Pennant International Share Price (PEN)

In active contract talks worth “seven figures” in revenue.
Contracted order book covers 90 per cent of 2021 estimates.
Proforma net cash and access to low-cost debt facilities
A Covid-19 pandemic induced first half underlying operating loss of £2m on revenue of £6m, reversed into a second half operating profit of £1m on revenue of £9.1m. These figures exclude £0.54m of restructuring expenses which will produce £1m of cost savings in 2021. Prospects for the momentum to build are undeniably positive.
Firstly, £14.4m of Pennant’s £31m order book is for delivery in 2021 and includes two valuable government multi-year contracts (£5.4m of annual revenue) with the Canadian and Australian defence departments to use Pennant’s Oracle-based OmegaPS software product (reduces the support cost of major capital equipment). The 2021 order book also includes £1.4m of revenue from Absolute Data Group (ADG), a Brisbane-based software company that complements Pennant’s OmegaPS software. ADG helps its client base (military aviation, commercial aerospace, and marine, rail, nuclear and automotive sectors) to manage vast quantities of maintenance and training data.
Pennant’s chief executive Phil Walker informed me that ADG, which was acquired for £3.4m last year, is “performing exceptionally well” and is in active contract talks with a US defence original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and an Australian company in relation to contracts worth “seven figures in revenue”. ADG’s North American trading subsidiary accounts for two-thirds of its annual sales. Winning either award would drive up earnings markedly given the high margins earned on software sales.
Secondly, having landed a £1.5m training aids contract from a long standing Middle East customer last year, Walker revealed that the balance of the contract (around £3m) needs to be signed by the autumn for it to be fulfilled for the start of the 2022 academic year.
Thirdly, Pennant’s £50m bid pipeline includes the 'Major Programme', for which it was 'down-selected' in August 2018. Progress to contract award (£15m to £20m) has been impacted by the UK Government's 'Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy'. The Review was finally published last month and reaffirmed the UK Government's commitment to the relevant military platform. This means that the overarching programme should proceed, albeit Walker doesn’t expect any contract award until the latter part of 2021, at the earliest.
Importantly, Pennant has balance sheet flexibility to fulfil its working capital requirements as business ramps up again. Proforma net cash is £1.1m and Pennant has a £4m low-cost bank facility with HSBC.
The bottom line is that although house broker WH Ireland’s 2021 revenue estimate of £16m produces a modest pre-tax profit, there is a live chance of material outperformance if ADG lands any one of several live contracts in its pipeline. Buy.

Can not be right with PEN!
Usually 5-6%

Agreed that is good news. I was a touch worried about the large sell last week but must have been done in installments.

Good to see a value investor increasing its stake before results next month.

Possibly, travel restrictions could hinder PEN's ability to provide training (no idea if they can provide it virtually). With high alert Covid, organsations may not have their eye on training as priority and may defer again. Hope I am wrong for the sake of all LTH. PEN's a lovely co. and I hope to be back soon. Decided to bank profits to recycle into other stocks I've been watching. Some lovely £100k buys last week by IIors (?) providing SP support. GLA