Batm Advanced Communicat... Share Discussion Threads

[fse] 17/3/2024 13:00

Vodafone was trading @160p 5 years ago its now @69p.
Vodafone share price is off 30% in the last year.
BATM was @40p 5 years ago now @20p
BATM was 23p a year ago.

Not sure what point you are making here. A lot of Telco stocks are equally badly off in the same period. I am hardly happy with the performance and accept that they have had problems since they moved from an R&D company to selling the products themselves.
BATM do not have a background in marketing and sales and have been struggling in this regard. The share price used to be a lot higher as it was expected that the company would license out or sell the technology. Now they are valued on sales with no consideration for their IP as they are not planning on selling.

[car1pet] 15/3/2024 18:38

I agree with you Kooba. Nagar admitted he had no shares and claimed it was difficult for him to buy any. B..S...
He looked very uncomfortable throughout the presentation and well he might with a totally underwhelming 15 months in charge. His comment about share price 30 35p was in response to my question as to why it had fallen from high 20 to 20p. His answer was effectively saying he wasn't responsible for the share price!!!! I was very angry at his arrogant response. As you say Kooba why hasn't the major shareholder taken some action and given a vote of no confidence in him and the board. He has achieved nothing in 15 months

[kooba] 15/3/2024 17:58

I wonder if the CEO and FD owned a single share between them whether that might see them more aligned with their shareholders? It is a very odd situation having a CEO who has been an executive for 8 years not owning a share and goes against every corporate governance code of good practise I am aware of.
Most companies now insist on executives building a meaningful holdings whilst they serve eg shares representing 200% of salary is common…there are then restrictions on selling after they leave. There are also restrictions on cashing in any options or Ltips until they meet that target..unlike here where Moti took a $1m out of exercising and selling every share a few years ago. It is encouraged that executives build holdings using their own resources not just relying on incentives..so they have real skin in the game to better align themselves with their shareholders.
Options are all well and good to an extent but there is not the downside that shareholders suffer when the shares fall …they just give themselves more options at the lower price as has been the case in spades here.
About time shareholders come first and disappointing that Loam the largest shareholder is not leading from the front and holding their feet to the fire to make some discernible progress and value recognition.

[car1pet] 15/3/2024 16:15

Check out a CEO who gets on with things. Margherita Della Valle took over Vodafone a year ago and has restructured and divested. Today, news that the Italy division was sold. Share price up 6%. The management consultant acting as the CEO of BATM has achieved nothing in 15 months.

[paulisi] 14/3/2024 12:46

Part of the non core business they are looking to sell.No mention of valuations (market sensitive, so not suprised)Hopeful to sell some of the non core business in next 12 months, but not all.

[paulisi] 14/3/2024 10:41

Simon Thompson says hold and this is mainly in my opinion as BATM keep talking a good game, but we are waiting for the commercialisation to kick in.I'm holding until some further announcements on contracts, M&A ,sales and ADOR materialise.

[car1pet] 14/3/2024 09:15

Paulisi I asked the question about the share price and how it had fallen from high 20p to 20p. His answer lacked any substance. 12 months from now he will be saying the same things. Edgility is going nowhere slowly. If the product is useful, orders should be flowing but they arent. He mentioned cemex and cityfibre no new clients. He referred to the £26m order which if you recall was slated to land before 2023 and landed in januay 2023 so claimed that as a major order. He has been in post 15 months and part of the management team for years before and achieved nothing. Any other organisation would have fired him. Until there is completely new blood in the company it will continue as it is.

[kooba] 14/3/2024 09:12

So it looks like they value it on what they have put in overall not the valuation implied by the last fundraise..that is not how most private equity investments work. You value the business on the basis of last fundraise . I can understand why you low ball it to stuff the party that does not want to put more money in but as it is new money to the business that should be the new basis to value it at.
From what has been said it’s all great things are great this year is going to be great etc etc. rinse and repeat.
ADOR now might have completed clinical trials by the end of this year..it just keeps slipping..for a product at inflection point ..it is no where near market whilst competitors get busy.
Unfortunately the forecasts for current year has just been cut and we have gone through the first quarter and just about all of the last quarter of 2023 with no news on actual orders. It’s easy to say will get 7 contracts out of 14 current parties trialing Edgility but actually delivering that is a different matter.
Seems the company continually say what people want to hear ..i want them to deliver some evidence that this business can grow and they can implement the strategic review with actions not words and persistent downgrades.
Moti thinks the shares go to 30-35p in the near term ? …well Moti buy some bloody shares if you think that , you are clean to deal post the results and from what has been opened there is nothing imminent to prevent you doing so.

