Srt Marine Systems Share Discussion Threads

[mikeod] 14/7/2017 00:11

Excellent feedback and comment from AGM attendees!
Thanks to all.

[napoleon 14th] 13/7/2017 22:16

I'm not currently a shareholder but know SRT from 11p/share days (4 years ago?).
Thanks for the copious updates; very interesting.
I'm mulling over buying back in, but this market is not enticing. Perhaps that means I'll get shares at less than 40p? Seems skittish, but if you let the trend be your friend, then in this market, you exercise a little restraint!
Anyway, SRT seem certainly worth a decent place in any smallcap PF. Good progress.
GLA.

[2vdm] 13/7/2017 14:35

Thanks for all the info from those who attended. Unfortunately I can't, so it's always much appreciated.

[alter ego] 13/7/2017 11:13

An interesting response was given to a question during the agm about the risk of losing a key member of the team. Simon R said they had people capable of stepping up in the event of something happening to Simon t or Neil. My own take is that notwithstanding this reassurance, it would be very hard to replace either man. ST has some rare abilities, He's charismatic and eloquent, clearly capable of engendering trust in his dealings with customers, an entrepreneur with imagination and single mindless. He not afraid to change something when it is clear it's not to SRT's advantage (e.g. the agreement with EE) and ultimately dedicated to the business not his pay cheque. Neil brings a lot of tech knowhow and organisational skills to the production side and is also highly motivated to look at the economics of how SRT operate.

Replacing either man from within would not be easy IMO.

It was then revealed that SRT carry kidnap insurance and ST explained that in certain parts of the world (I think central america) he is taken by car with an armed escort (machine gun on his lap) to a gated hotel. He said if this routine isn't follow one would be kidnapped. It's a sobering thought that we have a CEO prepared to go to such places in pursuit of business.

I spoke to the FD about using export credit guarantee and the cost. He said it would amount to about 10% of the contract and would have to be borne by the customer as SRT could not afford to sacrifice that much revenue.

[alter ego] 13/7/2017 11:00

thanks alstralvision re satellite.

[astralvision] 13/7/2017 10:42

thanks for the added info FredFishcake

[astralvision] 13/7/2017 10:41

alter ego

In the booklet it says 'SRT will look at own constellation' page 22.
An interesting development.


Regarding competition, this question came out several times, both on the tour of the works and in the agm. My recollection was Mr Tucker gave full answers and did not seem evasive, but that's just my take.

Weatherdock and Alteck were given as competition in transponders and that SRT see them all the time in terms of when they are going out, but Mr Tucker did not view them as that much competition due to a combination of the lack of complete product range, reliability issues and not in competition on the 'systems projects ' side of things. Re reliability, I seem to remember SRT talking about in trials SRT's gear picked up around 30% more targets than the competitions products.

Regarding competition in the Systems space, Mr Tucker gave out a few names, didn't quite catch them, CLS or something like that? And somebody else. But it would seem that SRT are exploiting a 'niche' area where the big military systems providers are not really interested due to the size of these projects. It would seem that SRT have come up with a very cost effective and visually appealing way of giving countries real time tracking of vessels, something that , it would seem, was not really available before, least not without spending mega bucks on the initial system and then more mega bucks on continuing costs. A remarkable achievement by a small British company hidden away in Somerset!

[fredfishcake] 13/7/2017 10:36

I think the figure was $3-4 pcm billed, of which $2m went to the satellite operator. It would cost about $2m to put up our own satellite, with an operating cost of 100k pcm or pa (can't remember). The missing factor was how many satellites would be needed - not sure whether that cost was for geostationary or not.

Having said that, it's currently a pipe dream for the future IF the numbers of transmitters are high enough and IF they're far enough offshore to need satellite and IF someone is willing to pay that amount for the satellite data.

[alter ego] 13/7/2017 10:30

re the cost of a cube satellite, I too cannot remember if it was dollars or pounds but surely, if SRT go down the turnkey route, they would not own the satellite and would therefore pay a usage fee rather than a purchase cost. That's my understanding anyway.

[astralvision] 13/7/2017 10:25

There was an interesting talk about satellite revenues. SRT need to get the population of transponders out there up. An example was given that in three years time there could be 400,000 vessels equipped with SRT's transponders that could require satellite surveillance. A figure was given of $7-$10 per boat per month. So, in due course, we could be looking at $3m/month of recurring revenues. And that would be high margin to SRT, esp if SRT have their own 'cube satellites', something which can be done at surprisingly low cost, was it £3m or $3m? it was in that region.

[oldscallop] 13/7/2017 10:15

Yes, thanks to all AGM attendees for enlightening and well-balanced comments. The future still looks promising but clearly not plain sailing.

[astralvision] 13/7/2017 10:14

I very much enjoyed the AGM, an impressive team led by the charismatic Mr Tucker.

The AGM Investor Presentation now up on the SRT web-site and worth a good read:



One thing I notice, in the systems pipe-line SRT don't seem to do 'small'.
The VSP projects range from $15m to $40m, average project size is around $25m or so. In the context of average revenue around £10m over the last few years then a few of these projects over-lapping are likely to give a significant boost to revenues and profits. With 4 projects valued at a total of £60m expected to contract in the relatively near term, then future prospects here look excellent.

