Batm Advanced Communicat... Share Discussion Threads

[fse] 01/3/2017 17:05

Just looked over the update. Its difficult to say much more than I already said above about how this is all playing out. 2015 year end was arguably the start of the turn around and this year is building on that and the company expects to have positive cash inflow for 2016 as a whole.

H2 in 2016 was reported as being significantly ahead of H1 2016 and this is what I would like to see, if we had seen slippage in H2 that would have sent off alarm bells at this point in the cycle, but we are assured thats not the case.

Heres what they said ..... "The Group also expects to report that EBITDA in the second half of the year was significantly ahead of the first half and that for FY 2016 there was a cash inflow compared with cash outflow in 2015."

As far as this being a jam tomorrow company and not building on the bottom line..... OK that not an entirely unfair take unless you look more in depth and are more familiar with the company. They have struggled to turn this company around and its been slow but they have made progress.
BATM is an entirely different outfit now than it was years ago. This has all been achieved without going to the markets and investors for cash and without running up Bank loans etc, I do feel that the markets have given them little or no credit for this. If as they claim they are now generating a profit on top of the costs of entirely reinventing the company I fail to see how thats not progress and growth.

This is the first full year that we will see the company existing off revenues from what is now a different company, and they are expecting to be bottom line profitable. Management have for some time now felt they have turned the corner. Revenue growth appears to have started in earnest H2 2016 and are expected to build into 2017.

I maintain that the company is undervalued basically on the basis of this statement, which ties in with my own research ........

"The Group remains optimistic in its outlook due to the visibility of revenues from contracts already signed as well as growth in the Bio-Medical division........"


Added comment: Remember these figures are quoted $US and the $USD is currently in the stratosphere. The share price is quoted in GBP which is heading in the other direction.

[james dean] 01/3/2017 08:52

RNS Number : 1347Y

BATM Advanced Communications Ld

01 March 2017



BATM Advanced Communications Limited

("BATM" or "the Group")



Trading Update and Notice of Results



BATM Advanced Communications Limited (LSE: BVC), a leading provider of real-time technologies for networking solutions and medical laboratory systems, announces an update on trading for the year ended 31 December 2016 (the "Period") ahead of announcing its final results for the Period on 8 March 2017.



The momentum achieved in the first half of the Period continued in the second half with a number of significant contracts across all divisions being announced, the majority of which will fall into 2017, giving the Group good visibility on revenues. The improvement has been largely driven by the Bio-Medical division which is expected to account for 57% of Group revenue for the Period.



Consequently, BATM is expected to report that its adjusted operating profit improved in the second half such that it expects to be profitable at this level for the Period. The Group also expects to report that EBITDA in the second half of the year was significantly ahead of the first half and that for FY 2016 there was a cash inflow compared with cash outflow in 2015.



As a result of certain expected revenue streams falling outside of the Period, BATM expects to report revenues of slightly more than $90m for the Period. The delay in revenue was due to the delivery of a contract in the Cyber business moving from 2016 to 2017 as well as the timing of the closing of some significant tenders in the Telecom business. The delay in delivery of the contract in the Cyber business was due to the counterparty being late in integrating their services which meant BATM completing the supply of its goods and services in Q1 2017 instead of Q4 2016. The Group's customer has amended this contract with the total value increasing to $5.2m from $4.5m.



The Group remains optimistic in its outlook due to the visibility of revenues from contracts already signed as well as growth in the Bio-Medical division in which Adaltis, which received the investment from its Chinese Joint Venture partner before the end of the Period, is expected to accelerate its progress in 2017 and further enhance the already growing Diagnostics business.



The Group will provide full details at the time of its final results announcement.



Enquiries:


BATM Advanced Communications


Dr Zvi Marom, Chief Executive Officer

[phone]

Moti Nagar, Chief Financial Officer


finnCap


Stuart Andrews, Scott Mathieson

[phone]



Shore Capital

Mark Percy, Anita Ghanekar

[phone]


Luther Pendragon


Harry Chathli, Claire Norbury

[phone]




The information communicated in this announcement is inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation 596/2014.




