Member Info for callit

It's somewhere between about 7-14% increase in revenue depending on which figure in the range you take.

Lovelyjubbly, keep them contracts coming Aero.. all the way to breakeven.

No desperate need for cash; 320k available to them as of 08 Sept.. Doubt they have burnt it all yet. "As at 8 September 2017 STG 190,000 remains undrawn from this facility and the company has a cash balance of STG 130,000." They just want to make sure they can cover any extra time until break-even. No rush just letting shareholders know they might need it in due course. "We expect to seek to strengthen our balance sheet in coming months to ensure that the business is adequately funded through to break even and the directors will consider a range of options including debt and equity." Panic over!

Hi Mcadder, I think the deadline for that one ran out at the end of Sept. I'm not sure if Aero applied for that one or not. I just wanted to show there is financial and political will to help UK tech companies expand into Malaysia. They should keep an eye out for any future Govt funding initiatives like this.

No shortage of UK Govt funding to foster UK-Malaysia partnership businesses. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-malaysia-partnerships-apply-for-innovation-funding If only we knew of a company due to expand into Malaysia :) "They plan to run the full AUTQ as a 2-week course, but also to integrate it in a shorter format into many different university courses, for example they run a degree course in Construction Management and a UAV specific module will become a key component of this. Following a successful start-up in Malaysia we intend to develop our relationship with the LKW group further to expand into their five universities in Africa. The start of this programme has been delayed for some time due to the complexity of planning and integration with the teaching staff and curricula in the Cyberjaya Technology University. This will result in a delay to our internal projections for this contract for the full year ended 31 December 2017. However, the delay has enabled us to further refine the course and deepen our relationship with LKW. We are also undertaking a joint student marketing programme with the university and the relationship with the university has introduced Strat Aero to a number of potential clients within the government sector in Malaysia. MUDAS & DCAM As we make inroads into Malaysia, we have gained support from MUDAS, the Malaysia Unmanned Drone Advocacy Society. They are promoting a "fly responsibly" policy for all UAS pilots in Malaysia, and are very keen to partner with Strat Aero as their preferred training company. We are looking at designing a short course for hobbyists that would be distributed through a partnership with MUDAS. In addition to MUDAS, we have had a letter of recommendation and endorsement signed by the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia and MUDAS, agreeing that AUTQ is the strongest and most comprehensive course and their preferred course in the region. This is a significant endorsement of the quality of AUTQ. These relationships are important and will help us to develop AUTQ as the de facto number one qualification in Malaysia. These endorsements also help raise the profile of Strat Aero and AUTQ and the application of UAV technology. A "pool" of well trained and qualified pilots also gives us the opportunity to consider the development of services related businesses in the country. We intend to scope these opportunities and develop appropriate business plans during Q4 of 2017."

Not necessarily. If they use debt funding and deliver on their promise to get to break-even the SP should re-rate upwards. I'm not against a placing at higher value to pay off the loan and possibly even release extra money to invest for rapid growth once the model is proven.

What does everyone think about the Jacobs deal to buy CH2M. I'm thinking it looks positive. https://www.ch2m.com/newsroom/news/jacobs-acquire-ch2m-create-premier-15-billion-global-solutions-provider i picked out a few bits of interest: "Compelling Strategic Benefits: Advancing Jacobs� Strategy to Grow in High Margin, High Growth Business Lines2 Provides Leading Position in Infrastructure, Including Water and Transportation: Water represents an approximate $100 billion opportunity, growing 4% to 5% on a compounded annual rate. Engineering News-Record has identified CH2M as the top water design firm in the world. By leveraging CH2M�s world-renowned technical expertise in water across Jacobs� global operating platform and strong project delivery skills, the combined company will have a premier global water business with the scale, critical mass and experience needed to more fully capitalize on industry growth trends." "Creates Significant Upside Revenue Potential: Through this transaction, Jacobs expects to serve more clients with more solutions in more geographies around the world. This differentiator, combined with CH2M�s proven Program Management / Construction Management (PM/CM) expertise, is expected to create significant revenue upside potential given the companies� complementary offerings and cross-sell opportunities. For example, following the close of the transaction, Jacobs will be able to offer CH2M�s water capabilities to existing Jacobs clients, deepening the company�s relationships in this growing sector and expanding Jacobs� scope of work." Honestly, they should just buy out Aero too and fully integrate with CH2M water offering, since all the awards they are winning are down to AERO anyway, and offset the 12M retained against tax. That alone is worth more than the Mcap. GLA DYOR

Thanks for the heads up on the video Mcadder. Sounds like you got in at a good price. :) Some interesting points of note in the video. Explains quite clearly where Geocurve fit in the ecosystem. Good solid civil engineering background sets them apart from diy drone outfits and emphasis on novel tech (not just drones) gives them a competitive advantage over existing civ eng incumbents. Just hitting that sweet spot right between the 2. DYOR GLA

Anyone know what TD is doing these days? :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETSl8gWsFZ0

@Schaden, shouldn't that read Old News? That RNS is from 2015. Try to keep up. Oh how things have changed since TD left and we got new management in charge. Where TD talked the talk about delivering courses overseas the new guy has actually delivered. The appointment of Mark Wharry to head the training division was key to this. Now moving rapidly, having completed train-the-trainer courses in Taiwan and Malaysia. Things look set to take off. DYOR GLA

Probably not as easy as that to work out AERO's share. Aero train the trainers; The trainers work for the university; the university delivers the courses; Aero provide some kind of examination and try to build an international prof body type organisation for qualified uav pilots. The bad news is Aero probably don't get to keep all the ticket price from the courses. The good news is the courses won't be too dependent on Aero staff so could see rapid expansion for very little cost to the company. The working of the courses into the curriculum as an elective is a selling point for Aero. I'd expect other Universities watching this carefully and could seek similar deals to bring this type of training to their students too. Aero well placed to capitalise on this growing sector!

Schaden, I was more talking about the staff redundancies and reduction of office costs in USA. It was a very smart move to get out of the states right now. It's not a good legislative environment to be in at present for drone companies and IMHO AERO made the right strategic decision to scale back there for the time being. AERO need to focus on other parts of the world, grow strong, and then in a few years return to the US and take a dominant position where the local incumbents have suffered and gone bust. I think consolidating offices in the UK is a good thing too. Not just for cost reduction but also for closer integration with Geocurve and the other parts of their business to foster greater innovation across the company. GLA DYOR

Would expect to see the cost savings from the USA start to filter through in a month or 2. Staff redundancies don't always save immediately because of possible severance payments. The software licences and office rental should go as well. I'm hoping to hear positive news about the new cost control system next time they report.

No problem mcadder. Once the placing issue is out of the way everyone can focus on the business again. I like the way they are turning around. Fingers crossed they can build momentum in their next set of figures. Just for the record if anyone from AERO is reading though; I'm not supportive of a placing and would prefer a debt solution with deep cost cutting measures.

A bit of info on how the courses will be rolled out at Limkokwing from the articles below. Set to expand to another 3 of the university campuses and says 10 university staff have been trained to deliver these courses. No doubt with a bit of hand holding from Aero. https://www.limkokwing.net/united_kingdom/news/article/limkokwing_to_be_first_asean_university_to_offer_certified_drone_training/ http://www.thestar.com.my/news/education/2017/10/01/training-to-use-drone-technology/ https://www.nst.com.my/lifestyle/bots/2017/09/284167/limkokwing-university-offer-drone-courses GLA DYOR