Ubisense Share Discussion Threads

[p1nkfish] 21/3/2017 16:29

hew, they have had their fingers burnt by over-reaching in the past, expanding too fast and some of the headlines were very heady. Stuff like "Ubisense tipped to rocket". Somehow I doubt they want to promote anything heavily but rather let future results speak for themselves.

Today was more or less what I would have expected but they didn't really elucidate on the January comments in the Trading Update. Could be they are saving that for the half year.

No sell-off on the results which is good. Just need to wait and see if patient money is watching and decides to take a stake. RTLS, Geospatial, Industry 4.0, IoT and SmartFactory are the places to be and Ubi have excellent exposure there.

Takes time to shake off the past.

[hew] 21/3/2017 15:08

New to following the Co. after buying a few on the Trading Update so good to see the quiet confidence shown by the Results. (Still to take a fuller look at the numbers.) Nice that the share price has popped up a little so I was surprised that the three small deals so far appear to be sells.

It seems they put contract and trading information on the website quite often but rarely via RNS, so people not yet interested don't get to see it. Wonder if that will change under the new management. Glad to hear comments from longer term holders.

[aishah] 21/3/2017 11:07

Yes, looking better and healthier.

Techmarketview:

Ubisense starts making sense

It’s of course too early to tell if Richard Petti, the new CEO at Cambridge-based ‘Enterprise Location Intelligence’ systems supplier, Ubisense, can really get the company back on track as he only joined in December (see Ubisense locates new CEO). But the ‘slash and burn’ undertaken by executive chairman Peter Harveson after the ousting of founding CEO Richard Green in May last year (see Ubisense CEO senses it’s time to go – at last!) has at least given Petti a far better situation to start from.

Revenues are now back on the rise, up 21% to £26.5m in 2016, though still way below 2014’s £35m. Net losses have narrowed considerably from £16.6m to £5.3m, while a £9.2m gross operating cash burn in 2015 turned into a £0.3m cash enrichment, though net operating cash flow remains outbound, to the tune of £2m.

Harveson will cede executive powers during first half, but noted that they expect revenue and margin attrition as some legacy contracts reach term. However, he hopes the new focus on their software platform will help mitigate the decline.

As I have been saying every year since its IPO nearly six years ago, Ubisense really should be, quite literally, ‘right place, right time’. Let’s hope Petti can get it there.

[p1nkfish] 21/3/2017 08:10

Quiet, good.
Still in recovery but on track and reads that some lessons have been learnt.
Foundations laid.
Not a bad entry point for anyone not already fully invested.

Cost under control, margins managed and looking to push upwards, revenue grew.
Products in software, hardware, services, maintenance.

A lot to go for in future and no major global OEM auto manufacturer commits to a flaky outfit. Ubisense have achieved that commitment.

[p1nkfish] 21/3/2017 08:06

Reads more or less as expected. Net cash as of 31/12/16 but the statement is largely backward looking and see no mention of the text below from the Trading Update.

"The Company expects to report a net cash positive position as at 31 December 2016, which has improved in January through significant debtor collections, and is in compliance with the banking covenants on its new HSBC facility."

Therefore the current position 3 months into the 1st Qtr of 2017 is likely better still.

"Excellent" used 4 times in the text - interesting. They are however not relaxing on cost control - GOOD NEWS. They will not get carried away like last time.

"The market opportunity for the Company is excellent, with both our software platforms demonstrating measurable return on investment for our customers. However, the Company is in a recovery phase and we continue to be prudent in managing our operating costs in line with the near term revenue opportunity."

[aishah] 17/3/2017 10:26

Indeed. Hoping for a strong update next week.

[zico01] 16/3/2017 17:06

From last trading update 27/01/2017 :

The Company showed continued good progress in terms of revenue growth, margins, cost management and order book, all of which are significantly better than those achieved in 2015.

Richard Petti, CEO, said:

"Ubisense starts 2017 with a strong order book and good momentum.

[aishah] 16/3/2017 09:14

Ubisense Group Plc (AIM: UBI) a leader in high performance Enterprise Location Intelligence systems, will announce its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2016 on Tuesday 21 March 2017.

[p1nkfish] 15/3/2017 00:05

RTLS used properly could help prevent this type of death.

[p1nkfish] 08/3/2017 22:52

They were also working with Daifuku and Ubi will be a enabler of warehouse vehicle and robotics.

Anyone know what became of this? hxxp://pakwest.com/2015/01/09/1345/

[hastings] 07/3/2017 09:37

Results out week of the 20th apparently.No doubt we will be treated to more info on going forward.

[p1nkfish] 06/3/2017 11:23

Very, very relevant. Look into the accuracy and standards.
In terms of capability its well up there with the best, if not the best.
Hence, adoption at Tier1's only. Not cheap.

AngleID might help move down the pyramid -

I'm not too worried, if you can wait for the potential to out it will reward well imho.

If in doubt, don't buy.

Classic example of tech company getting ahead of itself.

