The latest Investing Matters Podcast with Jean Roche, Co-Manager of Schroder UK Mid Cap Investment Trust has just been released. Listen here.
This element could end up being some inspired foresight by WSG....
“The vending machine at transport hubs can't be far away? It might sound like small beer,... but imagine one in every railway station/ tube station/ coach station/shopping mall....”
The economy needs to restart. That needs people movement, and the science will want to have greater safeguards in place for health protection.
The potential With this trial is significant. It’s not just thee number if airports, but also the number of departures gates at each airport.
I can’t imagine Menzies moving the kit to each gate for each boarding, and besides there will often be multiple gates operating at the same time. So a single airport contract with Menzies, has to be worth a reasonable number of the kits. And then we Airfrance mentioned. if they like the trial, we and say they want that solution at their other airports.......
Could be a very sizeable contract at the end of this.
Website version includes contract value....
“ A sign that the world is beginning to open up to the ‘New Normal’ our enquiries for non Covid-19 products have risen significantly as industry begins its returns to work. In this respect we are pleased to have been awarded an important X-ray Screening contract, valued at over $136,000, to a key client in the Far East.
The contract not only includes advanced screening equipment but also implementation and training as part of a turnkey solution and one of the reasons the client chose Westminster as the designated specialist.”
Not huge, but helpful to understand. Seems like things are changing at WSG
Sounds like the pace of enquiries continues, and importantly, turning them into sales.
https://www.wsg-corporate.com/news/diversity-of-clients-product-portfolio-growth-and-return-to-work-marketing/
“A diverse array of market sectors including global financial institutions, governmental agencies, exhibition centres and another Super Bowl winning NFL team are amongst this week’s clients”
They have however signalled in the RNS yesterday that they are progressing things in KSA and will be back as soon as restrictions ease, they are progressing other opportunities, and there is a new business angle with PPE vending machines.
So they could’ve easily argue that whilst we weren’t told exact details (and never will do in advance) we were put on notice about these yesterday. Which leaves them free to buy shares. And if they suddenly find in 2,3,4 or how ever many weeks that one of these can be progressed to a contract, there’s no foul play. Just another view.
Covid even has its own tab on the WSG website now, not surprisingly. And quite rightly, they are very clearly signalling their own experience of working in the Ebola environment:
https://www.wi-ltd.com/covid-19-coronavirus-pandemic/
The immunity passport seemed like a good idea, but is losing traction. Biggest problem is that no one yet knows how and if immunity will affect reinfection rates, or how long immunity will last. Which is why WHO will not endorse it.
In time we will get a clearer sense of whether immunity passports are viable, but at present the evidence isn’t there. So alternative measures to prevent and detect are the most viable options. Airports need to get traffic moving, so they need something now which assists in mitigating risks. Scanners fit the bill.
There is another dynamic to consider.
Flights in general are down something like 90%. Whilst yes that hits SL and of course other potential airport work, it also means that there is now a need to find other ways to move the freight that would normally travel by air. Air freight costs have increased due to significantly reduced availability in holds on routine passenger flights which are used normally.
If it’s not perishable and you can’t get enough airfreight, then containers seem likely to pick up some of this requirement. So with a foot in one of the newest and growing ports in Africa, that bodes well for Tema - which just happens to have another berth coming on stream.
Let’s also not forget that they were also scoping ports elsewhere - the Saudi JV announcement made reference to ports.
But then of course tech (fever scanning) will be a driving factor in getting airports back up and running. WSG are bound to win some business here to some extent.
So the downturn is SL volumes is a minor bump in my view and very likely to be drowned out by other far more interesting and lucrative options.
The benefits of diversifying your income streams!
Two gone through so far. Maybe our seller again, but hasn’t inhibited rise this week, so no big drama.
Nice and steady each day is what we need til results. And seems likely we might also see some more detail on ongoing tech sales when we do get the results.
Wrong I’m afraid DHC.
N95 is a specific certified type. Other equally equivalent masks go by other names - all depends on where manufactured and certified. It’s no more complex than that. It’s a sellers market so supplies are coming from a wide range of places.
All of the above based on experience of buying very significant quantities every week at present, following PHE and HSE advice. The only thing that matters is whether the certification meets an equivalent standard.
Max, awaiting some other news - you may just be correct.
They clearly know the headline numbers from the audit already and have quoted them. And it’s reasonable to conclude that the late notification of delay came because they were still hoping to be able to report on time until very recently. So why push it back 2 full weeks?
It certainly allows confidence to have completed the audit. But feels overly cautious for that alone. Maybe there is a little more to be included in the RNS than we were expecting? Time will tell.
So, despite formal report being delayed, we are given the headlines, which were pretty much expected.
£10.6m in 18/19, with confirmation of £4.2m in Q1 this year alone. EBITDA positive too. And all of this against mkt cap of about £15m - depending upon sp at time you look at this.
If we those Q1 numbers, and EBITDA positive, a better SP range will follow. Cash in the bank and stock to sell in a sellers market.
What matters is that the foundations are clearly now solid. Any further positive news should move this along nicely.
So an expected impact at Lungi, no impact at Tema yet, and most important another $250k fever kit sales this week.
About as good as we can expect in current environment. The fever kit uplift is most welcome and i see the end of financial year numbers looking rather posituce positive despite the current climate.
Given previous turn over, £720k on fever detection kit is a very material contribution. More than j was expecting, so hood news indeed.
As you say, market turmoil will continue to play havoc, but we are af least one of the few companies seeing a business upside to the current crisis. And come end of year, that adds nicely to the numbers - an extra boost whilst Tema works up to bigger throughput.
Plenty of positives there:
1. Long term production given green light
2. Current costs of $19 per barrel (just over £15 at current rate) can be reduced even further
3. Opens up viability of debt funding - a really key point in my view
That’s a major turning point for the company. I wouldn’t be surprised if we now see see some better figures on HH2 over coming weeks as they finish the clean up. Also confirms that even in the midst of the current oil price depression, they can still make a reasonable margin. And with 85% of that coming back to UKOG, it’s all lining up well. Price of oil will begin to rise soon enough.
A question though - does the production consent also enable greater tanker movements per day? We have to get the oil away. I know there’s a limit at present on number of HGV movements per day - anyone know if that was purely during exploration and drilling stage? Does this consent change that?