This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange


END



MSCLFFILFEITFID

[nasdaqpat] 01/3/2017 07:29

I think the share price will go Down today as the update reveals, once again, no bottom line progress for 2016. It is always jam tomorrow with this company which is clearly run for the benefit of staff (especially Directors) and not Shareholders.

I don't think I have ever known a company to take this long to recover...the current management clearly don't have the cojones to properly expand...they like it nice and steady so its easier to run for their own personal kudos.

[paulisi] 01/3/2017 07:21

Fairly positive trading statement. Should see a small bounce on the back of this.Prospects for 2017 look good.

[fse] 24/2/2017 16:53

Telco are busy getting the word out. Found this in my email from them.
Will try to post the link to the white paper.


"White Paper: Metro Ethernet Weatherproof Demarcation
-Any service, any place, any time

More than ever, the tremendous growth of Ethernet network deployments across the world is driving the need for metro service switches that can be deployed outdoors or in unconditioned indoor environments. This requires an environmentally hardened, physically secured enclosure to house the metro service switches.

Telecommunications Service providers are looking for alternative solutions where traditional installations in a building are not possible because the customer or carrier does not offer 24 hour access.

This white paper provides solutions to these challenges."

FSE> Actually you can link to these white papers through Telco Website, worth looking at. As far as us investors go I feel we are at the stage where its definitely finally "all happening" the downside being that revenue will still be stunted until POC's turn into orders. Having said that they do appear to be selling some kit so really what we should be looking for in the next results is for them to be holding their own which they just might do. Medical Division Growth though should continue at @12% maybe higher which will have the effect of a combined growth for all division over 7% to 8%. Thats undervaluing this company at these levels. I feel we should be in the 34p to 36p range instead of struggling to break 20p. All IMO at time of writing.

Heres the link

[fse] 23/2/2017 20:51

March 21-24 March, 2017
Marriot Rive Gauche, Paris, France
Visit Conference Site

Telco Systems is pleased to invite you to learn about and experience our innovative NFV security and vCPE white box solution at the MPLS + SDN + NFV World event in Paris on March 21-24, 2017.
We will be exhibiting at booth #201.

Telco Systems, the world leader for innovative access solutions, will be presenting our extensive MPLS CE 2.0 L2/L3 portfolio and our innovative NFV solutions.

Come and meet us to learn how our solutions empower communications service providers to increase revenues, simplify operations and assure customer retention and satisfaction.

We are looking forward to seeing you in Paris!



FSE> Its worth clicking on the link above to see the other companies exhibiting.
Its also worth reminding that in 2015 Telco were exhibiting POC so things have progressed to where orders should start to be coming in. Netrounds who BATM have collaborated with before are a couple of booths down from them. Also the old partners Nokia.

"Media Coverage "Oct 12, 2015"
"Telco Systems leads NFV concept demo in collaboration with Orange, Cisco, Intel and Netrounds"

[fse] 16/2/2017 14:26

Telco Systems Wins Cybersecurity Excellence Award for Second Year in a Row

16/02/2017 2:00pm
PR Newswire (US)

BATM Advanced Communications (LSE:BVC)
Intraday Stock Chart
Today : Thursday 16 February 2017

Click Here for more BATM Advanced Communications Charts.
MANSFIELD, Massachusetts, February 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Telco Systems, the leading provider of innovative CE 2.0, MPLS, IP and SDN & NFV solutions, today announced that the company has won the Cybersecurity Excellence Award in the category for SDN/NFV Security.

(Logo: hxxp://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150311/732930 )
The Cybersecurity Excellence Awards is an annual competition honoring individuals and companies that demonstrate excellence, innovation and leadership in information security.

Telco Systems received this award recognition for the second consecutive year for its NFV CyberGuard solution for protecting SDN and NFV networks against cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

"The SDN and NFV plans of the leading service providers around the world are gaining momentum. Most have already started deployments, while many others are in advanced stages of their technology investigations and PoCs. Along with this progress, the understanding of the security risks of SDN and NFV technologies have been recognized by many industry organizations, including ETSI and the Cloud Security Alliance, and are expressed in the architecture guidelines of most Tier 1 telcos," commented Raanan Tzemach, Vice President of Product Management at Telco Systems. "We are very pleased to win this award for the second year in a row and to receive this important recognition for our unique approach for protecting SDN and NFV networks."