[mjcrockett] 13/7/2017 09:40

Thanks to everyone who has posted info on the AGM. It all sounds promising except that I still don't know how long I will have before I can consume last year's AGM jam. Perhaps our new broker will include, with their forecasts, some guidance as to when investors may be able to open their jam.

[philburt] 13/7/2017 09:05

Thanks FredF

[billbyrne] 12/7/2017 21:00

Just back from the AGM. Glad to be able to make it there again. I'm up around that number of AGMs as well TP, can remember at least 3 or 4 in the old board room at Wireless House, before they moved it to the Centurion Hotel.
Good to meet fellow investors again.
As ever a lot is happening at SRT, not a lot to add to the summary by alter ego and TP. With 14 systems projects in the validated sales pipeline, plus the two already contracted hopefully it won't be long till we have that smoothing process of overlapping contracts. I think when that happens we will see a much higher share price.

[philburt] 12/7/2017 20:46

A big 'Thank you' to all that were able to attend the AGM and who have provided some excellent feedback!

[crystball] 12/7/2017 20:18

Just got back home after attending the AGM. I counted 31 people in audience at AGM. Some new faces as well as familiar attendees. All seems to be going well. I particularly liked the new warehouse facility with plenty of room for expansion. There were wonderful cakes as usual and a delicious lunch. The employees and directors looked at ease and content. These things you only pick up by attending AGM's and going on site tours in person. Summaries provided by others are very well done. Thank you.

[goodapple] 12/7/2017 19:51

Even mentioned the possibility of SRT having their own satellite constellation to maximise data revenues, but I think that's one for another time.
SP unmoved by any of today's snippets, but I don't think that will last long.
Very positive, informative, thought-provoking AGM.
Excellent cakes too, thank you.

[alter ego] 12/7/2017 18:57

A few more snippets that occur to me.

- the broker Redmayne Bentley had a rep at the AGM, in a very smart suit. Good to see "City" interest even if RB are headquartered in Leeds
- new display room up and running. All products on display plus active displays of Geo Vs, one live from the Solent. Plus one showing the whole Earth and ability to zoom in on any location. Looked stunning on a big (40 inch?) screen.
- ST showed 3 identical class B units, one a big brand, one. Mid brand, the other Em Trak ( SRT own label for any newbies). Price varied from $900 to $400. Most profit to SRT on the $400 EmTrak unit.
- SRT have long since given up trying to sell into China. Despite spending time some years back, "educating" about the importance of compliance with specs, most units sold are locally manufactured. Also despite having the most extensive and expensive infrastructure, a lots of boats cannot be "seen". SRT have had a number of enquiries from Chinese OEM manufactirers but are not interested in supplying as the price of items bought in China becomes the norm worldwide The China Price.
- Interesting observation that installing the display system is much more satisfying to the customer than other elements of infrastructure. Hence SRT keen to progress to point where customer can "see" what the are getting and importance of getting more data.
- ST sees advantages in SRT having own satellites, via turnkey provider" as cost of data would be significantly lower. Not currently more than a thought but perhaps when selling on satellite data is an important revenue stream we may see some developments.

Dinner beckons. Over and out.

[the prophet] 12/7/2017 17:57

Just back from the agm, good to meet fellow investors again.
Excellent summary by ae, I agree with YUMYUM and C5's comments.

No doubt the AGM presentation booklet will be up on the web-site soon. There is a lot of good stuff in the booklet. For those that like to focus on sales, there is a feast of info on all the goodies that are heading our way.


-14 system sales opps valued at c. £270m in VSP, of these 4 are valued at £60m 'are considered to be in final stages before contracting'

The 14 system sales are broken down into area (eg M.east) a value given, some comments, estimated implementation period and number of vessels. The 14 system sales are in addition to the two current contracted projects.

There are some very interesting opps indeed in the list.

eg Middle east c.$25m. 'Follow on contract with existing customer where SRT supplied an NAIS system inclusive of 7,500 vessel transceivers. Significant upgrade to a full MDM.'
No prizes for guessing who this is!`
SRT emphasised the value of trust and confidence that they build up with customers. This then can lead to follow on projects such as this one.


I've slightly lost track of how many agm's I have attended, I think I'm now up to eight. What I've seen in that time is a company that has transformed itself from the box-shifter of Class B's and not much else into a systems provider that can supply any AIS product required and fuse all the data from multiple feeds into a coherent picture and manipulate that data as required. It is some achievement and the three main guys, Messrs Tucker, Peniket and Hurd deserve a lot of credit for that, with wise counsel from Chairman Simon Rogers. They are a hard-working and talented bunch whose interests are aligned with shareholders. As investors, despite the share price being several multiples up from when I first invested, I feel the best is yet to come. As ever with SRT, timing is a tricky beast, but I firmly believe it's a question of 'when' not 'if' that substantial rewards in the form of a share price a magnitude up from where we are now. That is not to say it will all be plain sailing, but there is a level of activity one rung below 'RNS contract' that means the dam will burst, at some point! I don't think that point is too far away.

Rambled on enough, as ever, please dyor, all looks good here.