Zytronic Share Discussion Threads

[pugugly] 03/4/2023 19:08

ChatGPT3.5 10/10. You are going to put Copywriters out of business. Much more understandable.
Suggest you forward to Company Marketing manager.

[cerrito] 03/4/2023 19:01

Thanks
Never heard of Quixant and was not trying to compare their sales strategy with Zyt.

[cliffpeat] 03/4/2023 17:04

Electrogaz definition on website:
"What is ElectroglaZ?

Zytronic’s ElectroglaZ technology is a bespoke lamination of non-conductive and conductive transparent glass. The arrangement allows power to be transferred across two or more individual layers within the laminate and tapped/extracted at the required locations to power multiple low power (<50V) devices. The delivery of this energy is wire/cable free and invisible to the user.

ElectroglaZ is a patent pending technology."

Ran it through ChatGPT3.5

Prompt: Edit this statement [original definition] to make it easier to understand but still include the technical description:

This is the result:

"ElectroglaZ is a unique technology developed by Zytronic that combines non-conductive and conductive transparent glass in a custom lamination process. This allows electricity to flow across different layers within the glass, which can power multiple low-power devices without the need for wires or visible "connections. ElectroglaZ is currently a patent-pending technology."

GPT4 had a go but was not as good.

What do you think?

[cliffpeat] 03/4/2023 16:45

@Cerrito/1c3479z
Interesting to compare with ZYT

"[Quixant] is headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom, with our subsidiary companies located across the world, in Italy, Germany, France, Finland, Slovenia, USA, Taiwan and Japan. The majority of Quixant product manufacturing is based in Taipei, Taiwan, with Densitron offices of expertise established in Asia, Europe and North America."


In their "Gaming overview" they say:
"Why customers select us
The gaming computer platform is invisible to the player and yet
manufacturers expend significant R&D effort to design regulatory
compliant solutions in-house. We allow them to outsource this
effort by using our purpose-built, off the shelf solutions. We now
also offer our computers in a turnkey cabinet solution to allow a
complete outsource of everything except the game content."

How does this compare to ZYT's sales strategy?


[...]


FY2022
Q Sales $120m Gaming 62% Adjusted pre-tax profit $10.2m Report PTP $8.8m
Z Sales £12.3m Gaming 38% Pre-tax profit £0.7m

So Q (or Nextec) is 10x the size of Z and makes a (fairly) comparable profit.

[1c3479z] 03/4/2023 16:13

probably quixant, in similar markets, didn't hear the podcast....

[cerrito] 03/4/2023 15:55

I was listening to last week's Vox Markets podcast with a manager from Schroders. They discussed a company in which Schroders have a large position which seems to be like Zyt in the no touch screen market. I did not get the name of the Company but it sounded like Quicksand - it was at the end of the podcast.
Anyone know which company it is??
Thanks

[rivaldo] 29/3/2023 10:20

Nice PR for ZYT's contactless tech with an installation in Hong Kong's Trade and Industry Tower:



Extract:

"While ASPIS could have used the original digital signage system to showcase building information, concerns were raised that having a touchscreen in a busy public area could contribute to spreading infectious diseases — a concern fueled further by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Techniques typically used to enable touch interactivity without physically touching the surface rely upon either infrared or optical-based hardware mounted around the perimeter of the display. The disadvantage of such systems is that the required bezel protrudes from the screen's surface and can entrap dust and dirt, making it difficult to clean, according to the press release.

To overcome this, ASPIS replaced the original 21-inch touch sensor with Zytronic's contactless touch sensor, ZyBrid hover technology, which uses proprietary firmware to boost the projected capacitive touch sensitivity to levels enabling user interactions to be detected up to 50mm from the screen's surface. In addition, no unsightly and potentially unhygienic bezels are required, making the touchscreen easy to clean."

[illiswilgig] 09/3/2023 11:17

Intereting. Thanks for that.

Building business in the defence sector would be good for the long term as product cycles tend to be much longer than in commmercial sectors. But equally there can be a much longer gap between becoming a supplier into a new design and production commencing?

I tend to take the level of marketing social media as being intended for customer awareness rather than shareholders?

