Zytronic Share Discussion Threads

[rivaldo] 24/9/2015 14:19

News (and good pictures!):



"Curved Touch Screens and Rugged Touch Tables Set the Tone at G2E
Wednesday 23rd September 2015 01:11pm

Leading developer and manufacturer of advanced Projected Capacitive Technology (PCT™) touch screen solutions, Zytronic, will be demonstrating its ultra-large format multi-touch products in the form of a 55” roulette table simulators and a custom 40” curved slot machine at G2E 2015 (Booth 4111).

Commenting, Ian Crosby, Sales and Marketing Director at Zytronic, said, “Casino touch screens are increasingly moving to larger sizes and more sophisticated designs with special shapes, cut-outs, printed colours and even curved forms and added functions in order to attract passing players. Reliability is critical, as revenue generation relies upon a functioning touch screen. Zytronic’s award-winning PCT projected capacitive touch sensors meet all these requirements, offering almost limitless customisation, the latest multi-touch levels of performance, and rugged, dependable design, unaffected by spills, scratches and damage.”

The large concave bezel-free 40” multi-touch screen featured at G2E is user customisable and capable of detecting up to 40 simultaneous touch points. The inward curve of the concave screens allows users to (almost literally) step inside their digital experience, providing a much more immersive playing experience. Zytronic have combined it with an integrated 19” “button deck” – all on the same curved glass surface.

Also on the booth will be a Zytronic touch table based on its MPCT™ Multi-touch Projected Capacitive Sensing technology capable of supporting HD and UHD displays up to 85” with up to 100 simultaneous touch points. Zytronic sensors are especially well suited for touch tables; as they combine extreme resistance to severe impact, scratches, and liquid spillages, with immunity to accidental touch by a sleeve or glass, incorporating advanced palm rejection functionality that only reacts to a finger or conductive stylus".

[capercaillie] 22/9/2015 18:43

Took a very modest position in these today.

[shauney2] 16/9/2015 11:19

Thanks igoe,all bodes well.

Going by last year we are due an update soon.

[crystball] 16/9/2015 09:58

Very good news. Bodes well.

[rivaldo] 16/9/2015 09:30

Cheers igoe104, good news - huge new markets being accessed there.

5k just bought at the full 309p offer.

[igoe104] 15/9/2015 15:04

Zytronic strengthens South-East Asian presence with TouchMedia
Developer and manufacturer of touch screen solutions, Zytronic, has expanded its reach in South-East Asia with a new agreement signed with sales partner TouchMedia.

Through this agreement, Zytronic’s Projected Capacitive Technology (PCT) will reach Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.Ian Crosby, Zytronic sales and marketing director, commented: “We are pleased to be working with a partner who has such extensive knowledge of the South-East Asian technology market; and a strong understanding of advanced touch screen solutions. We look forward to a productive and successful future working with TouchMedia, bringing our Projected Capacitive Technology to new markets”.

[rcturner2] 19/8/2015 10:11

Agree about VLK, they even moved to AIM deliberately to facilitate the corrupt actions you refer to.

[paulypilot] 19/8/2015 10:08

Hi APAD & RCT,

Good points, I agree.

Another key factor for me is the attitude of management. I sold out of Vislink (VLK) in disgust recently, at the appalling actions of John Hawkins, bringing in a so-called "Value Creation Plan", on top of already grotesquely high remuneration, bonuses, share options, and he even got the company to pay a 6-figure personal tax bill!

It's obvious now that Hawkins' driving force is personal greed, and that he is (in my opinion) using Vislink as a vehicle to plunder for, over time, multiple £millions for himself personally. I think he will leave behind a heavily indebted pack of cards, once he's milked it to the full.

Contrast that with Zytronic, where you have hard-working, grounded management, who take reasonable remuneration, and take it as read that they are paid to do the job to the best of their ability. That's the way it should be! Management who are as comfortable on the shop floor as they are in the boardroom, running the business hands-on. Not financial engineers like Hawkins at Vislink, who often turn out to be useless managers, as well as driven by greed.

I think you get much, much better & more trustworthy management, investing in companies outside of London & the S.East. You also often get longer-serving, more committed staff too. So Zytronic ticks a lot of boxes in this regard, being based in the North of England, with solid management. I like it, and hope they do manage to accelerate growth, as there could be nice operational gearing here if they win some big contracts. Bear in mind the Far Eastern sales office was opened not long ago (from memory), and I think they were also expanding into N.America too?

Regards, Paul.

[apad] 19/8/2015 10:07

Good review of the competition:
www.stockopedia.com/content/zytronic-plc-ndash-financial-statements-and-competition-104926/

apad

[rcturner2] 19/8/2015 07:35

My mantra is pretty simple: good sector, good company and good price. Zytronic ticks all three. Of course as private investors we are prisoners of the management's ability going forward but that is the same in any stock. There is very strong empirical evidence that a strong balance sheet is a major factor in long term success and Zytronic is a major plus as regards balance sheet strength.