NFV CyberGuard is a cybersecurity solution purposely designed to protect SDN and NFV infrastructures used by communications service providers. NFV CyberGuard mitigates the cybersecurity vulnerabilities caused by the fact that SDN and NFV networks are dynamic, software-based and designed to be remotely programmed and controlled with distributed architecture.

NFV CyberGuard combines advanced networking collectors infrastructure, a smart dedicated big data analytics engine, and monitoring and enforcement modules. The solution leverages anomaly detection analytics for the advanced identification of patterned and non-patterned security attacks on the control plane, service chain and logical flows. It provides complete visibility of the entire network, real-time analysis of network threats and the ability to apply cybersecurity policies to the entire infrastructure.

To learn more about how Telco Systems is helping reduce the security vulnerabilities inherent to SDN and NFV technologies and infrastructures, please download our new whitepaper on Protecting SDN and NFV Networks from Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities.

Telco Systems will be exhibiting NFV CyberGuard along with its entire portfolio of networking solutions at the MPLS+SDN+NFV World event at Booth # 201 in Paris, France during March 21 to March 24.

[fse] 14/2/2017 14:53

Some interesting observations here which do some what explain the sluggish progress in the Telco sector.

[fse] 08/2/2017 20:34

thanks dds good spot.

[reeltime] 07/2/2017 22:41

BATM boss hails expansion of medical diagnostic business with new acquisition.

[fse] 07/2/2017 17:01

>cumnor.... I agree with that sentiment.re Telco.
There has been significant movement in the medical division and whilst we lament the slow progress in the Telco division I think particularly new investors, who are not so familiar with past history, may be taking a look at the company from a different perspective.

In 2009 BATM was split 78% Telco 22% Medical
By 2015 BATM was split 40% Telco 60% Medical

2016 year end will see this trend continue estimate 37% Telco 63% Medical

So what or how has the medical division done whilst Telco slid

Revenue. Medical Division.

2009 30M
2010 41M (+37%)
2011 46M (+11%)
2012 49M (+6%)
2013 53M (+8%)
2014 59M (+11%)
2015 66M (+12%)

Not sure if that formatted OK but you get the picture. This is strong sustainable growth over several years. At the present time I would expect the medical division to meet or exceed what they have done thus far.

The valuation at 20P is more than justified for the Medical division alone and as such it is a pretty attractive growth play.
Telco really is in there for nothing now as is the cyber security and the other small divisions.
We really can't say how Telco will perform, they have the kit and all the awards, but too many unknowns.

Edit: I am happy to share any research but remember its IMO. I also use this thread to look back to see what the situation was a year or more ago.

[cumnor] 07/2/2017 06:19

Thanks FSE. Surprised price rose today on what appeared to be very minor news and acquisiton-compared to some previous RNS's where there was not a stir. I suppose its the message of confidence it sends out and being in a position to pay cash-unlike many companies. Nice to get something on Telco soon though-or even a complete sale.

[reeltime] 06/2/2017 22:35

FSE - Thanks very much for your research and comments.

[fse] 06/2/2017 15:48

Heres the RNS if you have not already seen it.
It gives us a much clearer picture as to just what BATM are up to.
Its important as I have already said from a distribution aspect in a sector that is changing the way we look at and handle medical testing with emerging technologies.

Whats it worth ? Well Zer handled some 2M of testing revenue, not sure what % was for example Down Syndrome testing. If we look at just potential revenue from Zer implementing Natura Panorama test it could be significant. These type of tests are becoming much more widely used due to them being just a blood test and far less invasive. Presently its a rapidly growing market but the company offerings are consolidating.

My view on the matter as a whole is that BATM had the money, its a solid bolt on to boost distributorship. Honestly can't see a downside to this.

