Batm Advanced Communicat... Share Discussion Threads

[car1pet] 07/3/2023 13:56

I agree with Kooba's analysis. What I dont understand is why the major shareholder LO is tolerating the hopeless management team and watching their investment disappear

[kooba] 07/3/2023 13:37

Not really the case house research is normally cleared by the company.The Shore cap estimates make total sense if you strip out the bio contract as the company state so don't think there is any doubt that they are in the right ball park.$25m revs and $10m ebit off the forecasts.The company previously said they had good visibility on the process when they said it would now likely fall into current year but i think they had been wairting for months and there was little chance of it coming in at all.Disappointed with the downgrades and more disappointed that there is no real update on "inflexion" points much talked about little delivered on Egility and ADOR..these are meant to be the great drivers of future revenues and not much comment on traction and the shore note refers to the high multiples falling back 2024.This is classic jam tomorrow stuff and there also appears to be no "new" strategy from the "new" ceo. He's been there long enough to know if he wants to put his stamp on the company where it should be in structure and focus he doesn't need to do a tour of the parts ffs.Unlikely any real rerate for a while unless they bag an elephant of a contract in the new business..and then only once they get the thing signed!

[echoridge] 07/3/2023 12:52

Couple of stale sellers have gotten taken out but main reason is likely because management is here in London telling an encouraging story on the back of yesterday's bullish results commentary.

[resistance1] 07/3/2023 12:27

Kooba the forecasts are done by Shore Cap. Even a house broker has to arrive at these numbers independently to put their name to them. The company mentions double digit growth this year in all divisions which doesnt look daunting given their IP. We all know how a solid deal or two could make these figures look overly cautious. As Simon Thompson said a re-rating will depend on deals.

[paulisi] 07/3/2023 11:16

Decent volumes today

[homeboy] 07/3/2023 09:19

right from his first appearance on here, top clown echogunge has consistently acted like the barrack room lawyer, correctly people from his all knowing font of experience, thing is with these types, every time i come across them in life of on the clown infested BB's, they are actually clueless, they sit on losing trades and pontificate hot useless air and noise to bamboozle other clowns.

the isn't an overnight loss, this is 80% value destruction in 18 months, it's been going on long enough for clowns to wake up and take action

echogunge is a useless pointless wind bag, a fabricator of noise

that's all for now clowns, enjoy your circus related activities and be comforted by your self obsessive need to be right at the expense of your bank balance, lol

[homeboy] 07/3/2023 09:10

"a bullish report", yes of course it was, that's why the market is rushing in and buying this

only a clown sees good news when the market reacts differently

clowns love their opinions and stick with them and cherry pick what they see to support their clownish opinions, meanwhile the market is moving against them

it's not difficult to make money in the market, if the market isn't backing your precious opinion it means you are wrong, being wrong costs money

trends tell you what the market thinks, good luck when you want to ignore that

such clownishness on this thread, lol

[kemche] 07/3/2023 09:09

Barry's howlers as he maintains his 100% unblemished record:

CHLL
ZED
BRSD
PANR
NANO
IES
GFIN
BRES
BVC

That's a lot of Passovers.

[gbenson1] 07/3/2023 08:43

Well the company have almost got the share price back down to the 20-22.5p range that they were happy buying their own shares back recently, so let's just see what happens, sorry Barry if this goes against your many Passover theories!!

[kooba] 07/3/2023 06:54

Anyone who thinks these results and outlook are positive i think is rather ignoring the sheer collapse in the guidance from the company over the last 12 months. We have now had three profits warnings , interims, trading update and now with these results.There is an argument that a new ceo might want to kitchen sink things to get to a low level of expectation moving forward..and that may be the case. But when the ceo was the cfo for the past 8 years and has been responsible for putting that missed financial expectation out there it becomes rather close to home! From where the company was a year ago trading has been a disaster.Feb 2022 Forecasts Fy22E revs $158m ptp $12.7mFy23E revs $182m ptp $20mCurrentFy22A revs $116m ptp $870kFy23E revs $132m ptp $5.8mThese are huge misses and in the interim the revised guidance has been changed and changed again with half year and trading update both having to be further revised down. Really questions the visibility the company has and its ability to give its shareholders an accurate picture of trading. There are real question marks over the $25m test order..it had been factored in to forecasts ( strong order backlog??) and now seems to be a non starter..at what point did they know this?? It questions their current bullish stance and their ability to deliver even the far more modest expectation ..maybe they have finally walked expectation to a deliverable or beatable level but it is nothing but a disaster in trading that was foreshadowed by the share price. Will they recommence share buyback reflecting their confidence in the significant value? They seem to have been quite canny in their execution..having said that they know how bad things were...shareholders didn't!

[kemche] 06/3/2023 22:31

Actually, this was a pretty bullish report.

[the crypt] 06/3/2023 22:21

Home - you are a tossed salad home kid.

[fse] 06/3/2023 21:04

>cumnor... I have to admit I was more than relieved with the results which are better than most have fared in these sectors. Networking going through to profit is a welcome turning point. The share price would have come off to @65p levels my best guess without the Listings/Buy Back screw up, it just exacerbated the problem.
They are as you say in a good space they just have to continue converting the deals.

[cumnor] 06/3/2023 20:40

Agree with FSE-I expected worse results-given the chaos across the tech sector, war, interest rate shock and covid hangover of 22-so am relieved at this update. One or two contracts will see a strong re-rating-forget the figures, and 22 revenue, it is of no relevance now. Its how the company is positioned going forward a(esp in cyber and Edgility) and I've seen a lot worse recently with much higher mrkt caps, never mind the 7P a share in cash but mgmt messed up re listings and buyback confusion so f'''''d the share price. I feel the new CEO is kitchen sinking Zvi's legacy and setting BATM for surprises on several levels. They are in a good space, esp with cyber warfare the new reality many governments and companies are waking up to.

