Ubisense Share Discussion Threads

[fardistanthills] 27/1/2012 21:23

OK, have to some extent answered my own questions. [Hopefully this may help other less solid posters too.]

There are two divisions, Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) and Geospatial. The following is from the June 2011 placing document.

"Ubisense is a world leader in providing end to end (hardware, software and services)"

"The RTLS division uses Ubisense's ultra-wideband based proprietary technology to target high value manufacturing businesses which is used to track assets ... RTLS division supplies location tags which are either attached to an asset directly (direct tracking) or to the equipment handling the asset (indirect tracking) ... [which] transmit UWB radio signals to a network of Ubisense's fixed sensors and mobile detectors .. [from which] positions and events can be represented graphically, in real-time, in interactive 2D and 3D models using the Group's proprietary software"

"The Geospatial division uses Ubisense's expertise in location solutions to deliver applications, software and other solutions primarily in the utilities and telecom sectors"

"The Geospatial division focuses on the detailed mapping of network assets and provides, on behalf of its customers, network management planning and design, and has particular expertise in GE Smallworld software and solutions."

"Over recent years, the profitability of the Geospatial division has done much to help fund the development of the RTLS division and existing Geospatial consulting work has helped fund the development of the Group's RTLS technology."

"Key Strengths: The Group has a secure platform on which to develop its business and has progressed to date by leveraging the profitable, cash generative Geospatial business whilst developing its RTLS technologies."

From all of which it might be concluded that Geospatial is more 'mature' 'developed' than RTLS, with nevertheless some interesting applications.

Geospatial is a software business. Ubisense's Geospatial division uses the Group's expertise in location solutions to manage some of the largest and most complex Geospatial projects worldwide on software and hardware platforms that are not proprietary to the Group, most notably and significantly those of GE Smallworld. The Geospatial consulting services team, consisting of around 56 permanent members of staff and up to a further 50 contractors, has offices in Germany, the US and Canada and this enables multi-territory projects to be supported.

RTLS – end to end – involves hardware, which may well be bought in? Installation and commissioning involve a considerable on site presence. Some interesting case studies are described in the placing document each of which makes it clear that, as with Geospatial, installations is a pretty bespoke, consultant intensive affair:

"Ubisense [RTLS] currently has up to five staff dedicated to supporting the relationship with EADS Group Companies"

Worth a read:



I don't have a position in UBI. But I do now have a better feel for their business processes!

[hastings] 27/1/2012 20:51

Oh dear!,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[fardistanthills] 27/1/2012 16:44

A Spectris subsidiary - Microscan - is well established in some thing similar, what they call Track Trace & Control, TTC:





Interesting outfit UBI. I can understand the tech space they are in, what they do for their clients. But I have not got my head around what the package they would typically supply comprises. Is it everything? Viz, software, sensors, readers, controllers, etc? I.e. do they supply all the hardware needed? In which case do they manufacture all this stuff too?

[apad] 27/1/2012 12:37

Newell & Hopper are smart cookies so I had a desultory rummage around the company.
Health warning - desultory!

Goodness it's easy to see the attractions so I want to look for problems.
There are a lot of different technologies that achieve this sort of tracking and I can't differentiate between the their advantages in different contexts.
I suspect that the systems and software elements of the technologies are vital.
They patent stuff (about one a year :-)

Patent Number Title Of Patent Date Issued
8045930 Tag frequency control October 25, 2011
A communication system comprising one or more transceiver units of a first type and one or more transceiver units of a second type capable of communicating with the transceiver units of the first type; each transceiver unit of the first type comprising: a frequency comparison unit fo
7830309 Location system November 9, 2010
A portable location device for use in a location system, the device comprising a transmitter for transmitting ultra-wideband signals, a receiver for receiving non-ultra-wideband signals and a control unit coupled to the receiver for controlling the operation of the device in dependen
7636062 Location device and system using UWB and non-UWB signals December 22, 2009
A portable location device for use in a location system, the device comprising a transmitter for transmitting ultra-wideband signals, a receiver for receiving non-ultra-wideband signals and a control unit coupled to the receiver for controlling the operation of the device in dependen
7466224 System for detecting intruders in a populated space December 16, 2008
A system for monitoring the presence of persons within a zone, the system comprising: one or more remotely detectable markers, each capable of being carried by a person; a first sensor arrangement capable of identifying the presence of the body of at least one person within the zone;

I couldn't find any big boys in the playground.