[brummy_git] 06/3/2017 10:59

IMO, it looks as though Siemens and GE will be the big winners in the RTLS space. And agreed p1nkfish, the best shot for Ubisense is to be acquired by one of these guys - assuming of course their technology is still relevant.

[brummy_git] 06/3/2017 07:57

Many thanks p1nkfish. Your advice to stay on the sidelines is well heeded.

[p1nkfish] 05/3/2017 22:21

Finally, all this stuff will be a major enabler of autonomous warehousing/factories out to the loading bay, in transport, to receiving end. GE, Honeywell, Siemens, Bosch, ABB etc all love this stuff and I would expect an interest to acquire all or part of Ubisense but well above the current market cap.

Watch this from a Ubisense customer, Magna Steyr, important, notice removal of robot cages. Requires accurate, reliable location of people and carts, not easy to do -

If in doubt, don't buy in.

[p1nkfish] 05/3/2017 22:12

Don't compare to the wifi and lpre blue-tooth vendors, they are less accurate and have other problems.

On enterprise location there are various competitors and some overlap even with these below and it might have been a reason for the deal with onzo - I'm probably wrong on that but the only reason I can see -

There is nothing in the market to take on the full capabilities of ANGLEID that I have seen yet nor a company with the same combo of capabilities as Ubi under one roof.

[p1nkfish] 05/3/2017 21:04

All have different competences, too many to go into all the differences too.
Answer is simple, don't buy in.

[brummy_git] 05/3/2017 19:11

Research experts Markets and Markets list their RTLS global leaders as:STANLEY Healthcare (U.S.), Zebra Technologies Corp. (U.S.), Ubisense Group PLC. (U.K.), IMPINJ, Inc. (U.S.), Savi Technology (U.S.), AiRISTA, LLC. (U.S.), CenTrak, Inc. (U.S.), Versus Technology, Inc. (U.S.), Identec Group AG (Liechtenstein), Redpine Signals, Inc. (U.S.), Decawave Ltd. (Ireland), Awarepoint Corp. (U.S.), and BeSpoon SAS. (France), among others.

Anyone any thoughts on relative strengths of each provider and/or where Ubisense lies today in the industry pecking order?

www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/real-time-location-systems-market-1322.html

[p1nkfish] 05/3/2017 18:37

The Samsung offering is not to the same scale. Not apples to apples. However, given Samsung bought part of CSR I would not be surprised for them to run a slide rule over Ubisense, as could half a dozen other large OEMs including GE, Siemens etc that could use Ubisense unique capabilities and in roads into various large OEM customers Ubi have.

In fact, a main exit I could see would be via sale of the Company or part thereof.

[brummy_git] 05/3/2017 14:45

I know UBI used to mention a few years back that "Zebre" was their closest rival wrt RTLS - hxxp://investors.zebra.com/.

However nowadays it appears everyone and his dog has got on board, not least the likes of Samsung who are hoping to sell 480 more smart factory systems in 2017, bringing their total implementation volume over the past 3 years to 1,080 companies.

hxxp://www.koreaittimes.com/story/65917/samsung-aims-building-1000-smart-factories-2017

As such unfortunately it looks increasingly like Ubisense may have missed the boat?

[p1nkfish] 05/3/2017 11:10

There are individual companies competing in each segment of their business but not with the same entire suite under one banner/company.

ANGLEID is unique and appears simple in installation. I think a real game changer/enabler to OEM and, I think importantly, to developers. Question is - can they get it into the hands of the developer community to drive new business ideas. It looks like could be a great diversifier for Ubisense.

My take is they were not sufficiently diverse in end customer, segment or geography and VW hit them very hard indeed. Shedding heads after what was supposed to be an expansion to meet growth was costly and I think that is why the CEO and Chairman jumped and results were awful - reduced business, headcount reduction costs. They also let Small world go that hit revenue but should have improved margins however.

Should a major OEM need a full factory suite software/hardware then UBI should uniquely positioned.

Competitors - many, not just in end application but in approach also.
Reading over results for the past 3 years I think they now "get it" and the days of wanting to rule the world are behind them - now its cash management, debt control, market and customer diversification and profit targets.

Just my 2p.
I've been wrong before but I do see Ubi as a potential gem of a company.
Not a bed of roses but hallmarks of a good turn around where lessons have been learnt.

It can also link into elements of big data when they have enough systems in field - what, where, when - across multiple factory sites and even shipping between.

[brummy_git] 05/3/2017 07:41

Hopefully you guys are right. H1 Free Cash Flow (post £900k of capitalised R&D and £1.7m of one-offs) was minus £3.5m. Meaning that at least H2 was a lot better in terms of cash management and probably working capital too.

BTW, does anyone have a feel how differentiated their product set is in terms of the competition? A few years back it was leading edge, but revenues are declined/stalled since then? Indeed H1 revenues were flat'ish at best, and actually negative in constant currencies, suggesting little or no growth.

[aishah] 04/3/2017 20:02

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[aishah] 04/3/2017 20:01

We're #recruiting a new sales director to grow our successful portfolio of #cable customers in N America. Read more hxxps://t.co/cg4KTNgQXc