Smartspace Software Share Discussion Threads

[wjccghcc] 08/1/2007 08:18

Sorry Garth but took a quick profit on some of mine selling at 4p. The statement is a bit too wishy washy for my liking and why is there no mention of ITSO anywhere? I'm afraid I compare them with IGP and it looks like SMRT are at least 2 years behind in their international prospects. Also, cashflow is pretty horrible and deferred income is down.

Having said that, long term prospects are good so I've still got a holding to keep an eye on them and I'll definitely add if/when things become more specific. Current PE is about 30 so I certainly don't think they're overvalued. It's just that I don't see a reason for them to take off in the near-term. Will probably be proved wrong though :-)

[spud] 08/1/2007 08:01

Super! More of my money coming this way on this.

spud

[philjeans] 08/1/2007 07:53

Pleasing results- it's all about profit at the end of the day and little SMRT already know that and make a nice healthy return.

The future looks very promising.

[garth] 08/1/2007 07:26

ADVANCED SMARTCARD TECHNOLOGIES PLC
(SMRT)

RECORD RESULTS ACHIEVED

8 January 2006

Advanced Smartcard Technologies plc (RIC: SMRT/L) (the "Company"), the Scottish based software group specialising in smartcard technology, has today announced its final results for the year to 30 September 2006.

* Operating profit up 92% to £294,000 (2005: £153,000)
* Gross profit up 29% to £1,487,000 (2005: £1,156,000)
* Turnover up at £2,019,000 (2005: £1,952,000)
* Advances in development of our patented key product, MultefileTM
* Sales and market development, and engineering teams strengthened to exploit
our chosen markets
* Good sales prospects carried forward into next year


Commenting on the results David Braddock, Chief Executive said:

" We are delighted to report continued profitable trading and a record annual operating profit, together with significant progress towards our longer-term strategic objectives. "
..........................

Customers and prospects

.....We continue to win repeat business from existing clients and add new ones to our portfolio. In this regard we are developing working relationships with these clients on a longer-term basis, some of whom are large blue-chip organisations.
We are also progressing a number of agreements with industry or sector
representative organisations which would incorporate Multefile(TM) in their
standard requirements providing exciting opportunities for future business
growth as Multefile(TM) would become an underlying technology for these
initiatives.

The Group is also being asked to participate in the tendering process as the
smartcard technology provider with prospective partner organisations in large international projects. Whilst the gestation period for these tenders can be long - anything up to 18 months - the fact that organisations are approaching us with a view to including Multefile(TM) in the early stages of these projects is testament to the growing interest offered by our unique technology."

.............


Not a mention of ITSO or any other specific project which is perhaps a little surprising - but I think the potential for significant growth is alluded to in those two paragraphs on prospects. Interesting that they chose to underline the mobile phone/NFC applications. Key players being Sony/Philips but also Innovision who already produce low cost Jewel chips for ITSO applications. (There have been low volume comments in ITSO publications re. RFID and road charging)

They are valued at £9M now - what could they be worth? Mine are locked away for the long run..... Short term target still to break through 4.25p and steal a few column inches.

DYOR.

G.

[garth] 07/1/2007 09:11

Ram,

Pleasure. Good to see you interested in these.

All,

Following on from Martin's questions on friday, this link lists all ITSO certificates granted thus far. Not that many. Ecebs crops up a few times:



G.

[rambutan2] 06/1/2007 00:24

i too have bought just a few in the last month.

thanks for the thread and the answers garth.

[garth] 05/1/2007 18:19

Nice to see a continued rise ahead of Monday's results :0) Perhaps monday will leave things clearer EJ..... You guys may have timed things very well.

Good weekend all.

G.

[Abuse team] 05/1/2007 16:49

Post removed by ADVFN

[m5artin] 05/1/2007 15:30

Thanks garth for spending your time replying in depth. I didn't realise that SMRT were supplying the core technology required by ITSO. Must have misread that bit. Well that being the case then the market is better than I thought. I shall have some shares in time for the results.

[garth] 05/1/2007 15:17

Martin,

Thanks for your questions and for investing the time to read through the board - you must have time on your hands! ;0)

I'll do what I can to answer your questions - I'm not an expert, simply an interested investor.

I realise that you will now probably understand this, but to to clarify: Multefile is Ecebs core technology. It is deployed in a number of applications such as ICAO compliant biometric e-passports and meal payment cards in Lisburn. Another application of Multefile is ITSO - and it is ITSO that is of such interest because of how widespread ITSO could become. An adapted form of Multefile lies at the heart of the ITSO Application Security Module (ISAM) and an ISAM is needed for every ITSO compliant reader and back office. What that means is that it doesn't really matter who gets the contracts to supply the equipment, Ecebs still supply the ISAM that makes ITSO work on that machine and ensures that bus, rail, tram, ferry companies get paid. Ecebs supply all of the ISAMs having written the software application under tender.

I have no idea how many companies are supplying cards and readers in the UK, but it seems that only a handful currently have fully certified ITSO compliant equipment. I've supplied links for those below. Why ERG? I guess Stagecoach did not have that many options and there may have been political reasons why they didn't go for Cubic (who are part of the Transys consortium responsible for Oyster). Wayfarer have also won significant contracts to supply readers.







