Charles Jillings, CEO of Utilico, energized by strong economic momentum across Latin America. Watch the video here.
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New appointment - interesting detail about the new AI-enabled safety tech:
Https://news.railbusinessdaily.com/petards-rail-bolsters-team-with-new-appointment/
"Petards Rail bolsters team with new appointment
April 22, 2024
Leading provider of intelligent train technology, Petards Rail has appointed Calvin Fahey to the role of procurement manager.
Calvin is Level 3 Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) certified and brings with him near a decade’s worth of experience within procurement-related roles.
In his role at Petards Rail, Calvin will spearhead the company’s procurement team and processes, ensuring the timely and cost-effective acquisition of materials and services.
Petards Rail designs and delivers train technology to help companies within the rail industry maximise passenger safety, optimise train performance and meet ever increasing passenger and industry demands. Its technology includes forward facing and rear facing cameras, track debris cameras, an on-train camera/monitor system, Automatic Selective Door Operation, interior cameras and pantograph surveillance cameras. In addition, the company offers supporting services and a back-office software, eyeTrain Connect.
In the latter half of 2023, the company launched its PTeye solution which, incorporating the latest in AI-ready technology, was developed to prevent trap and drag incidents before train dispatch and, as a secondary safety measure, to detect drag.
At this time, the company also strengthened its team with the appointment of Jack Teichman to the role of rail engineer. An experienced mechanical design engineer, Jack joined Petards Rail having held a breadth of engineering roles such as product engineer, configuration engineer and outfit engineer, across a variety of industries including defence and electricals.
Speaking of his appointment, Calvin said: “I am thrilled to join Petards Rail as procurement manager. The company’s commitment to customer service and developing high-calibre intelligent rail solutions, made it an easy decision.
“I enjoy using data to inform continuous improvement, be it cost reductions, optimising supplier relationships or implementing more efficient procurement processes. I am looking forward to applying this in my role at Petards Rail and contributing to the success of a dynamic company.”
Victoria Hodge, general manager of Petards Rail, said: “I am delighted to announce the addition of Calvin to the Petards Rail team. His wealth of expertise and dedication to quality and continuous improvement align perfectly with our company values.
“It is an exciting time for Petards Rail marked by our recent win at the SPOTLIGHT awards and the launch of our new lifesaving technology. It is great to have Calvin on this journey with us.”
With decades of experience in the rail industry, Petards Rail has worked with organisations throughout the sector, from rolling stock companies to train operators
Perhaps a little buying has been coming in on the back of the overnight news that the UK's largest train factory owned by Alstom (a PEG customer) has been saved with a government order of ten commuter trains...
Https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1889256/alstom-train-manufacturer-saved-transport-secretary-deal
Interesting ..... do we know anything about Mr Lobbenberg?
This morning's RNS shows yet another new major shareholder who's been buying and now has over 3% - John Peter Lobbenberg has 3.2%, or 1.82m shares:
Https://uk.advfn.com/stock-market/london/petards-PEG/share-news/Petards-Group-PLC-Holdings-in-Company/93343492
Hybridan have a new note out today.
They forecast a £0.3m operating profit this year, or 0.9p EPS, with a £2m cash pile against the current £4.4m m/cap.
They have an interesting paragraph in particular re QRO:
"We believe that QRO Solutions will pursue growth opportunities in ULEZ (ultra low emission zone) charges and car parks in the UK and perhaps expand its footprint to overseas markets."
8.43p up 36%
WH Ireland's update note this morning talks about the positive start to this year, and rehashes today's contract win news, until this decent summary in the last paragraph given the mere £3.4m m/cap:
"With a range of fundamentally competitive products in their respective markets, we see real potential for improvement as the rail market recovers and highlight the group’s robust net cash position (FY2024E WHI est: £2.7m). Trading on low single digit P/Es for FY2024E and with net cash making up over 50% of the market cap at the year ended FY2023E, we view the shares as undervalued at current levels"
Another contract win announced for QRO, this time for in-vehicle ANPR as opposed to the prior contract win in AI cameras.
And it's for a new police force customer too:
Https://uk.advfn.com/stock-market/london/petards-PEG/share-news/Petards-Group-PLC-Contract-Win/93307967
Good (though not particularly material) to see the £300k contract renewal for RTS's software licences, maintenance and support services:
Https://uk.advfn.com/stock-market/london/petards-PEG/share-news/Petards-Group-PLC-Contract-Extension/93271673
I actually though this news the other day was much more significant - Siemens (a PEG customer) has transferred a load of train building work from Austria to its Goole factory:
"for a busier-than-expected spring opening, creating 2,400 jobs and signaling a resurgence in British manufacturing. The factory will produce 94 energy-efficient metro trains for the Piccadilly Line, modernizing the fleet and easing overcrowding during peak hours"
And:
"Siemens is setting its sights on securing additional contracts for both the London Underground and mainline railways"
I have no idea whether PEG will directly gain work from this. But perhaps it signals that the hiatus in UK train contracts is at last beginning to break. If so, PEG are likely to be one of the beneficiaries:
Https://bnnbreaking.com/world/siemens-goole-factory-a-new-era-for-british-manufacturing-and-the-piccadilly-line
Buy quantity is limited now. Will not take too much before it moves again
Very little stock available at 5p so could see a move back to double digits quickly
TO - £9.4M vs £10.9M in FY22
Market Cap - £2.5M
£1.2M of funds with no debt
Slightly illiquid
Technology sector
Expects to deliver improved trading in the year ahead.
