Sdi Share Discussion Threads

[rivaldo] 21/4/2016 13:29

Looking even better now online.

You can sell 100,000 at a large premium at 10.25p, but only buy a maximum 10k at the full 13p offer.

[mudbath] 21/4/2016 11:14

At least shareholder know where they are with SDI.
The same place as they were last year and the year before.
Fingers crossed then that Sentek ++ notable organic growth serve to re energize the Company,promote wider interest in its potential and equally importantly, stimulate the share price.

[rivaldo] 20/4/2016 09:01

Always ignore the published prices.

The true spread at present is a much more acceptable (though still wide) 10p-12.45p. And once you buy any decent amount I think you'll find the price will move quite fast.

Online remains very encouraging - you can now sell 100,000 at 10p, and only buy a maximum 30,000 at 12.45p.

[spooky] 19/4/2016 14:47

Nice tight spread, 9-13, what do they think they are doing.

[rivaldo] 19/4/2016 14:44

Some buying today, and looking good online - you can sell 100,000 at a premium at 9.5p, but only buy a maximum 10k at the full 11p offer.

[rivaldo] 18/4/2016 12:49

Cheers hastings.

As well as Miton, Octopus and Patrick Evershed, Christopher Mills has also taken almost 8% of SDI via his Harwood Capital vehicle:



The SDI shareholder list is now something to behold for a £6.4m microcap:

Shareholder Number of ordinary shares Percentage of issued share capital

Octopus 7,706,430 12.01
Herald Investment Management 5,436,667 8.47
Harwood Capital 4,991,286 7.78
Milton Asset Management 4,991,286 7.78
Hargreave Hale 4,748,852 7.40
Dana Investments 3,496,494 5.45
Charles Stanley 3,051,631 4.76
Walker Crips 2,338,145 3.64

[mudbath] 18/4/2016 10:24

Thanks hastings.
I will continue to watch with interest and hopefully reinvest at the very bottom of the current SDI trading range !

[hastings] 18/4/2016 09:34

Interesting post rivaldo and nice to have your company here.
As far as I am aware, there isn't as yet anything penciled in on forecasts for pro-reveal.

That said, at the Sharesoc presentation a few months back, the CEO said that they had made a few sales in the USA, so hopefully that could be building.

Link to distributor in the US, Pro-reveal listed under the product section.
hxxp://www.ultracleansystems.com/

Mudbath, like you, I have been watching SDI for a good few years, only buying in last year after the interim results and following a visit adding further on two more occasions, so I do have a few!

I absolutely respect your opinion and you are quite correct in SDI's past performance being pretty dire.

That said, I do feel it is only over the last eighteen months that there has been a real commitment to achieving something through actually delivering on the original remit, which was a buy-build operation.

The recent support by the likes of Miton, Octopus and Patrick Evershed should at least suggest that there is an intention to deliver and I am hopeful that the most recent acquisition will prove a good one.

No doubt the forthcoming trading update next month will shine further light on how things are (or not) progressing and I am also hoping for (expecting) another acquisition to be announced before the year is out.

Still speculative of course, but the board has stated that the business is now in better shape than it has been for years, which will hopefully see the £1m pre-tax profit hit next year.

[rivaldo] 17/4/2016 19:05

It seems ProReveal has been making good progress - the last paragraph is particularly encouraging:



"Keeping surgery clean
29 Jan 2016

Synoptics innovative ProReveal test machines

Midas Pattern Company are moulding stylish cover sets for test machines that serve to verify the cleanliness of surgical instruments after disinfection.

The company’s services such as FASTrim rapid prototyping and MRIM production moulding have helped ensure Synoptics innovative ProReveal test machines remain clean.

Richard Hopwood, R&D manager at Synoptics, said: “We worked closely with well-known academic research facilities on the cleanliness of surgical instruments based on conventional swab tests.”

“The research proved that swab testing is not always sufficient. As a result we set about creating a test machine that could detect protein at much lower levels using extremely sensitive camera technology in combination with innovative lighting and filters,” he added.

The ProReveal is a fluorescence-based, patented, protein detection test for checking the presence of residual protein on surgical instruments after going through a washer disinfector process.

ProReveal can detect less than 50ng of residual protein, with results produced in under 5 minutes. The test delivers objective, visual and measurable results, removing doubt as to whether the washing decontamination process has left instruments demonstrably clean.

