perfect time to take profits, says Paul Hill.

Shares in British engineering companies rocketed last year. That was thanks to buoyant demand in Asia, a resurgent car industry and higher exports on the back of the weaker pound. Spectris, Britain's biggest maker of production-testing gear, was no exception its stock soared three-fold from 2009 lows.

The bulls justify this jaw-dropping climb by pointing to the firm's cracking trading update on 15 January. Here, Spectris reported a 12% jump in like-for-like turnover, adding that 2010 sales and adjusted EBITA would come in at £905m and £140m respectively. In particular, the 'Test and Measurement' division stood out during November and December, contributing "substantially" to the improvement.

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Paul gained a degree in electrical engineering and went on to qualify as a chartered management accountant. He has extensive corporate finance and investment experience and is a member of the Securities Institute.

Over the past 16 years Paul has held top-level financial management and M&A roles for blue-chip companies such as O2, GKN and Unilever. He is now director of his own capital investment and consultancy firm, PMH Capital Limited.

Paul is an expert at analysing companies in new, fast-growing markets, and is an extremely shrewd stock-picker.