Member Info for Qd22

Thanks Basscadet, useful as ever.

One excerpt:

"Russell eschewed traditional lidar designs and built a new one on a different wavelength and with the chemical compound indium gallium arsenide instead of the typical silicon — more powerful but still safe for eyes. Luminar says its system provides a full seven seconds for a self-driving system to react to an object 250 meters away, longer than its competitors."

Money Week have a major feature this week, their 'investment focus' slot, tagged on the cover as 'How to invest in Africa's coming tech boom'.

Under 'what to buy' there are just 2 ETFs, and 4 companies, of which AAF is one, and of which only AAF is both genuinely widely spread and inexpensive.

PS But I'm surprised today that it has fallen so little, given the rise yesterday on no substantive news. That bodes well.

After such a great rise yesterday I made the happy discovery last night that I had duplicated holdings in different accounts, and had nearly twice as much as I thought. There are some benefits to age!

Such a large proportion of my pf in what was yesterday a less than 15m mcap tiddler was obviously not wise and I took advantage of the rise to sell this morning, in tranches. Market size is only 20k. Some but not all of the extra: so effectively for me it's a top up - bought yesterday at 1.5p!

OK, Alliance News release a few minutes ago:

(Alliance News) - Gama Aviation PLC on Friday announced its US subsidiary Gama Aviation Engineering Inc has acquired Trenton, New Jersey-based Jet East Aviation from East Coast Aviation LLC for USD7.7 million.

The Farnborough, England-based business aviation service provider said its subsidiary will pay USD7.7 million upfront from its existing resources, with a further USD1 million in deferred cash payable over two years. It also will assume USD3.2 million of business aviation aircraft maintenance provider Jet East's debt.

Gama Aviation said the acquisition will "substantially" enhance its already extensive maintenance capability within the US, capturing "further market share with 15,000 active business aviation aircraft."

"This strategically important acquisition enlarges and strengthens our presence in the US, the world's largest business aviation market. The combined business will also be well positioned to benefit from the inevitable recovery in US business aviation activity once the pandemic impact subsides. This is a deal that enhances our service offering to our clients, is anticipated to be value accretive to our shareholders and will provide opportunity for our people," said Chief Executive Marwan Khalek.

..... Not sure what I think of it. Cost US$11.2 million. Loss making?

Why can't I see the RNS? Had to go to the website to find this (which is long on froth and short on details, like how much did it cost?).

https://www.gamaaviation.com/news/business-aviation/gama-aviation-acquires-jet-east/

But I'm glad to see they're active.

Well done on the precautions Meddler, sounds wise. Thinking of you!

SP now highest since 2017.

Looks good to me....

"The second half of the year has seen strong momentum built with recurring revenue bookings 80% higher than in the first half, achieved from both existing and new customers. Momentum has been driven by the significant growth in online retail, the addition of innovative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Search capabilities which were acquired from Aleph Search in October 2020, and a continued focus on execution. Consequently, revenue and EBITDA for the full year are expected to show growth in line with market expectations.

The Group signed 38 multi-year contract renewals in the year, compared with 21 renewals in 2019. The second half of the year has seen strong momentum built with recurring revenue bookings 80% higher than in the first half, achieved from both existing and new customers. Momentum has been driven by the significant growth in online retail, the addition of innovative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Search capabilities which were acquired from Aleph Search in October 2020, and a continued focus on execution. Consequently, revenue and EBITDA for the full year are expected to show growth in line with market expectations.

The Group signed 38 multi-year contract renewals in the year, compared with 21 renewals in 2019. "

@philpot I'm not young either, but the ethical focus was a prequisite for me buying here. Was very pleased to see a palm oil producer that looked to be a good investment and also I could invest in with a good conscience. When there's choice why not pick a good one? Plus, to be totally mercenary about it too (!), ESG companies usually do better in the long run anyway.

Continued...

3. Testing going on as strongly as ever. Antigen tests seem to be the most used at the moment [my perception], and ours picks up the new variant. Plus:
"The Group's COVID-19 antigen test has 4+1 gene discovery capability, including the S protein, compared with a market standard of one to three gene discovery. This enables it to provide more accurate results, reducing the risk of false positives and false negatives. The Group is now offering its 4+1 kit as its standard COVID-19 antigen test, which is being delivered to several private and government customers in Europe and other geographies."