To ensure that the design of this advanced product matched the high expectations of its concept, Synoptics turned to established product design partner, LA Design.

“The high resolution cameras being proposed for ProReveal can see an astonishing level of detail, but only if the illumination is correct – as a result, the covers have to be light-tight, which demands precision,” explained Les Stokes, one of the founders of LA Design.

He added: “Beyond fit and function, the covers not only have to look stylish and approachable, but also have to relate to other products in the range, and help build the brand using an easy-to-understand design language.”

These factors let to LA Design turning to Midas for the manufacture of the covers, a toolmaker and moulding shop it had used successfully before on a number of high profile projects.

“Timing was another issue as not only was Synoptics Health looking to get to market first, but the product was scheduled to appear at a forthcoming exhibition,” said Mr Stokes.

“From previous experience we knew that Midas delivered good service, both on-time and of good quality.”

With the prototype parts having served their purpose, production moulding is now being offered by Midas’ unique composite resin tooling system, which is used to produce high quality polyurethane mouldings.

The set of covers for the ProReveal test machine comprise a number of separate mouldings that face the user, including a drawer.

A number of ProReveal machines are now operating in the field, predominantly at the site of washing system manufacturers keen to demonstrate that their technology works."

[mudbath] 16/4/2016 18:15

The way you tell it,rivaldo,all seems promising for SDI.

As the years grind by however it has been a continuing litany of re engineering,re branding,re pricing,reorganizing etc,as opposed to their making any progress.

Now SDI has Sentek to incorporate and who knows what problems will come attached to this latest investment.

Bitter experience tell me to avoid these moribund type companies.
Nevertheless I hope your investment coincides with some catalyst breathing life into the BOD and SDI.
They certainly need it.

[rivaldo] 13/4/2016 10:23

SDI are imo on the cusp of a big turnaround, expedited by the big Sentek acquisition and some now outstanding institutional shareholders.

This terrific article by Private Punter summarises things nicely:



"Private Punter: SDI results show organic growth
By Cambridge News | Posted: January 08, 2016
By Martin Flitton

Scientific Digital Imaging (SDI) based at Nuffield Road here in Cambridge, has today announced its Interim results for the period ended 31 October 2015.

Although the figures exclude the potentially transformational acquisition of Sentek, which was concluded a just a few days prior to period end, the numbers demonstrate continued progress within existing operations where organic growth of 15% was registered over the corresponding period.

This was largely driven by Synoptics the largest division within the group, along with the Atik arm which serving the astronomy market now accounts for 25% of sales. Both played a part in assisting the jump in revenue from last years six months £3.18m to £3.67m, which also saw EBITDA increase by 69.8% to 0.4M.

As for profits, the adjusted figure came out at £189k against the previous loss of £20k and would appear to set the company on track, for a full year in-line with Broker FinnCap's estimates of adjusted pre-tax profit of £0.7m.

Although the reported period shows a net debt position of £1.4m due to costs incurred within the Sentek acquisition, that has since been eradicated due to the companies successful placing raising £2.5m post the period end.

Looking ahead, SDI should now begin to benefit from Sentek's contribution, having previously stated that the Braintree based operation should provide it with repeat business in consumables bringing some welcome recurring revenue, along with an opportunity to leverage with existing distributors.

There was also some other potentially interesting points to note, the first being a new version of the software for ProtoCOL 3 having been released, which provides the addition of testing for antibiotic resistance susceptibility.

The same division is also developing a new system titled ChromaZona which is targeting antibiotic resistance testing in a clinical laboratories and is already undergoing clinical certification.

Given the wide scale and growing concerns across this area there is clearly potential for SDI to capitalise on a growing market that includes hospital labs amongst others.

Additionally, ProReveal which has largely been on the back burner, has it appears, made some progress at last and is not only being actively marketed but appears to have made some sales.

The Department of Health publishing new acceptable limits of protein contamination on re-usable surgical instruments could at last see some welcome progress within the UK health market which would assist some early sales achieved in the US.

With SDI expecting Sentek to be earning enhancing in the first full year of ownership, the real turning point should feed through in next years numbers, where FinnCap forecasts revenue of £10.3m and adjusted profits of £1m to be registered.

That would deliver EPS of 2.4p according to the Broker, placing the shares on a 2017 PER of under 5 at the current price of 11.5p.

