Gooch & Housego Share Discussion Threads

[value viper] 14/9/2023 12:32

Been big price retrace of 20% from early summer - suspect this is probably over done

[wiltowin] 09/9/2023 08:30

G&H to Showcase Advanced Defence Solutions at DSEI 2023

G&H’s portfolio closely aligns with future technologies identified in the UK’s Defence Command Paper, released in July 2023. These technology areas include LDEW and advanced materials, which the UK MoD states, “will be critical to the delivery of military capability and national security tasks”. G&H is a leader in these areas and their proven ability in opto-mechanical design, precision optical component manufacture, coating, build and test continues to play a key role in the development of generation-after-next technologies for defence prime contractors worldwide.

G&H’s substantial work in LDEW includes opto-mechanical design; High Laser Damage Threshold optics; critical next-generation mounting and bonding techniques; full Finite Element Analysis; and more. These technologies are central elements for the successful employment of future laser systems.

As a UK-headquartered company, G&H is strengthening the UK’s sovereign industrial capability to engineer and manufacture critical systems and components for the UK armed forces and allied nations. This further aligns with the UK MoD’s ambition to maximise the use of ‘home-grown217; technologies, and investments in areas such as the Optical Systems Innovation Hub in St Asaph, Wales, ensure that G&H remains an international leader in optical solutions and technologies for many years to come.

[wiltowin] 06/9/2023 15:44

If you recall H1 revenues were 30% higher than the previous year so I'm hopeful for momentum to have continued. The management are doing a wonderful job with the company focusing more on end products rather than components thus increasing profits.

[wiltowin] 06/9/2023 15:09

Been drifting lower over the summer on low volume but doubt that'll be the case next month when the positive trading update arrives. I've took the opportunity and acquired a few more.

[garth] 05/9/2023 11:15

Wiltowin,

Against all of that background, to what do you attribute the continued weight of downtrend in the share price?

At 650p I thought we were away and heading for £8...

G.

[wiltowin] 04/9/2023 17:54

The Ministry of Defence has issued a Prior Information Notice to industry, signalling an intent to “accelerate and exploit at pace DEW as an emerging technology.”
The notice serves as an advisory for a potential upcoming contract to tender for the MOD’s Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) programme.

According to the official DEW Industry Briefing Note 1, the programme aims to “deliver a range of benefits for the UK connected to DEW by leading and commissioning the required work.”

It specifically focuses on the Transition Phase of the programme, highlighting three main DEW projects:

“Laser Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW) in a Maritime Air Defence application”
“LDEW in Ground Based Air Defence applications”
“RFDEW in Counter-Unmanned Air System (C-UAS) applications in the Land Domain”
The DEW programme will “build on the parallel DEW Capability Demonstrator Portfolio delivered by UK industry through Team Hersa,” with a six-month User Experimentation Phase scheduled to begin in 2024.

For the transition phase, the MOD is considering establishing a “new DEW Capability Development Framework Arrangement,” aimed at delivering “individual Transition Phase Work Packages for each of the DEW projects.”

This framework will have an “estimated total value of approximately £150 million over a three-year period from FY 24/25,” and aims to provide a “flexible and agile route to market for DEW Transition Phase requirements.”

The Prior Information Notice also states that the MOD is in the “early stages of developing a Procurement Strategy,” and is inviting industry to share their views via a Request for Information (RFI) Questionnaire. Responses to the RFI will be used to “inform the DEW Procurement and Commercial strategy” and are not part of any competitive procedure.

An Industry Day or series of Industry Days are being considered “for late 2023 and/or early 2024” to provide further details on the DEW programme.

[wiltowin] 17/8/2023 16:05

Aerospace and defence is the sector to be in just look what BAE Systems announced today..

For some time now there has been a growing air of confidence around BAE Systems.

That was underlined when, earlier this year, the UK's biggest defence contractor reported a record order book.

And it was further emphasised when, today, BAE announced it is spending $5.55bn (£4.35bn) on the aerospace division of the US packaging giant Ball Corporation.

The deal, described by BAE as a "unique opportunity to strengthen BAE Systems' world class multi-domain portfolio", is the biggest acquisition this year by a British company.

The Ball Corporation is a specialist supplier of satellite systems, geospatial intelligence, tactical solutions and antenna arrays.