I found a few small outfits tracking hospital patients and the like. Interesting that they don't seem to do much in hospitals and prisons.

It has real big-brother potential!

Interesting

apad

[the prophet] 27/1/2012 11:58

-right, heres the situation, basically don't believe anything they print in the Cambridge Business Weekly.

-there is no 'landmark' contract, head count to increase by 50% is misleading, its a journalist who is getting way ahead of himself and taking some basic info and adding a lot of his own 'artistic licence'. None of which is to say that Ubisense are not doing very well, but do not expect any extra insight from the Cambridge Business Weekly, as you won't get it!

-come to think of it, probably best not to post or link their articles at all on here, not unless you have a penchant for fairy stories!

[apad] 26/1/2012 18:11

That 50% headcount increase doesn't map to the 11 vacancies on the website.
apad

[hastings] 26/1/2012 17:27

Some good input here from solid posters. I thought i would repeat a post i popped on a few weeks back. It is from the Cambridge Business mag, a monthly issue sponsored by CCL and produced by the Cambridge News, as opposed to the one which has rubbed TP up the wrong way!!
Sorry for those who have already seen it, but i think it is a good read.



(stand first)Professor Andy Hopper talks to Jenny Chapman about the company he chairs, Ubisense, post-flotation. Was it a good idea?



(starts)"Ubisense quiet on IPO gossip" ran the headline in the News in November 2010. The same story also carried the news that the company had just raised a further £5m from new and existing investors.

Fast forward to June this year and Ubisense had floated on AIM, the stock rising from its 180p debut to 212.50p within the hour.

This was the first Cambridge IPO for some years, the city has been keeping its powder dry and then it turns out bigger things are afoot, Autonomy.

I mention the "A" word because I am listening to Professor Andy Hopper, Ubisense chairman, also head of Cambridge University's computer department; he reckons the sky's the limit for Ubisense, just like ARM and Autonomy.

I want to find out why Ubisense decided to float, what it has meant to the company, how it makes a difference.

There are hints of just how ambitious the company is all around in the offices in St Andrew's House, part of the old Philip's premises in St Andrew's Road, Chesterton. The meeting room I am sitting in is called "Pacific", there is a large poster on the wall "The Road to Lean Production".

Ubisense is all about being able to find things very quickly, in real time. The technology is already installed in factories around the world, and Prof Hopper sees no limit for its ubiquity: "It could be in every building on the planet," he says.

The genesis for Ubisense was 20 years ago in Prof Hopper's then office which stood next to what is now Judge Business School. It was the Olivetti computer lab, part of the university, and which had started out in a cramped set of three rooms in Market Hill.

"When we moved to the Old Addenbrooke's site we were on three floors instead of in three rooms and you couldn't find anyone. Roy Want, who was my PhD student came into my office and said `What can I do?' On a whim I said he could sort out how to find everyone.

"Roy then designed an indoor location system. We all wore badges like medals and everyone knew where everyone was. We then put it in the whole of the computer lab and a number of the people working there are here now."

Great, isn't it, a company turning over £20m was founded on a whim. But it was to take some years before the business was formed. In 2002 the core team got together and it has been a success from the word go.

"But this stuff is difficult, getting it to work. It's complex technology, some hardware, but mostly software. We had to get to a scale where a large number of things could be tagged and located quickly. It's taken 20 years of know-how and then working your guts out to get it to work.

"As chairman I know more about the technology than is sensible," he adds.

But he is quite some chairman, with a track record matched by few, straddling academe and business, making a personal fortune as well as for others, he was involved in Acorn, ARM, Virata and is chairman of RealVNC, the company run by Andy Harter, who worked with him in the computer lab.