And that 'our products have been specified for' is adding to the start of the business development pipeline so typically 12 - 24 months until production orders ramp up. If they do - but it all helps.

cheers

[cliffpeat] 08/3/2023 09:21

Sales and marketing activity at Zytronic.

ZYT announce their "World Tour" - Spring 2023

They are exhibiting in Taiwan (April) and Tokyo (June; "participating" in Germany later this month and "visiting Los Angeles in May.

Hoping that these are productive.

And a few days ago on LinkedIn they announced:
"Thanks to our RFI and EMI shielding capabilities, our products have been specified for large-scale projects across the military sector.

Commonly used in battlefield tactics systems, communication systems, hand-held computers and secure facilities, our shielded glass can help ensure the proper function of electronic devices and equipment in the most testing environments."

Does this mean new and increased sales to the military sector? - it would be good to know.

Their marketing is promoting a feeling of momentum - hoping that it results in profit and is reflected in share value.
.

[rivaldo] 06/3/2023 09:54

Certainly looking better here recently - haven't seen any tips or mentions so presumably just underlying demand for the shares.

ZYT have won a trade show award:



"We are proud to announce the Zytronic Multitouch Monitor has won a Best of ISE 2023 Award.

We are proud to announce Zytronic has won the award for Most Creative Touch-Screen Control System Interface: Zytronic Multitouch Monitor as a part of the Best of ISE 2023 Awards.

Congratulations to our Research & Development team on coming up with yet another winning design to showcase our capabilities in touch technology.

If you’d like to see our winning concept in action, check out this video:"

[pugugly] 28/2/2023 09:25

A slight tick up this morning - Small buys - Tipped or mentioned somewhere?

[pugugly] 15/2/2023 13:45

Seems to be plenty of stock available to buy - Looking at the transactions as alogroed by ADVFN .Could there be a big sell being worked?

[pinkfoot2] 15/2/2023 12:43

Trust me-it needs major refocus.It shouldn’t be a plc to be honest

[cerrito] 15/2/2023 11:53

Thanks Mark for those comments which were very helpful.
My question for the next IMC meeting, presumably after the interims come out, is about competitive threats and also if their competitors are bigger companies with better supply chains.
If I was to have organized myself to make the AGM, one question would be to get a better feel of the industry players not only to assess the competition but to see what chance there was of them being subject of a bid offer by a trade buyer.

[gdjs100] 15/2/2023 11:18

That 3.85m is the depreciated amount in the book value of land, long leaseholds and freeholds. They seemingly have to depreciate this annually in the accounts, although you'd expect it to increase in reality. Property at cost (c2009) was 5.7m, and I'd guess it's worth more than that now.

[rivaldo] 15/2/2023 10:47

MarkAtkinson's podcast in post 1756 above is well worth a listen. As well as the £6.8m cash pile, he's reminded me that there's a further £3.85m of property which hasn't been revalued since 2012!

Questor in today's Telegraph says Hold - again, nicely summarised. When to top up is the quandary, especially given ZYT's illiquidity. By the time improved trading is announced (which I believe will happen at some point) it'll probably be too late, the question is how long/short the timeframe:

"Update: Zytronic

Smaller companies are often more exposed to cost and supply chain pressures, as they do not have the clout to stand up to larger suppliers, distributors and customers, and last week’s trading update from Zytronic makes it clear that the rugged screen maker is still having a tough time of it.

However, the company’s competitive position remains strong, since orders continue to come in, and a net cash pile of £6.8m provides ample support to the £13m market cap. We shall simply have to hunker down and wait.

It is so difficult for Zytronic to procure required parts that the Newcastle upon Tyne company is either paying premium prices or cannibalising finished, manufactured product so it can fulfil orders. Rising costs here and wage increases could impact earnings, especially in the second half of the current fiscal year from April to September.

It is therefore asking too much to expect earnings to rebound rapidly to past peaks of £4.6m from last year’s £611,000, but they do not have to do so for the shares to be cheap.

Average annual net income since 2000’s flotation is £1.6m so Zytronic trades on barely four times that, if you strip out the cash, while the stock also trades at a discount to net asset, or book, value. The cash and lowly price tag mean we can afford to await a positive catalyst.

