Featured Companies Update

The last month has been relatively quiet for our featured companies. Nonetheless there have been good contract wins, some excellent results but also a profits warning - from Bango. However, even here there was positive news mixed with the short-term trading disappointment. Indeed, unusually for a profits warning it included the word ‘transformational’. To read our separate update on Bango including a Q&A with Chief Executive, Ray Anderson, please click here.

Sagentia Group

Sagentia issued its final results for the year to 31 December 2010 on 28 February. As predicted in its January trading update, Sagentia’s results were ahead of market expectations. Profit before tax was reported as £2.2 million, compared to a loss of £3.5 million in 2009. Sagentia reported net cash of £8.6 million.

Looking to the future, Chairman, Martyn Ratcliffe, spoke of potential acquisitions but also sounded a note of caution: ‘As Sagentia enters the new year, the Board intends to balance operating margin and investment for growth, in order to sustain the progress achieved in 2010.  However, as a project-based consultancy, forward visibility is typically limited and, although the Group benefits from sector and geographical diversification, future demand is not predictable.  The Board therefore remains prudent in managing the business.  Nevertheless, having established a far stronger foundation, the Group now has the opportunity to build on the platform created through both investment in the organic development of Sagentia and to explore merger and acquisition opportunities, if appropriate.’

AimZine comment: These are tremendous results from Sagentia and a credit to Chief Executive, Brent Hudson (appointed in 2009) and his team. The Group’s reported diluted earnings per share were 6.9 pence which puts Sagentia on a historic p/e of 10. In addition to these earnings Sagentia has £8+ million in cash and owns property assets valued at approximately £14 million. At the time of writing Sagentia has a market capitalisation of just £30 million (at a share price of 72 pence).

Avacta Group

On 23 February Avacta announced that it signed a collaborative agreement with Pall Corporation covering the USA and Canada. As part of this deal Avacta has agreed an exclusive commercial partnership with Pall to market Optim in North America and to work closely with Pall to develop and market other advanced technologies and analytical services aimed at the life sciences market.

Quoted on the New York Stock Exchange with a market cap of $5+ billion, Pall is a major player in the filtration, separation and purification industry. Last year Pall reported revenues of $2.4 billion.

Alastair Smith, Chief Executive of Avacta Group commented in the RNS:

"This is a very significant agreement for Avacta and I expect it to be transformational for the Group. It provides a world class commercial and product development partner in the strategically critical North American market and potentially wider afield.

"Optim is a powerful tool designed to reduce the costs associated with developing and manufacturing biological products and this sales and marketing agreement with Pall has significantly enhanced our prospects of exploiting Optim's significant market potential throughout the wider bioprocess market.

"We are very excited about the potential of this collaborative relationship and I look forward to keeping the market updated as this commercial partnership develops and assists Avacta in delivering its strategic objectives."

AimZine Comment: Alastair Smith’s comments above clearly indicate the importance of this agreement for Avacta. To find out more about this deal and about Avacta look out for our next Q&A with Alastair Smith which will appear in the next edition (April) of AimZine.

STOP PRESS: On 4 March Avacta issued a Trading Update covering the six months to 31 January 2011. This reported a further 5 Optim sales since the New Year but did caution that losses for the half year would be marginally higher than previously expected. More on this in next month’s AimZine.

Part of Sagentia's property assets                

GETECH Group

GETECH (featured in the February 2011 edition of AimZine here) issued a half year Trading Statement on 22 February.  The Company reported that trading had been in line with expectations and that the recovery seen in the previous two quarters has continued.

GETECH further reported that the first sales arising from the Iraqi data marketing agreement (announced in December) were made within days of the signature of the agreement and global data sales in general have continued to strengthen.

Commenting in the trading statement, Raymond Wolfson, Chief Executive Officer of GETECH Group plc, said:

"We are very pleased with the continuing trend in data sales. With this and our increasing library of studies available for sale, I believe that the trends in our recovery will continue. Further, the strength of the oil price is encouraging and likely to underpin the demand for exploration data, studies and services with existing and new clients. First half revenue was back to pre-downturn levels generating a satisfactory pre-tax profit. "

Intandem Films

On 28 February Intandem Films announced an ‘association’ with Los Angeles based Libertine Films and first time director, Jules Stewart. Intandem will be handling the international sales for Libertine’s new film, K-11. The picture, described as an edgy drama set in LA County's Mens Central Jail, is scheduled to shoot on location in Los Angeles in July and will premiere at the Berlin Film Festival early in 2012.

Intandem’s CEO, Gary Smith, commented:  "We at Intandem are delighted to be working with Jules because she has a tremendous level of creativity and a very unique voice as a filmmaker.  Libertine Films has a diverse slate of films and we look forward to developing a long and successful collaboration with them."

Avingtrans

Surgical Innovations

We were encouraged to see Surgical Innovations (SI) reporting a four year exclusive contract with US based Mediflex over the inclusion of SI’s YelloPort+plus® in surgical trays in the US.  The contract announced on 14 February is valued at a minimum of $2.2 million over four years.

Chief Executive, Graham Bowland, commented: "The partnership with Mediflex broadens the distribution of YelloPort+plus® into the large and strategically important US market.”

At the end of this contract RNS the Group added the following intriguing paragraph:

‘Further to the above, SI is making progress across a number of product lines with several potential US customers. Although at present it is difficult to determine the eventual structure, timing and value of revenue streams that will be generated, the Board will continue to keep shareholders updated on progress.’

We look forward to reporting further should this potential be realised.

a diverse slate of films

In Brief

Symphony Environmental announced on 23 February that it had signed a 25 year exclusive USA distribution agreement with Timothy Murtaugh trading as Symphony Environmental USA. Symphony further reported that it plans to carry out a nationwide public relations and marketing exercise in the USA for its d2w plastic additive product.

Michael Laurier, CEO of Symphony, commented: "We are delighted to announce the signing of the distribution agreement covering a key market for Symphony and are particularly pleased to have negotiated a long-term commitment from our chosen distribution partner.  This agreement marks the first stage of our strategic development in the US, where we believe there is significant potential to distribute the d2w controlled plastic and d2p anti-microbial additive technologies into one of the largest plastics markets in the world."

There were two contract announcements in February from Westminster Group. The first, a security contract with a national embassy in Kabul, was reported to be worth £75,000. The second RNS reported that Westminster had been awarded a number of contracts around the world to a total value of £275,000.

Forbidden Technologies announced that it had launched the Android version of Clesh, the consumer version of its video editing software. Clesh is now available as an app to download from the Google Market for £2.49.

Motive Television announced on 23 February that it had secured a grant of €80,000 from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland towards the production cost of its documentary entitled "The Irish of 9/11".

STOP PRESS: Motive Television further announced on 3 March that it had set up a new subsidiary in the United States – Motive Television Inc. The new subsidiary will be headquartered in New York with operational activities at client locations. Michael Pilsworth, Executive Chairman, commented  "The establishment of operations in the U.S. is illustrative of the global nature of our technology and the opportunities for growth and enhancement of long-term shareholder value."

Written by Michael Crockett, Aimzine

 Copyright © Aimzine Ltd 2011