BATM Acquires Zer Laboratories Ltd

Feb 06, 2017

File: BATM acquires Zer Laboratories 06.02.17.pdf [248.81 KB]

6 February 2017

BATM Advanced Communications Limited
(“BATM” or “the Group”)

BATM Acquires Zer Laboratories Ltd

BATM Advanced Communications Limited (LSE: BVC), a leading provider of real-time technologies for networking solutions and medical laboratory systems, is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement (the “AgreementR21;) to purchase the entire issued share capital of Zer Laboratories Ltd. (“Zer Laboratories”) for a consideration of NIS 2.75 million (approx. £580,000) payable in cash (the “Acquisition”).

Overview of Zer Laboratories
Zer Laboratories, headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel and established in 1976, is the largest private diagnostic laboratory in Israel for clinical tests, mainly providing prenatal screening tests for Down’s Syndrome, genetic tests and additional tests performed during IVF and fertility treatments.

Zer Laboratories unaudited revenues for full year 2015 amounted to $2.4 million and profit before tax was $27,000. The Acquisition is expected to be earnings accretive in the financial year ending 31 December 2017.

Rationale for the Acquisition
The Acquisition is in line with the Group’s stated strategy of becoming a prominent participant in the diagnostics markets in which it operates. The primary reasons for the Acquisition are:

• Synergies with BATM’s existing offering of non-invasive prenatal tests (NIPT) using Panorama, the NIPT of Natera, which determines the chance that a pregnancy has certain chromosomal abnormalities; Natera is a NASDAQ-listed company offering proprietary bioinformatic solutions that enable laboratories worldwide to expand their test offerings; Natera granted distribution rights to BATM in Israel and Romania.
• Capture the growth market in NIPT in Israel and markets in Europe where BATM has a significant presence;
• BATM’s genetic laboratory, including sequencing machine that conducts genetic tests, is currently going through a certification process to carry out Panorama in Romania, which management expects to expand to Israel and offer this test through Zer Laboratories;
• BATM intends to use Zer Laboratories for launching new, advanced diagnostic DNA-based tests in Israel; and
• BATM intends to use Zer Laboratories as a local reference lab, together with several reputable European- and US-based labs, for new molecular biology solutions from Adaltis.

Terms of the Acquisition
Under the terms of the Agreement, the Group will pay the shareholders of Zer Laboratories an amount of NIS 2.75 million (approx. £580,000), upon completion, for the entire issued share capital of Zer Laboratories as follows:

• Amount of NIS 1,560,000 (approx. £329,000) for the entire issued share capital to Avraham Zer (Holdings) Ltd (“Avraham̶1;);
• Payment to Dr. Yigal Shaham an amount of NIS 550,000 (approx. £116,000) for the rights of Dr. Yigal Shaham in Zer Laboratories and for his Non-Competition Undertaking;
• Payment to Tami Zer an amount of NIS 320,000 (approx. £67,500) for her Non-Competition Undertaking for a period of four years; and
• Payment to Avi Zer an amount of NIS 320,000 for his Non-Competition Undertaking for a period of four years.

In addition to the above, for calendar years 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, BATM will pay Avraham 20% of any increase in sales by Zer Laboratories compared with the sales generated in 2016 (in which the revenues shall be recorded on an accumulative basis), provided that the amount is not in excess of 40% of the net profit of Zer Laboratories in each such calendar year (subject to a monetary cap).

Dr. Zvi Marom, Chief Executive Officer of BATM, said: “We are pleased to have acquired Zer Laboratories and welcome them to the Group. They enjoy an excellent reputation in Israel and provide much-needed tests and services to pregnant women. We look forward to building on the success and established footprint of Zer Laboratories, on the synergies with our operations in Romania, on our investment in Toldot, our genetics subsidiary, and on new developments from Adaltis, to widen the number of DNA-based tests that we can offer for the benefit of more women in our current geographies and beyond and deepen our involvement in molecular-biology-based testing.”

[fse] 06/2/2017 13:48

Interesting acquisition. BATM already use Natera Panorama test ...How similar is this test and procedure to Premaitha (epic NIPT) and Illumina tests.
Premaitha itself is in a legal battle over patents with a larger company. Will have a look around and see what I can find out. Premaitha did manage to get its test used by the NHS.



FSE> Note .. I will add content to this post as I have more info.

Competitors and some valuations.



