08 Jun 10. Azure Dynamics Corporation (TSX: AZD)(OTC: AZDDF) has entered into an agreement with a wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary of Johnson Controls Inc. , pursuant to which such Canadian subsidiary has subscribed for and agreed to purchase, on a private placement basis, 21,080,000 common shares of Azure at a price of CDN$0.30 per common share for gross proceeds of CDN$6,324,000. Following completion of the Equity Investment, Johnson Controls’ Canadian subsidiary will own approximately 3.4% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Azure.
“This strategic investment, which is at a premium to the recent trading price of our shares, is a meaningful endorsement of our technology by the world’s leading supplier of automotive batteries and a company deeply experienced in integrated automotive systems solutions,” said Azure’s Chief Executive Officer, Scott T. Harrison. “It also further solidifies the already strong relationship between our two companies.”
26 May 10. GKN Aerospace gave an upbeat assessment of prospects for 2010 at a recent press conference in London. Marcus Bryson CEO of GKN Aerospace told BATTLESPACE that in 2009 aerospace markets performed in line with expectations and that turnover had reached £2.5bn. In 2010 GKN’s aerospace sales were down 7% at £353m (2009: £381m), with over half of this fall due to adverse currency translation and the balance due to further softening in production schedules for wide body aircraft. Trading profit was £32m (2009: £34m including a £5m one-off benefit from the realisation of programme development costs) and the trading margin was above 9% with a return on assets of 36.8%. The segment was cash generative. The outlook for GKN’s major markets is mainly positive he said. Frank Bamford told BATTLESPACE that GKN Aerospace had on $1.5bn of new orders in the first quarter. In Aerospace, the US defence market should remain solid and recent commercial aircraft customer schedule increases have removed uncertainty around second half demand. GKN Aerospace is expected to deliver another strong performance, with margins improving steadily from the first quarter and reaching double digits for the year as a whole. However, Marcus Bryson said that the exciting period for GKN Aerospace was yet to come. GKN has established a strong position on key new Programmes in the civil and military segments with $2.5m per shipset on the Boeing 787, $2.5m per shipset on the Airbus A350, $2m per shipset on the F-35. Given the numbers per programme involved the cashflow and profits generated will give GKN Aerospace a much even rating with its Automotive counterpart and could result in a rerating of GKN Plc from the Engineering to the Aerospace sector. Richard Oldfield the new Head of Technology said that the aim of GKN was to keep technology advances ahead of the Competition in such areas as engineering electronic subsystems into the composite structure as they have done with the 787 de-icing system. GKN aims to expand niche technologies in composite and metallic structures. The new National Composite Centre is keeping the UK ahead in technology and GKN has recently been awarded a £25m contract in the Grand Challenge to develop affordable systems. GKN warned against government cuts in technology programmes as the UK needs to retain the current lead and any cuts may not see the results for 5-10 years.
04 Jun 10. DynCorp International Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2010 Year-End. Fiscal year 2010 revenue of $3.6bn, a 15.6% increase year-over-year. Fiscal year 2010 diluted earnings per share of $1.52, a 24.6% increase year-over-year. Fiscal year 2010 EBITDA of $236.9m, an 8.9% increase year-over-year. Fiscal year 2010 ending cash balance of $122.4m and outstanding debt of $552.1m versus $599.9m at the beginning of the fiscal year. “Solid program performance resulted in record revenue and EBITDA for both the quarter and the fiscal year,” said William L. Ballhaus, DynCorp International’s Chief Exe