For now, the year in progress is expected to deliver revenues of £8.9m and adjusted pre-tax profits of £0.7m giving EPS of 1.7p, which PER of under 7.

Having seen the likes of Gervais Williams (Miton), Octopus and a couple of other well known names come on board via the placing, SDI appears to have registered some decent support in its ambition of at last growing the business.

The plan now appears to be to drive both existing operations and new business forward, along with a firm commitment to further earning enhancing acquisitions along the way to boost growth and profitability.

Still in the speculative bracket, but with progress being made from last year and Sentek set to kick in, the current modest market cap could provide an opportunity for medium term upside for those who warm to the story.

FinnCap retains a Buy stance and target price of 29p, which it describes as undemanding for a scientific instrumentation manufacturer.

This is based on a 2017 EV/Sales of 1.8x and a PER of 12.4x at that price, which incidentally, compares favourably with the sector average of 18."

[mudbath] 12/4/2016 16:39

SDI seem to live in a perpetual "dip" rivaldo.
Maybe your investment will help turn things around.
Whilst I follow the company closely,it is a couple of years since I was invested here.
Fwiw my big white hope and disproportionately large investment is in TYRATECH(TYRU).
It has looked for ever dead in the water ,but as Bob Dylan wrote, The Times They Are A Changin' !
imo

(michaelsadvfn's introductory header to the TYRU thread makes for compulsory reading.)

[rivaldo] 06/4/2016 11:49

I bought some of these in the recent dip under 11p.

The year end trading update next month will hopefully come as a nice surprise to the market.

Finncap are forecasting £0.7m PBT and 1.7p EPS, with £1m PBT and 2.4p EPS for the year about to start on 1st May.

If SDI achieve consensus then Finncap's 29p target will look realistic.

Good to see hastings and mudbath already here!

[mudbath] 20/1/2016 15:34

Steady and significant buying of SDI shares over recent days pointing possibly to better times ahead and an accompanying upward re rating.
Imo the share price might well outperform even in the shorter term.

[mudbath] 13/1/2016 16:16

hastings.

Thank you very much for the resume.

I became a little over excited about SDI's prospects probably a year too early.
The Company now seems to be prospering and is exceedingly lowly rated should FinnCap's projections prove to be reasonably accurate.

I look forward to digesting your further thoughts as and when.

[hastings] 13/1/2016 13:34

Hi Mudbath, I will certainly pen some further comment in due course.

For now, perhaps worth recapping on the businesses,(outlined below)and where it is worth noting that nothing is as yet factored in for ProReveal, which is making some progress.

Additionally it is good to see Patrick Evershed via Hargreave Hale on board with a notifiable stake.

Divisions.
SYNGENE

62% of turnover. Product range £2,000 to £25,000

Gel documentation and analysis systems used by molecular biologists

Automation of gel/blot imaging to improve image quality and simplify processes

Improved competitiveness and margins achieved through re-engineering and incorporation of its own Atik cameras

SYNBIOSIS

10% of turnover. Product range £1,700 to £9,500
Systems for colony counting and zone measurement.
Market focus on food, water and pharmaceuticals

Re-launched its high-end colony counting and zone measuring system in 2012

New developments in microbiology techniques for bacteria ID add to the appeal of the product
Launch of a mid range counting system, Protos 3
New clinical market: currently obtaining clinical certification.



ATIK

24% of turnover. Product range £200 - £2,000 (to dealers)

Atik manufactures and sells a range of CCD (charge coupled device) cameras

sales arise from selling cameras to the astronomy sector, OEM’s and intercompany (Syngene)


OPUS Instruments

2% of turnover

Osiris infrared imaging system. Product range £25,000 - £35,800

High margin product 76% and low overhead base

Niche market – art restoration but investigating new markets for infrared
cameras.

SYNOPTICS Health


Also only 2% of turnover. Product is sold for £10,000 plus recurring revenue consumables

*ProReveal patented system to detect proteins left on surgical instruments after disinfection.
Developed with Queen Mary University London

Potential to revolutionise existing procedures in the UK and globally

System and consumables recurring revenue sales opportunities:

Hospital washrooms and washroom equipment manufacturers.