The acquisition of its aerospace arm takes BAE more deeply into both the space sector and into what, in defence industry jargon, is described as 'C4ISR' - command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

[wiltowin] 29/7/2023 17:11

Pulsed laser scanning lidar is a core technology for autonomous driving and robotic mobility. Herein, a directional light pulse is backscattered by a reflective object and the elapsed time between emission and detection of the pulse is used to calculate depth. These direct time-of-flight measurements of returning light pulses enable the three-dimensional imaging of complex scenes.

GHH design and manufacture lidar systems and sub systems and this technology will be in high demand going forward.

[wiltowin] 26/7/2023 08:38

Aerospace and defence drives Rolls Royce profits upwards hiking guidance after a stellar first half, bodes well for Gooch and Housego.

[wiltowin] 20/7/2023 07:31

Gooch and Housego Chief Executive Charlie Peppiatt commented: "The addition of Artemis' coatings expertise to Gooch and Housego's capabilities was identified in our new strategy as one of the opportunities to deliver sustainable margin growth for the Company.”

“Artemis' renowned excellence in thin-film coatings complements our existing capabilities to enable us to deliver advanced photonics technology and unparalleled value for our customers. Together, we are well-positioned to accelerate our customer focused innovation plans and create a better world with photonics."

[wiltowin] 19/7/2023 13:31

Another clever acquisition enabling GHH in their evolution from component supplier to end product supplier.

[wiltowin] 10/7/2023 10:39

Andrew Neil's column from the weekends Daily Mail started with the quote, 'if you want to have good relations with the Russians, a senior figure in the polish government told me yesterday on a brief visit to Warsaw, then you have to be ready to fight them. And you have to be equipped to win.'

[wiltowin] 10/7/2023 09:49

Rishi Sunak will use the Nato summit in Lithuania to urge allies to increase their defence spending as he warns they face “unprecedented” security challenges.

[wiltowin] 07/7/2023 11:38

Defence spending in western and central Europe has surpassed that of the last year of the cold war, an annual report has found, as military expenditure across the world hit an all-time high of $2.24tn (£1.8tn) last year.

All good news for the defence and aerospace arm of GHH.

[wiltowin] 05/7/2023 16:14

Semiconductors are a key enabler for many technologies. As devices become more compact, the footprint of components gets smaller. To keep pace, laser technology is using ever shorter wavelength sources.

As experts in the optical development of semiconductor processing, GHH are innovating in laser based technologies to bring benefits to manufacturing applications, including laser cutting, drilling, marking and measuring.

Due to reshoring our microchip industry this arm of GHH is in more demand than ever.

[wiltowin] 05/7/2023 15:59

Check out the company website for technical details.

[darrin1471] 05/7/2023 12:56

Are GHH atmospheric sensors used to find an ideal site for a wind turbine or on each wind turbine?
What is the relevance of topography position for an offshore wind turbine?

[wiltowin] 05/7/2023 12:23

To reach net zero the world may need as many 200,000 offshore wind turbines generating 2,000 gigawatts (GW) of energy.

To put this in context, by the end of 2022, 63 GW of offshore wind capacity had been installed worldwide. Within the next 28 years, the offshore wind energy sector needs to expand so that it is capable of producing 32 times its current energy capacity.

GHH produce optical sensors providing information about topography position and speed needed for optimal power generation of wind turbines. These atmospheric sensors are also used in space applications and many other uses.

[wiltowin] 04/7/2023 21:58

Defense procurement minister James Cartlidge revealed plans for the Royal Navy’s Future Air Dominance System, with the Type 83 becoming a part of the gamut.

Its defining features have been announced to be Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) and anti-hypersonic technologies. The Type 83 is expected to come into service by the mid-2030s and is slated to replace the Type 45 warships in the Royal Navy.

DEW is just one of the defence remits GGH have been working on over a number of years.

[wiltowin] 23/6/2023 22:10

Examples of why the GS acquisition will work so well:-

GS Plastic Optics proudly works with some of the largest military suppliers in the US to provide superior defense optics to the US armed forces.

Polymer optics are playing an increasing part in medical optics due to cost and weight reduction as well as the need for disposable systems. Applications range from relatively simple illumination devices to multi-purpose illumination devices that are integrated into surgical devices. Additionally, many surgical platforms are now using optical devices for tracking and precision positioning of tools during surgery. Lastly, assay devices for point of care (POC) testing are becoming increasingly dependent upon polymer optics. This may be in the form of a holder for the specimen or an actual light guide relying on total internal reflection (TIR) technology. GSPO has the talented engineering, manufacturing and project management and experience to see all medical optics applications from inception to fruition.