The CJS system is interesting because it is aimed at other companies integrating it into their own kit in order to achieve instant ITSO certification.

Multi-application ITSO cards are certainly more expensive than cheaper mifare cards but Multefile means that new applications can be added without recalling the cards - so it might be worth it? The new Barclaycard-Oyster card will contain 3 separate elements so the evidence may be that that is the way things are moving. The local government roadmap already stipulates multi-function ITSO cards for access to local government services.

Why the dip in October? Possibly bored, ill-informed Hoodless customers? Beyond that I have no idea - but am grateful for the opportunity it afforded to average down.

Hope that helps somewhat. Feel free to come back to me on anything I've said.

Regards,

G.

[m5artin] 05/1/2007 14:05

Hi, garth, I've just read all the way through this very informative BB and looked at the RNSs and read the stockbrokers stuff.
I was thinking of buying in but here are my concerns..

How many companies currently are supplying smart cards and smart card readers in this country?

Why an Australian company, ERG Transit Systems, gets Selected as Preferred Supplier of Electronic Ticket Machines to Stagecoach Scotland?

What caused that awful dip in the share price last October.


Why should SMRT get all the new business when it looks like evryone but themselves are getting the work?

Perhaps multi layered smart cards are unnecessarily expensive compared to the simpler offerings of thier rivals?

[garth] 05/1/2007 10:55

WJ,

you bought a smile to my face! Congratulations on your bold move - I trust it pays off for you and I look forward to your continued informative contributions here and on the IGP thread.

All the best for 2007!

Kind regards,

G.

[wjccghcc] 05/1/2007 10:03

Well Garth, I've finally bought some ahead of the results :-)

Thanks for all the info you keep providing on the thread.

[garth] 05/1/2007 09:26

Well, with results on monday we have just one trading day to go. Results for the first full year listed on Aim might be expected to draw a line in the sand and give something a bit more substantial for analysts, tipsters and investors to get hold of.

Broker estimates are for a profit of £300k - a near 100% increase on last year. Forecasts for next year currently at £700K rising to £3m the year after. I still expect those 2008 forecasts to be scaled back - but we will see. With Oyster and Calyspo interoperability with ITSO moving forward, concessionary bus travel throughout the UK in 2007 and rail franchise changes in 2008/9 you never know..... Hoping to see us back above 4.25p next week and 10p share price in the next 18 months.

DYOR.

G.

[garth] 04/1/2007 20:31

Pleasure EJ. All the best with whatever you decide.

G.

[garth] 04/1/2007 15:13

EJ,

A response would be dependent upon your timescales and risk/reward profile.

Servicepower(SVR) have disappointed but are ISAable and look to have interesting opportunities for growth. Directors buying recently at these levels.
Dyson(DYS) might be on the cusp of finally seeing their Carolite HDD substrate commercialised.
UCM(UCM) have today announced a planning permission agreement that could transform their balance sheet. They have traditionally paid an attractive divi and might be interesting in the long term.
Carclo(CAR) have a number of attractive irons in the fire and are lowly rated - they will spin off CIT at some point in the future.
Cropper(CRPR) have interesting technology in their Technical Fibre Products division but are experiencing some pressure from pulp and energy costs.

Looking for 50% growth from each of these over 12-18 months.

Lots of excitement at IGP, IGE & OMG but I hold none of them at present.

INN & PIX might be interesting gambles at the right levels.

Have to say that I'm looking for greater performance from SMRT this year.

No investment advice intended.

Kind regards,

G.

[garth] 03/1/2007 11:49

Thanks AWilson.

G.

[awilson] 03/1/2007 10:58

SMRT have left a message on my phone saying the results are due on Monday 8th January.

[garth] 03/1/2007 09:30

This contains two pieces - one on progress on the requirement that all Oyster machines take ITSO cards and the second on travelcard interoperability via ITSO. The second piece states that all pensioners will be eligible for free bus travel from April 2008 and points out the need for interoperable carding..... That should eventually mean an ISAM for every bus and corresponding back office in the country...



G.

[archa] 03/1/2007 09:15

AW - see your own post 265 dated 11th December 2006. I therefore suggest that you "....possess your soul in patience...." to quote a saying. Surely another 7 business days is not too long to wait and the precise date will not affect the outcome of the results.

With regard to your comments about AST plc and cityPROFILE you do have a point but this is not the only company web site to contain some fairly minor inaccuracies. If the company's employees are all out beavering away to generate business that will produce, in subsequent years, a continually rising profits stream, then I am content.

Arch

[awilson] 02/1/2007 17:04

I have tried to contact SMRT today both by phone, to be greeted by the usual pre-recorded message, and by e-mail. These actions were admittedly late in the day so I would not realistically expect a response until tomorrow.
Confusingly, the company's website describes itself as ASTplc. Using, quite reasonably, AST as the Epic code, up comes oil exploration company Ascent Resources. Also cityProfile is listed as the PR company although it says it has not worked for SMRT for some time.
This is not satisfactory as all I want to know is when the full year results are due for the year to September 2006.
Perhaps others could join in and increase pressure to get our director employees to vastly improve the company's profile.