[apad] 19/8/2015 04:11

Hence my comment about wanting rns's on orders — so, we are in perfect accord, Paul :-) I too agree with post 821 - and "educated guesswork" captures this type of company perfectly.
SRT has moved in big waves, between 20p and 30p rather than 200p and 300p. I eventually gave up on their jam-tomorrow potential - good company though (RCT: "clearly a growth area").
I've been around a while too (yearly income from ICI investment greater than purchase price when I sold it in its AZN guise recently) and value your frank analyses and commentaries on various companies ((am currently enjoying watching BOO, but can't bring myself to buying shops )lost out on Card Factory that way too)).
apad

[paulypilot] 18/8/2015 22:37

Hi APAD,

I wish I were very young! Have been investing for over 20 years, so am reasonably seasoned.

It's a fair point that Zytronic shares have moved in quite big waves up & down over the years, but it's paid good divis along the way. So your view on the company would really depend on when you bought! I tend to buy the dips. Although this time am not selling, because I think the company has a good opportunity as touch screens become far more widely used, especially the larger ones.

So it's important not to get too "anchored" to what the share price has done in the past. Good news in the future could propel the shares into breakout territory, and then who knows where they might go?

A strong balance sheet with lots of net cash, and good divis, help protect the downside somewhat.

Zytronic is a specialist, niche manufacturer, so macro factors don't really matter a great deal to them, in my view. They just need to land some decent contract wins, as these are bespoke items, and then we could do very nicely from this share. No guarantees that will happen of course, such is the nature of this type of share, that it's educated guesswork really, investing in this type of thing.

Regards, Paul.

[rcturner2] 18/8/2015 18:43

APAD, the world economy is very large, a contraction of even say 5% in world gdp tells us nothing about individual countries, individual sectors, individual companies etc. In any recession there will be plenty of winners, just a few more losers that's all. Zytronic is not exposed to the likely problem areas and something like touch screens is clearly a growth area.

[apad] 18/8/2015 18:35

They did in 2002, Riv :-)
I feel surrounded by true believers.
In my view this company is at a critical point and the world is not booming.
It's testing 300p yet again and could easily drop back to 200p if a Sept/Oct rns disappoints in any way.
I do hope that the 12/13 issue is behind us, but, Paul, I think your argument is either optimistic or you are very young - check out the 15 year graph.
Anyroadup, good luck to us all:-)
apad

[paulypilot] 18/8/2015 17:01

I agree with post 821, nice summary.

ZYT is a smashing little company, with good management. Investors just have to live with the likelihood that every few years a gap will appear in the order book & cause a profit warning. Those are the buying opportunities! In the meantime we get to collect in nice divis, and hopefully good capital growth over time too.

I think there is some chance of a step up in growth, as larger & higher margin (and curved) screens come more widely into use, so demand could increase a lot in coming years maybe?

P.

[igoe104] 18/8/2015 15:34

Yes me too kalkanite, totally agree.

id like to see some share buy backs as well, think it would benefit this share.

Its very volatile around the £3, on small amounts of trades/ volume.

[rivaldo] 18/8/2015 12:09

Good summary kalkanite. I hold for exactly those reasons.

There's no point in waiting for order news, as ZYT never announce any! Go back to 2009, and the only out of the ordinary RNS's are 2009's Coca-Cola choice of ZYT's sensors for their dispensing machine, and the 2011 sale to Microsoft.

It hasn't seemed to stop them doing rather well over time.

[rcturner2] 18/8/2015 10:49

Loads of people had suggested a pocket computer, PALM had been trying for years. Apple made it affordable and added 3rd party access, which was the crucial component in my opinion. Very few use a hinge.

[apad] 18/8/2015 10:29

I guess I am twitchy, k.
Your reasons are why I hold ZYT (at a profit) - and a natural love of good technology.
However, the twin rocks of order lumpiness and the need to continually invest are not answered by these positives - which is why I worry about order news :-)
apad

[kalkanite] 18/8/2015 10:04

This company IMV is the most investable available at the moment (happy to be wrong if someone can come up with a better one)as such it is my largest holding.

Reasons for liking this are:

Great yield at just over 4%
Growing (already strong) profit margins
New multi touch product that should generate more business, increase margins and raise Zytronic's profile.
Solid management with clean easy to understand set of accounts, sensible remuneration policy.
Solid balance sheet with circa 20% of market cap in cash .... I personally would like to see at least some of this used to buy back shares at this price level.
Low PE rating, especially if you use Enterprise Value as your metric
Good interim figures despite the £400k FX loss (gain of £100k last interim)which is not expected to be repeated for H2.

looking forward to update particularly regarding the take up of multi touch.

K

[apad] 18/8/2015 10:02

Materials, RCT.
You are right about the market. However, all of these personal devices created a market. I see the Psion5 as a stage on the way to the smartphone - brilliant hinge :-)
The software was dropped by Nokia (remember them) eventually.
apad
ps
I still want order news from ZYT!

[rcturner2] 18/8/2015 08:59

APAD, do you work in electronics? I worked for Philips at the time, and there was nothing special about Psion. They had a handheld computer that was way ahead of its time, but the price point was all wrong and the market wasn't there for the product as there was no third party developments. The software was good and got picked up by Nokia eventually I think. For technology to succeed there has to be a market at the price point.

[apad] 18/8/2015 08:21

I'd like to see some order announcements, riv. I'm feeling twitchy about great technology/product companies (SRT is another example). Psion had the best technology by a mile :-(
FY on 9 Dec.
apad

[rivaldo] 18/8/2015 08:12

A few early buys this morning.

Just to note that last year saw an "ahead of expectations" year end trading update on 10th September, against the 9th October update the prior year. So hopefully not long to go!