Dropped from 15p to 5p
Hybridan have a new note out today after the contract win.
They forecast £0.3m PBT and a £0.5m PAT this year.
They see the cash pile growing to just over £2m by December against the £2.49m m/cap.
There's some useful info re QRO and the new contract win:
"The cameras will be installed at several strategic highway locations in the UK
allowing QRO to showcase the Harrier AI nationally to existing and potential police force customers.
The Harrier AI camera was designed and built by QRO in the UK and launched in December 2023. Empowered by Nvidia’s Jetson processors, it delivers real-time analytics ANPR software-enabled data processing and is powered by machine learning algorithms, making it adaptive and responsive to ever-changing road conditions and offering functions such as vehicle make, model and colour detection and traffic flow analysis."
"Hybridan’s view: QRO Solutions designs, manufactures, and installs cameras for roadside, overbridge and in-vehicle deployment and offers android handheld alerting software, database software and field services. QRO Solutions has an estimated 35% share in the UK police market for ANPR cameras. We believe that QRO Solutions will pursue growth opportunities in ULEZ (ultra-low emission zone) charges and car parks in the UK and perhaps expand its footprint to overseas markets.
Petards’ FY22 annual report indicates that QRO revenues increased 17% in 2022, despite the shortage of microprocessors in the early part of 2022 and QRO’s revenues had tripled since 2017, i.e., the first full year of Petards ownership. We believe that the success of QRO demonstrates Petards’ ability to acquire and integrate acquired businesses."
Huge £8 trade off the back of it.
Intriguing news - QRO has been awarded a £0.4 contract for Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled ANPR cameras.
It's the first such sale, so whilst the £0.4m is welcome it's the strategic value of the first such AI contract win which is most encouraging. Hopefully lots more to come:
Https://uk.advfn.com/stock-market/london/petards-PEG/share-news/Petards-Group-PLC-Contract-Win/93160751
PEG's m/cap is now £2.1m after the trading update, against a cash pile of essentially £1.5m including the delayed receipt.
The below expectations update reflects the hiatus in train build industry expenditure, bur even so isn't a complete disaster as I assume QRO continues to trade well, resulting in a new WH Ireland forecast of a £0.6m LBT for 2023.
I just wonder what PEG would be worth if the 3 divisions were sold off separately. Surely a multiple of £2.1m?
WH Ireland - presumably after discussions with management - have retained their forecasts for this year of £10.9m revenues, £0.3m PBT and 1.1p EPS, with £2.3m net cash at the end of the year.
Liquidating their position at any old price is a sign of troubles unrelated to Petards. This kind of thing happens, creating an opportunity for new and existing shareholders to come in and take up stock at an attractive price.
Yet another new major shareholder - Philip J Milton & Company Plc have notified they now have 4.29%, or almost 2.43m shares:
Https://uk.advfn.com/stock-market/london/petards-PEG/share-news/Petards-Group-PLC-Holdings-in-Company/92937027
They're wealth managers from Devon:
Https://www.miltonpj.net/
The two Jons plus Milton have therefore bought and notified they're holding around 10.5% of PEG in the last month, i.e Charwell's stake and more (though of course the newbies may have held some stock beforehand), so they may also have picked up some of Miton's stock sold as per yesterday's RNS.
For the record, Techinvest reviewed PEG's interims as follows:
"Petards Group
4.75p (PEG; AIM)
Results for the six months ended June 30 showed revenue down 20% to £4.4m and an adjusted EBITDA loss of £0.06m compared to a profit of £0.61m in the first-half last time. The post-tax loss was £0.3m (H1 2022: £0.1m). Cash generated from
operating activities was £0.25m and net funds at the period-end were unchanged at £1.7m (2.9p per share).
Against a difficult economic backdrop, we feel this was a reasonably resilient performance from Petards. Management reported that rail and defence markets remained challenging but rail tendering activities were significantly higher in
the period than in recent years. Full-year guidance was pared down as a result of the revenue drop in the first-half.
However, the outlook for the following year looks more promising, with first orders already received for a range of new product launches. Moreover, the order book remains stable at £4.0m, providing a reasonable underpinning for the confidence expressed by management in an improved second-half performance for the current
year. Hold"
4.10-4.359
Public opinion
Ok think it's worth a punt, could only buy the last ones available under 4. Maybe this is the Santa bagger there's always one
And another Jonathan (Hicking)! He now has just over 3% with 1.75m shares, so the Two Jons have now bought 6.26% between them:
Https://uk.advfn.com/stock-market/london/petards-PEG/share-news/Petards-Group-PLC-Holdings-in-Company/92809435
Recovery on it's way and they have also mentioned in their posting they are confident for the future in 2024 and beyond. Ha ha ! I sound like Buzz Lightyear !!
Don’t understand why Charwell sold in such a fashion as the Company, with its large cash balances, could have bought the entire holding. No Directors buying, under these circumstances , tells me that something may be afoot.. I think at this price it’s tremendously undervalued depending on what the various business are valued on a stand alone basis.
New major shareholder Jonathan Cranston now owns 3.22% (1.82m shares) - looks like quite an experienced company director - probably investing off his own bat on a value basis?
Https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/VzmajniaB4X1mvUMJHJgfgrdDms/appointments
Https://uk.advfn.com/stock-market/london/petards-PEG/share-news/Petards-Group-PLC-Holdings-in-Company/92797709
Looks like a forced sale of shares at any price from Charwell. Crazy.
Mind you, no director buying to be seen. Presumably not a closed period as we're still over two weeks before the year end (unless there are transactions or news flow ongoing).