And it all seems to have gone incredibly smoothly for Ubisense, which is very much a Cambridge story. All the money has come from "the great and good of Cambridge" as Prof Hopper puts it, all of it angel investment, no sniff of a VC. At the time of the IPO the company had around 80 investors.

"The board has been able to concentrate on the business rather than wrestling with an investment structure. The investors said yes each time we went for more funding and the time spent on this was reasonable, the hassle ratio was completely under control. Distraction has been missing."

This said, the straightforward days have diminished with the stricture of having to provide half year reporting to the market now that the company is public.

"But this overhead is necessary for the company to grow. One of the reasons for the flotation was to give us the opportunity to acquire other businesses, although I've nothing up my sleeve at the moment, but we could raise the cash."

Another reason was to give the very supportive and patient angels a chance to make some money from their investment, although most have chosen to hold on to their shares.

Richard Green, chief executive, came on board in 2004 when Ubisense merged with Ten Sails, another Cambridge company. He had experience of taking a company public, which kind of suggests the thought had been there for quite a long time.

"This is a niche and potentially a huge business," Prof Hopper says. "It's unbounded. Look at GPS satellites, to me the notion of the same in location indoors is obvious. GPS doesn't work very well indoors." Ubisense does.

This sort of talk leads to a mention of Autonomy: "I think it's fantastic," he says, adding: "I don't see any reason why we should not grow into being the dominant supplier." Later, he says the £10bn Autonomy sale to HP is something for others to aspire to, and that it is bound to fuel start-up investing in the city from those who have reaped the rewards.

Back to the business in hand, and to give you an idea of the sort of application for Ubisense technology, one of the most recent installations is at the Mini plant at Cowley. Parts are tagged, and you know, in real time, exactly where they are all the time. It saves a lot of money.

But there have been some less likely applications, like the cows in Denmark, tagged for real time location; but mostly it's in industry, and the company has a close working relationship with world leading industrial tools firm, Atlas Copco.

At this point he asks me how I see the business scene in Cambridge these days. I rather stupidly say that propositions have become stronger because the tekkies have brought along the management experts at an earlier stage.

A few minutes later, after other things have been discussed, Prof Hopper says: "I am a strong believer in the notion that the founders can be smart business people and this stereotyping of engineers not understanding is complete nonsense." Mind you, they did bring in Mr Green at Ubisense.

It's a good story, Ubisense, and the only complaint Prof Hopper has about the whole exercise of floating is actually nothing to do with the business, it's the tax system.

"It needs to be looked at. Capital Gains Tax is 28%, but 10% if you hold 5% or more of the company.

"This means you don't want to go below 5% and that is completely and utterly bonkers, a disincentive to entrepreneurs. Investment does not happen because people want more than 5%. It's just not right, it distorts the business and is bad for UK plc and for company growth. This is one of the reasons we don't have bigger companies."

[the prophet] 26/1/2012 16:44

-nurdin
-no,like the tech and the prospects look good, although not sure about taking an indsutry wide approach and boilng it down to Ubisense, but each to their own.

-would like answers on this landmark contract stuff, as it just makes no sense to me at all
-would like to see forecasts for this year and next , probably out post 2011 results
-would like to understand a bit more why thay are increasing headcount by 50%
-ok, there is growth and aquisitions, but you would like to think their solutions are a bit more scaleable. Answer might be in brokers note.

-they look interesting but, imo, no great rush to buy in yet. ofcourse, they may well announce (another?!) landmark contract and the share price is off to the moon, in which case too bad.

[nurdin] 26/1/2012 16:36

I take it you have bought TP? :o)

[bergster56] 26/1/2012 16:16

definitely one for the coming 6-12 months. The TS suggests results are in line with board expectations, which is different from 'analysts' expectations.

Great growth story potential here in a bloodbath of a market

[timtom2] 26/1/2012 15:59

Journalists - say no more.

If it is share price sensitive, and to be RNS'ed, then hasn't there been selective disclosure?

[the prophet] 26/1/2012 15:53

-shares going up nicely....rns tomorrow with news of ENI landmark contract?!!!