[homeboy] 06/3/2023 18:53

what did i say, now an even longer post by chief clownery officer fse,

nobody buys a hold recommendation, lol, nobody, especially an outfit that screws up it's listing and buybacks like this does

awful update,

[car1pet] 06/3/2023 17:28

Thanks FSE.
Not so long ago Simon Thompson had a price target of 150p.
The IC addicts may well react to his words and the price may rise for a few days. How does he conclude the company is a " a few steps away from a re-rating". And what does he mean by a "a few steps". I stopped reading the IC years ago.

[kooba] 06/3/2023 17:18

Think its quite straightforward the results for 2022 are very poor and significantly down on forecasts a year ago. The company was barely profitable last year and has a significantly depleted cash position. The outlook statement today is confirming the $25m test contract isn't going to land at all and so there is a further profit warning for current year with significant downgrades from the shop ..something I figured would probably happen as the tender must have been awarded early second half so after 6 months was unlikely to come through. The inflexion point is getting stretched and having been 2022 , then 2023 is now looking at 2024 to start having any material impact.The jam remains tomorrow and the company evidently has very poor visibility on the outlook ( apart from its always good with good momentum and on solid foundations!) problem is their forecasts for last year were miles out and todays announcement shows they were still miles out for current year.There can't be further benefit of the doubt and the sharp derating of the shares has proved well informed , in the meantime the shares look fully valued I'm afraid on current year ratings..so until they get some decent orders in Bio and start seeing more than one modest order in Egility and see some genuine traction the Jury has to be out as to whether the current structure can deliver value.Moti has much work to do to convince anyone of the significant value he talks of.

[fse] 06/3/2023 17:10

A tech business only a few steps away from a re-rating

A provider of medical laboratory systems expects to report growth in 2023 but needs to win further contracts to boost the share price
March 6, 2023
By Simon Thompson


Annual revenue from ongoing operations declines by 12.7 per cent to $116mn
Underlying operating profit falls from $11.3mn to $3.7mn
$26mn cyber security order awarded post-year-end
Net cash of $40mn (7.5p a share)
Analysts rein back 2023 expectations
It’s all change at BATM Advanced Communications (BVC:25.5p), a provider of medical laboratory systems, diagnostic kits, cyber security and network solutions. Former finance director Moti Nagar became chief executive at the start of 2023, replacing Zvi Marom, who is now a non-executive director. Ran Noy, who joined the group in 2021 as vice president for finance and has been working alongside Nagar, has been promoted to finance director. Their first task has been explaining last year’s profit reversal.

In a trading update released just before the financial year-end, BATM revealed that a $25mn (£21mn) diagnostics contract, primarily Covid kits and products, that was due to be awarded from a customer in Southeast Asia, was still awaiting signature, thus creating a revenue shortfall. In addition, the strengthening of the US dollar against local currencies has produced a currency headwind at a time that both demand and market prices for Covid-related products have been softening. As a result, BATM’s bio-medical division (76 per cent of total revenue) reported 21 per cent lower annual revenue of $88.3mn, reflecting a sharp decline (from $37.1mn to $8.4mn year on year) in higher-margin Covid-related product sales. The fall in divisional operating profit from $17mn to $4.6mn also reflected the lower gross margin earned (29.4 per cent, down from 36.5 per cent).



Looking at the positives
There are positives, though. The group’s networking and cyber division narrowed its underlying operating loss from $5.6mn to £0.9mn on a third higher revenue of $27.9mn. BATM’s edge computing and network function virtualisation product suite, Edgility, is gaining real traction, signing a five-year initial order worth $3.5mn with CityFibre, the UK's largest independent carrier-neutral full fibre platform. The contract award is expected to be materially expanded as Edgility is rolled out across CityFibre’s full network.

Moreover, Edgility has signed two other five-year contracts worth $2.7mn with other clients and is in “advanced discussions with several potential customers having undertaken proof-of-concept trials”. The group’s cyber security unit is in demand, too, lifting revenue 73 per cent year on year and landing a $26mn five-year government defence contract post-period end. The directors expect the networking and cyber unit to report an operating profit in 2023 and note that the current order backlog across the group is significantly higher than at this point last year.



Forecasts downgraded
That said, analysts at house broker Shore Capital expect to rein in their current-year revenue estimates by 22 per cent to $132mn to factor in ongoing currency headwinds that could reduce euro-related sales by $12mn (mainly in the bio-medical division) and to strip out the $25mn diagnostic tender from forecasts. On this basis, expect their 2023 pre-tax profit estimate to be slashed by two-thirds to $5.8mn, albeit this is still three times higher than the 2022 result.

Clearly, much has changed since I rated BATM’s shares a recovery buy, at 27.5p, at the interim results (‘On the hunt for tech bargains’, 25 August 2022), not least the hefty downgrades to 2023 guidance, which mean that the shares, at 25.5p, are now trading on a 2023 price/earnings (PE) ratio of 47.5, or a cash-adjusted PE ratio of 33. BATM needs to win further contracts and raise guidance for the share price to make progress. That’s not a forlorn possibility, but the share price could tread water at the current level until that happens. Hold.

[resistance1] 06/3/2023 17:00

"A tech business only a few steps away from a re-rating" Simon Thompson

[resistance1] 06/3/2023 16:57

Simon Thompson (IC) reports today 'Hold' based on results

[fse] 06/3/2023 16:36

Seeing as neither of you clowns have either not bothered or more likely unable to read the results and have no position in the company why do you seek to trash the thread.
The company has actually released a significant amount of information with this report.

[homeboy] 06/3/2023 16:33

results today were not good, clown chops echogunge is clueless