Last but certainly not least, comes Sentek, which was acquired back in October of last year resulting in SDI raising the new money via an oversubscribed placing which saw some new and highly respected investors come on board, including Miton, (Gervais Williams) Octopus and Harwood Capital (Christopher Mills).

Sentek is something of a break from the existing businesses, being focused on developing and producing products for the measuring of Ph and electrical conductivity of aqueous solutions.

Serving the highly regulated food and health markets, Sentek has delivered solid and profitable growth in recent years, enjoying strong recurring revenue as the products have a limited shelf life of between 6 and 12 months.

That looks a good deal and at a decent price, which the SDI board believes will be earning enhancing in the first full year of ownership and where Broker FinnCap is expecting its contribution next year to assist in delivering pre-tax profits of £1m for SDI and EPS of 2.4p. where cash is expected to stand at £2.1m this year rising to £3.2m next year.

If all goes according to plan these numbers look attractive enough, although as SDI is actively seeking further strategic acquisitions the story could gather significant momentum.

[mudbath] 13/1/2016 09:30

I am convinced that SDI is currently under rated.
The Company looks set to build on last years reported figures and even at historic levels there seems to be value available within the current 12.00 pence quote.

Hopefully hastings will provide us with a more technical appraisal (via his Cambridge business column )in due course.

(If I were the only MM,I would call them @ 13-15pence.)

[mudbath] 08/1/2016 09:54

For the first time in several years, a results RNS from SDI does not read like a kick in the nether regions.The company valuation is starting to look a touch miserly as well.

The key paragraph for me was:-

"Synoptics Health has continued to sell ProReveal, a test to detect proteins on surgical instruments. The absence of an official limit of acceptable protein contamination on re-usable surgical instruments was previously a significant barrier to the adoption by the NHS of ProReveal. In May 2015, the UK Department of Health (DoH) published new guidelines that define a limit for acceptable protein contamination on re-usable surgical instruments ( guidance-from-the-acdp-tse-risk-management-subgroup-formerly-tse-working-group). We expect the publication of these guidelines to accelerate adoption of ProReveal for this use. ProReveal is the only available CE-marked instrument capable of determining quantitatively the level of protein contamination on instruments. Furthermore, it has been shown to be sensitive below 50ng of protein and thus fulfils the DoH requirements for greater sensitivity for neurosurgical instruments."

Should ProReveal sales increase significantly,for which there is now more obvious potential,then SDI shares,at current levels,would look very attractive indeed.
imo.

[pj 1] 08/1/2016 09:41

Having a look in. I did see these present at the recent Mello event.

What is the view on the acquisition strategy? Will SDI ever become cash flow positive in the medium term? tia pj

edit recent sharesoc event

[hastings] 08/1/2016 07:49

Broker note unchanged from that released with acquisition pre-tax profit this year £700k EPS of 1.7p rising to £1m next year with full yr Sentek contribution.

[pugugly] 08/1/2016 07:32

Results out - Usual Management confident BUT way foreard still very foggy (imo) Need to await brokers notes.

[hastings] 06/1/2016 09:27

Well, I am hopeful of further progress and the acquisition looks a decent one. The Atik arm has been going great guns and even pro-reveal has registered a few sales.No wish to talk it up as experience teaches us that company's never cease to surprise.However, if on track to meet current forecasts then the shares (imo) represent decent upside potential.

[mudbath] 06/1/2016 09:16

Thanks hastings.
My view is that they will demonstrate a more positive tone,which in turn might waken the share price from its lengthy torpor.
On the other hand...

[hastings] 06/1/2016 09:01

Hi Mudbath, the Interim results are due to be announced either Thursday or Friday morning of this week.

[mudbath] 05/1/2016 15:15

"Whilst under the terms of the Bridge Facility the funding available under that facility is only available for two months following the Acquisition, the Directors believe that, subject to agreement on the terms, the Company would be able to refinance the Bridge Facility so as to enable the amount outstanding under the Bridge Facility to be repaid over the medium term. There can, however, be no guarantee that such a refinancing would be available, leaving the Company in default, and the terms of any such refinancing, if available, may be on terms that are more onerous than the terms of the Term Loan Facility."

The date for any potential default has now passed.

On the basis that the bridge has now been refinanced over a medium term,I am of the opinion that the SDI share price might now start to edge upwards,reflecting the possibility of the Company being able to surprise the market,on the upside,come the next RNS.