[the prophet] 26/1/2012 15:20

-no, not really, as the piece was talking about cracking the energy sector, and they had already announced in the interims a contract for a US energy outfit, so it is not the first contract in the energy sector, as far as I can see.

-heres what BW said

'Ubisense has won a landmark contract with partners S3ID for AGIP – the Italian automotive gasoline and diesel retailer subsidiary of multinational petroleum company Eni.'

-if its a 'landmark contract', which in my book and probably just about everyone elses , come to think of it, means highly significant. That means investors have a right to know about it through the proper channels.

-and if Business weekly is just fluffing it up, then they are providing misleading info and Ubisense should pull them up on it, as its wrong to do that, plain and simple. If it is BW at fault, this goes way beyond pinch of salt stuff and is misleading the market, imo. If the BW is correct, well, Ubisense should let all investors know when a landmark contract is awarded, not just readers of BW.

[timtom2] 26/1/2012 15:09

May be landmark as the first such even if low value.
Low value = no need to notify as not share price sensitive.

Beaufort1 = agree about Business Weekly, for people drinking the KoolAid. Take with a pinch of salt and healthy does of realism.

[beaufort1] 25/1/2012 16:40

NB Business Weekly is a local Cambridge puff-sheet which acts as a cheerleader for Cambridge businesses. So I wouldn't take it too seriously

PS am a long-term UBI shareholder

[nurdin] 25/1/2012 16:12

I agree...that trading statement was decidedly subdued.It almost feels as if Business Weekly have had their companies mixed up !!

[the prophet] 25/1/2012 16:06

-re ghf's link to interesting article in business weekly. this bit caught my eye:

'Now Ubisense cracks the energy market


High flying Ubisense, the Cambridge location solutions company, has made a significant entry into the energy market with two significant contracts.
Ubisense has won a landmark contract with partners S3ID for AGIP – the Italian automotive gasoline and diesel retailer subsidiary of multinational petroleum company Eni.

This follows its success with partner, PA Consulting Group, in winning a contract with Puget Sound Energy (PSE), Washington's oldest energy utility.

Energy is one of a number of new markets the UK company has identified to underpin further global growth.'

-talk of significant and landmark contracts, which certainly sounds price sensitive and worthy of a RNS, yet i can't find any mention of these contracts in yesterdays trading statement , although there was mention of a major new win for an US energy company in the interim results, which were out 4 months ago now.

-you would think there would be some mention of a 'landmark' contract with a subsidiary of ENI, other than for readers of business weekly! And some details of what it means financially might be helpful!

-Mr Green seems to save his most bullish comments for business weekly, with talk of a 'stunning' 2011 which comes in @ market expectations. All seems a bit strange to me.....

[stegrego] 25/1/2012 12:46

Wuss

;)

[saucepan] 25/1/2012 11:09

Get well soon, GHF

[jakleeds] 25/1/2012 10:58

Thanks GHF.

This is the start of something amazing imo.

We may see further director buying before too long.

[hastings] 24/1/2012 12:49

Some decent post here and as Mas says, could fly very quickly or drop sharply on dissapointing news. However, from a personal perspective happy to hold onto what i have now and see how things pan out. Always different ways to value the business, but i don't feel the current mkt cap is in any way excessive, particularly when comparing to some of the other potential future stars on offer.

[the prophet] 24/1/2012 12:32

well respected Techmark view



24 January 2012
Ubisense locates FY numbers in the right position

Ubisense

We have been keeping a close eye on Cambridge-based, 'real-time locations solutions' company, Ubisense, on account of the fact it was last year's first UK SITS (software and IT services) IPO (see Ubisense gets off to fine start on AIM) after quite a hiatus on the LSE, and then undertook two acquisitions in quick succession (see here and here). We also happen to think it's in an interesting space (so to speak).

Today's trading update indicates that Ubisense finished 2011 'in line', though we won't hear the full story till early March. I wasn't overly excited about its profitability at the halfway stage (see Margins slip at Ubisense maiden interims) but there's a couple of moving parts to this business which are rotating at different speeds, so we'll have to wait till March to see the detail.