[resistance1] 14/3/2024 08:54

It sounded it was a positive their deep pockets allowed them to grab another chunk at a lower rate

[paulisi] 14/3/2024 07:25

They stated that the valuation was unchanged, but one of the investors didn't participate in the latest fundraising and thus the structure of ownership changed

[kooba] 14/3/2024 06:29

Any comment on the valuation on ADOR ..i did ask around the last fundraise which indicated a very sharp drop in value pre new money.

[resistance1] 13/3/2024 20:13

Paulisi

Just clarification. Edgility. They want to buy a vendor that has Tier 1 level clients ie many of them. The vendor probably sells symbiotic products/software or similar.

If Ador Natlab successfully completes clinical trials end of year. He said they may stay in for early commercialisation and then sell. He didn’t say this but a 10X valuation on investment is typical for the sector. 3x+ what BATM is worth today.

Back to Edgility. They have 14 POCs running. They have sales target for 2024 of 7 contracts not necessarily from the 14, but maybe some from them. They have invested $2m in sales and marketing upscaling.

[paulisi] 13/3/2024 20:04

Very quick calculation Market value 87mil based on today's share priceCash and property are almost all of that valuation, plus a profitable 120 mil turnover company and a 40m value investment in AdorShare price should be 2-3 times higher even without growth.The board really need to get this message across.

[fse] 13/3/2024 19:21

Any feedback appreciated.....mentioned by resistance in above posts.

Just wanted to tie a couple of items down.
It was my understanding that ADOT NatLab reader has moved on from university trials to clinical trials. Whilst this is still not a certainty this means their chances of success have improved somewhat dramatically.
Did anyone pick up on anything else

I have had trouble where they are with Edgility sales. Obviously this is a scalable commodity. POC's are being done with larger clients but what is the state of mass adoption from business on a smaller scale like through CityFibre.

There have been some delays but a lot of stuff is progressing well.

[wilske] 13/3/2024 18:00

They clearly got the message from the specific nature of the questions and the topics that shareholders are getting impatient for change and want to see commercial returns on the R&D spend. They clearly signposted the M&As that are coming and that Networking will be first to get an acquisition. They even said the size of the business they want to acquire (70m USD revenue with positive EBITDA that they can quickly enhance by taking out the obvious costs). So its the right strategy now its about executing it. If they get it right, then I agree with them that the share price will respond. But until then it will just tread water

[resistance1] 13/3/2024 17:32

Think you being harsh Car1pet. There was very clear signposting on Edgility and Natlab that we hadn't heard before. Especially the sales targets.

[car1pet] 13/3/2024 17:24

I sat through what seemed to be a repeat of the 2023 presentation. Another year of investment/disposals and there will be jam tomorrow. Same old BATM they are utterly clueless

[resistance1] 13/3/2024 17:23

Well I may be gullible but I was very impressed with what I heard. And confirmation that the clinical trials for Natlab were underway and would be completed end of year. Subject to them being successful it would be sold off or a JV probably next year.

[resistance1] 13/3/2024 16:58

Next one. Commercial cyber product ready end 2024. revenues forecast for 2025

[resistance1] 13/3/2024 16:55

Key takeout of presentation 14 proof of concept Edgility trials running which range between $1m to $20m in size. They expect to get 7 Edgility contracts in 2024. Edgility very high margin.

[bigjon1] 12/3/2024 20:55

Despite challenges, such as inflation impacting costs, year end results provide a positive outlook in my eyes. While results are steady, it is clear investors expect more. I am expecting the strategic shifts towards sales and marketing to drive revenue growth, with potential for acquisitions and sales in key areas like cybersecurity.

[car1pet] 12/3/2024 17:30

Simon Thompson less bullish about BATM

[car1pet] 12/3/2024 17:28

The technology group is focusing on its core cyber security, network solutions and diagnostics activities, but investors should wait before getting excited again

March 12, 2024
by Simon Thompson


Full-year cash profit up 12 per cent to $9.3mn
Adjusted pre-tax profit up from $2.8mn to $4.8mn
Potential for M&A activity and divestments
Technology group BATM Advanced Communications (BVC:19.25p) is undergoing a corporate reorganisation, restructuring non-core activities and prioritising its core cyber security, network solutions and diagnostics activities.

As part of the new strategy, the directors have engaged investment banks in both Israel and the US to explore corporate activity to add to the group’s capabilities, and to secure attractive terms for disposals.

BATM closed the 2023 financial year with net cash of $31.7mn after deducting $4.5mn of lease liabilities and $4.6mn of bank debt, so has ample firepower available for acquisitions. It is also scaling up sales and marketing functions.

In the short term, the increased investment will impact profit, hence why analysts at house broker Shore Capital reined in their 2024 cash profit estimate from $13.5mn to $9.4mn. This implies a flat performance year on year. However, analyst Robin Speakman notes that there is scope for “better forecast outcomes and so upgrades are also real and high from this point”.