GSPO has been providing machine vision lenses for polymer optics for decades; however, machine vision optics is changing rapidly. The ever increasing requirement for autonomous transport vehicles, within warehousing and supply chain applications, is pushing time-of-flight designs to new limits. This, coupled with the push to achieve autonomy with passenger vehicles, has been a catalyst for GSPO to undertake many challenging programs for machine vision lenses that would have been thought far too complex for injection molding a couple of years ago.

This acquisition tick's all the right boxes for GHH.

[wiltowin] 23/6/2023 19:37

No harm to Investors Champion they're missing the point with this acquisition. They're aiming to provide an end product not just parts sold to other manufacturers to maximise profits. Also as stated by GH, Rochester is the epicenter for their line of business in North America. So it's a win win on both counts for GHH, absolutely one of the future rising stars of AIM.

[value viper] 22/6/2023 20:44

Yesterday from Investors Champion Gooch & Housego: another acquisition, but is it too soon?Gooch & Housego (AIM:GHH), the specialist manufacturer of optical components and systems, has acquired US-based GS Optics for up to $15.7m.GS Optics specialises in the custom design and manufacture of precision polymer optics for use in the biomedical, machine vision and analytical instrument markets, as well as military and civilian night-vision and visible-range sighting applications. The acquisition expands the Company's presence in the Life Sciences sector and extends its capabilities into polymer optics.In its financial year ended 31 December 2022 GS Optics generated revenue of c.$10m and adjusted EBITDA of c.$1.5m, implying a multiple of 9.3x. Nearly 6 months after its year end it's a puzzle why those numbers are still only approximate!The acquisition is expected to be marginally earnings enhancing in the first full financial year of G&H's ownership.With new CEO Charlie Peppiatt only assuming control in September 2022 and plenty of tidying up to do, we are somewhat surprised that GHH has leaped to acquire. GHH makes interesting things, but surely it needs to work out how to produce these more efficiently and enhance those meagre margins before making yet more acquisitions in overseas territories to complicate the picture.Reported operating margins back in 2013 were 14%. After plenty of acquisitions and heaps of capital investment, revenues since then have more than doubled, but margins have halved and that was before the pandemic interrupted things! Return on equity has also declined from 14% to low single digits. As is so often the case, while considerably bigger, GHH appears to be a far lesser business.Let's hope Mr Peppiatt can get things back on track.

[wiltowin] 21/6/2023 08:51

From GS Optics website:-

GS Plastic Optics is recognized as one of the world’s leading manufacturers of custom injection molding for optics. Every day we work with program leaders on complex optical challenges by providing polymer optics designed specifically for improving our customers’ market share and competitiveness. Since 1980, our team in Rochester, New York, USA has been providing innovative solutions, including custom injection molding and single point diamond turning, to companies with precision polymer optic requirements.

As a custom optics manufacturer, we can produce custom injection molding for aspheric lenses and free-form lenses, and mirrors, as well as Fresnel and diffractive optics. We also have the in-house capability to provide custom designed diamond turning and injection molded prototypes, thin film optics, and reflective coatings, and integrated optical solutions for a broad range of consumer, medical, instrument LED lighting, and biomedical and analytical instrument marketplaces, as well as military and civilian night-vision and visible-range sighting industries.

Our in-house team consists of experts in diamond turning, thin film coating, mold fabrication, and optomechanical assembly, and we are ready to work with our clients’ technical teams to create high-performance, molded, optical element solutions for their program’s plastic optic needs. GS Plastic Optics is DDTC registered and has a mature export compliance program in place for all aspects of our precision optical manufacturing process.

[wiltowin] 21/6/2023 08:37

The photonics components and systems maker said the deal expands its commercial footprint in the US life sciences sector and extends its capabilities into polymer optics.

Gooch & Housego said GS Optics specialises in the custom design and manufacture of precision polymer optics for use in the biomedical, machine vision and analytical instrument markets.

This is alongside military and civilian night-vision and visible-range sighting applications, Gooch & Housego said.

"Combining the capabilities of GS Optics with the global reach of G&H's commercial and engineering teams will accelerate the group's growth in optical solutions for the Life Sciences market and some specific A&D and industrial applications," Gooch & Housego said.

Gooch & Housego Chief Executive Officer Charlie Peppiatt added: "GS Optics is a high quality business with a strong customer base and differentiated technology. This strategic acquisition will accelerate the group's growth plans in the North American life sciences market whilst also adding to our A&D and industrial activities. The acquisition is in line with our recently announced new strategy to become an innovative customer focused technology company."