4. Whole new area opening up, in which we not only have the lead, but also a major customer: "the delivery of the first of its new instrument that recovers high-quality protein and oils from insects to a world renowned company focused on commercialising industrial scale insect-based technologies to produce feedstock."
This could be bigger than any of us realise. I suspect following the pandemic the production of food may change radically the world over in the next 10 years. Oil for fish production is a particular problem.

Agreed. Everything seemed to have gone a bit quiet since the stonking interims in August [EPS +157.1%] - and the SP down nearly 25%!

It hasn't gone quiet - though Marom may have a bit, no more "feeding the rabbits the very best carrots"!

1. Great results, as above.

2. Really really interesting update re Ador in December, into which some of this money from NGSoft may be going:
"The Boards of Ador and of BATM believe that there is a substantial market opportunity for an RCA-based sample-to-answer solution that is able to be used at the point of care as well as in laboratories for the diagnosis of infectious disease. The speed and accuracy of identifying an infection can be vital in providing the correct treatment and in containing potential disease outbreaks. As a result, Ador has taken the strategic decision to focus its resources on developing this ground-breaking technology while continuing to advance its PCR-based NATlab system.
Investment of $10m into Ador
To expedite the development of the new RCA-based system, the Group and all its partners in Ador have invested an additional amount of $10m, of which BATM has contributed $3m, pursuant to an amendment to the investment agreement announced on 28 January 2019. Following this additional investment, the Group's shareholding in Ador is 36.7%."
This new equipment looks amazing:
"Ador has developed a new innovative technology based on the polymerase chain reaction ("PCR") process as well as an isothermal method called rolling circle amplification ("RCA") to enable NATlab to increase the speed of providing sample-to-answer diagnostics to under 30 minutes.
RCA-based molecular diagnosis offers significant advantages compared with the PCR process. Due to the different methods for replicating the genetic material in a sample, RCA is less prone to errors and the reaction with the test material occurs in c. 15-20 minutes compared with c. 60-90 minutes for PCR. As a result, the NATlab system will now be able to provide test results in a significantly shorter amount of time and with greater accuracy than first envisaged.
The NATlab can analyse several pathogens (currently up to 400) at the same time thus enabling it to detect all the possible pathogens associated with diseases such as meningitis, sepsis and respiratory diseases. By accurately detecting the right strain of a disease, the correct treatment can be started immediately - something that is not possible with the PCR methods that exist today. In addition, the development timeframe for the NATlab to be able to test for new pathogens is up to 10 times shorter than for existing solutions, which would be a significant advantage during epidemics and pandemics of a novel disease."
Worth reading the whole RNS. In-hospital trials H1 2021.

With Biden now having taken the Senate as well I expect his aggressive green infrastructure plans will benefit Somero. Almost everything uses concrete, and a great deal of infrastructure needs renewal.

And it won't do any harm to show main street America that Democrats spending money benefits the the gun-toting hard man in the street.

Non-exec Chairman buying £244,000 worth of shares. That's some recommendation. :))

So much opportunity elsewhere that I've taken a topslice today, after such a great rise in just a couple of months. 70%. But I really believe in this, and will top up again if we have a pullback now, funds permitting.

The rest is now for the long term. It's probably just beginning.

PS. And it's up over 17% today, so you're right about the following!

Just to say about Griffiths, if you're following him: today there was an RNS from Bigblu Broadband (BBB), he's just come in there straight to 5.87% of a £54m mcap company. Encouraging for me, since I bought in there end December :)

On top of our already good list of institutional investors it's great to see Richard Griffiths coming in also, straight up to 5.87%.

Thanks for all your information Rivaldo. I bought this last January after you brought it to my attention and Mark Watson-Mitchell's recommendation. After today's 5.5% I'm up nearly 80%, so thank you! I think his expectation was a 50% rise from 36p, and more recently 70p. Nearly there: how do you see it now?

PS I note Slater and Chelverton are both finding the way in rather than the exit.