This is the company thats suing Premaitha (UK company) This is the their offering



This is the company BATM use Natera, Panorama is their solution.
Panorama screens for common genetic conditions that are caused by extra or missing chromosomes in the baby’s DNA. Panorama is the only NIPT on the market that tests for triploidy.
FSE comment..... Putting all this in perspective These tests are made from a simple blood test. This replaces the need for Amniocentesis which is much more invasive and carries risks for complication ... its also not as accurate



What did we just acquire ....


This is very much a distribution play, BATM are not picking up new technology but the synergies are most definitely evident.
This is what BATM management said about the acquisition.

" BATM's genetic laboratory, including sequencing machine that conducts genetic tests, is currently going through a certification process to carry out Panorama in Romania, which management expects to expand to Israel and offer this test through Zer Laboratories;

-- BATM intends to use Zer Laboratories for launching new, advanced diagnostic DNA-based tests in Israel; and

-- BATM intends to use Zer Laboratories as a local reference lab, together with several reputable European- and US-based labs, for new molecular biology solutions from Adaltis."

[fse] 03/2/2017 18:04

Large sell at the bell for 1.7M that found a new home. Decent volume comprised of stale bulls wanting out and newbies in the frame. Looks like a fair few private investors coming on board. Lets hope IC and us have read this one right this time.

[fse] 03/2/2017 15:22

Hopefully this opportunity will clear some long term sellers out of the frame.
Next update from BATM is in March some time I believe.
They are IMO undervalued based on what the company is doing without Telco systems. At what point investors will look at that scenario is hard to say, at the moment they want to see Telco contracts.
Honestly thats harsh treatment as what investors have here is a company that is holding its own, with the added opportunity of new business in Cyber security and SDN. The medical division is "virtually" ignored...

[fse] 03/2/2017 14:48

There was quite a bit of interest in BATM Telco in 2009 and they were tipped in IC.
Will they do it again ? backdrop for them is substantially more solid this time around in 2017.
Agree with robing comment above.... at least we did not lose our investment !!! thats true but really we are well overdue some action from this lot .....
Heres what they said in 2009 FWIW

Shares in BATM, a designer and producer of ethernet and metropolitan telecom systems, were our star performers last year, rising from 24p to 54.25p, a gain of 126 per cent. Admittedly, if you followed my advice and top-sliced your holdings at 31.25p in May and 46.25p in June, then you would have recouped £972 of the £1,000 original investment and would now be holding shares worth £754. Still, that gives an impressive net return of 72.6 per cent.

After this stellar run the shares now trade on 14.4 times 2009 earnings estimates of 6.2¢, based on forecasts from broker KBC Peel Hunt. This drops to a forward PE ratio of 13.7 assuming BATM delivers EPS of 6.5¢ in 2010. True, this is below its peer group average PE ratio of 18, and BATM does have a conservative balance sheet holding net cash of $68.7m (£42.1m) at the end of October, equating to around 10p a share. However, the shares are no longer the bargain they were 12 months ago and for the share-price momentum to continue we need to see rising data volumes and telecom operators capital expenditure budgets reinstated in the US and Europe. Given the risk/reward on offer, I would bank the remaining profits.

[luthier] 03/2/2017 08:40

Simon Thompson Bargain Portfolio share in Investors Chronicle today

[rob1ng] 03/2/2017 08:23

Hopefully a takeover to shake this very poor investment I have had for years , the only plus about this company is that I haven't lost all my investment as with some other companies I had

[volkswag] 03/2/2017 08:18

Lots of buying indeed, most out of character, perhaps something's up?

[ibs7491] 03/2/2017 08:03

lot's of buying this morning?

[fse] 23/1/2017 21:35

From above

"The first large scale, commercial deployments of D-NFV and vCPE networking technologies will be happening in 2017. These technologies have been under evaluation for the past few years by service providers in most regions around the world."

FSE> Its looked for some time as if general delays were always going to push this into 2017. In the mean time the Telco arm does appear to at least be breaking even. The rest of the company is starting to look as if its worth more than the current valuations for the entire outfit. Investors just want to see a decent Telco contract... nothing else seems to placate them.... ;-(