Questor says: hold
Ticker: ZYT"

[pugugly] 15/2/2023 07:38

Yesterday's trades (imo) reflected buyers who follow Paul Scott. The next few days are more likely to reflect actual market opinion.
(imo) A nice little nice company but will have to run faster to keep ahead of changes in technology and the market.

[markatkinson] 15/2/2023 07:35

A podcast I recorded with my very dear friend Paul Kerin on Zytronic and my recent visit to their AGM -

[pinkfoot2] 14/2/2023 13:44

Share buy backs followed by weak profit warning-really smart.

Company needs a new focus and ideas-otherwise it will eat itself

[rivaldo] 14/2/2023 11:04

Paul Scott on Stockopedia did a write-up on ZYT the other day - a fair summary at this stage, reflecting the defensive quality via the asset backing, the potential upside and the current state of play:

"Zytronic (LON:ZYT)
132p
Market cap £13m

AGM Trading Update & Board Changes

The current financial year is FY 9/2023, so this update covers the 4 months to Jan 2023.

It’s a bit lacklustre, hence the share price dropping c.12% yesterday.

What surprised me was the comments that supply chain issues are still having a significant impact, with shortages of components causing it to pay more for unofficial supplies, and cannibalising finished goods for the components, which sounds a bit extreme, and would presumably involve extra labour costs (and maybe having to write off other inventories?). It’s not good anyway.

Monthly order intake similar to H2 last year. That’s not good, as H2 LY was only £4.9m order intake, suggesting that the current revenue run rate could be as little as £10m annualised.

Pipeline – sounds more encouraging, with £61m in lifetime value of contracts, although that’s multi-year, and not all of it will actually turn into contracts. I prefer firm orders, to numbers on pipeline of potential opportunities.

Although this all sounds rather negative, the good thing about Zytronic is it has a proven ability to operate around breakeven, even in very slow years. In good years, it has been highly profitable. Plus of course there’s pots of cash in the bank, relative to the size of the company.

Net cash is now £6.8m, just over half the market cap. It’s genuinely surplus cash too, if you look at the last balance sheet, net current assets was £9.8m, with no significant long-term liabilities.

So this share tends to attract value investors, who like the strong asset backing, and you’re getting the business thrown in for very little extra – a nice combination I think, for patient investors.

Outlook – a stronger H2 expected, although it cautions that pay rises for staff are likely to be more than budgeted.

My opinion – this is an interesting little value share. You have the comfort of strong asset backing, supporting most of the share price. Then you get upside from a possible recovery of the business, on top of that.

So a thumbs up from me, as a value share. Note also the consistently high StockRank.

It’s interesting to note a permanent de-rating of this share from the 5-year chart below. That came about because, as it turned out, the company had a number of key products that reached end of life, with repeat orders drying up. That’s the sort of thing that only insiders really know about. We always think we understand companies we invest in, but the reality is that outside shareholders usually haven’t got a clue about the inner workings of any companies we invest in.

The number of shares in issue has fallen from 16m to only 10m, following large buybacks. So theoretically, if orders recovered to previous levels of profitability, this share could not just recover to 500p, but go considerably higher. So there’s an opportunity here, we just don’t know whether that positive scenario will play out, or not."

[boadicea] 10/2/2023 10:33

O/T but interesting in relation to comment on SOLI - Does anyone here know the nature of the connection between SOLI and CYAN which was given specific mention in a recent SOLI report. It implies that SOLI must be involved as a manufacturer or part supplier of smart meters bnut I have seen no other evidence.

[dozey3] 09/2/2023 18:17

CliffPeat: I have no insight into SOLI but their market in rugged electronics must overlap and includes defence. They seem more proactive. But… wthdik

[cerrito] 09/2/2023 17:56

I see that only 5pc of the shares were voted by proxy which is a very low voter turnout and suggests that Aberdeen did not vote their shares.I an going on the basis that Mr Walter voted his 5pc in person.

[pinkfoot2] 09/2/2023 17:05

I agree but this is an appalling RNS-apologetic and offering not a lot.Needs a clearout and new ideas

[kiwihope] 09/2/2023 11:43

Wouldn't be surprised if this ticked up a bit before the close.