Sponsored by TCI International Inc.
www.tcibr.com
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20 Jan 22. COMSovereign Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: COMS and COMSP) (“COMSovereign” or the “Company”), a U.S.-based developer of 4G LTE Advanced and 5G communication systems announced that on January 18, 2022, the Company received a written notice (the “Notice”) from the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC indicating that the Company was not in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2), as the Company’s closing bid price for common shares were below $1.00 per share for the last 30 consecutive business days.
Pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A), the Company has been granted a 180-calendar day compliance period, or until July 18, 2022, to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement. To regain compliance, the closing bid price of the Company’s common shares must meet or exceed $1.00 per share for at least 10 consecutive business days during the 180-calendar day compliance period. If the Company is not in compliance by July 18, 2022, the Company may be afforded a second 180-calendar day compliance period. To qualify for this additional time, the Company will be required to meet the continued listing requirement for market value of publicly held shares and all other initial listing standards for Nasdaq with the exception of the minimum bid price requirement and will need to provide written notice of its intention to cure the deficiency during the second compliance period. If the Company does not regain compliance within the allotted compliance period(s), including any extensions that may be granted by Nasdaq, Nasdaq will provide notice that the Company’s common shares will be subject to delisting.
Dan Hodges, Chairman and CEO of COMSovereign Holding Corp., said, “Our management team remains confident in the future of COMSovereign despite the unprecedented volatility now being experienced in both the small cap technology and broader markets. We expect that continued sales growth, the positive impact of significant cost reduction initiatives, and the monetization of non-core operating assets, will provide not only the necessary liquidity but also a robust balance sheet.”
The Company intends to monitor the closing bid price of its common shares between now and July 18, 2022 and intends to consider available options to cure the deficiency and regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement within the compliance period. The Company’s common shares will continue to be listed and trade on the Nasdaq Capital Market during this period, unaffected by the receipt of the written notice from Nasdaq. This announcement is made in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(b), which requires prompt disclosure of receipt of a deficiency notification. (Source: PR Newswire)
19 Jan 22. Radian Aerospace Emerges from Stealth, Announces Seed Funding led by Fine Structure Ventures. Development of the world’s first fully reusable horizontal takeoff and landing, single-stage to orbit spaceplane takes critical step forward with investment.
Radian Aerospace (Radian), the developers of the world’s first fully reusable horizontal takeoff and landing, single-stage to orbit spaceplane, announced today that the company recently closed $27.5 m in seed funding. The recent round was led by Fine Structure Ventures, a venture capital fund affiliated with FMR LLC, the parent company of Fidelity Investments, with additional investment from EXOR, The Venture Collective, Helios Capital, SpaceFund, Gaingels, The Private Shares Fund, Explorer 1 Fund, Type One Ventures as well as others.
Radian has operated in stealth mode focusing on the design and initial development of a revolutionary aerospace vehicle that will fill the efficiency and capability gaps that exist with traditional vertical rockets. With the new investment, the company is on track to advance the development of Radian One, the world’s first fully functional horizontal takeoff and landing, single-stage to orbit vehicle. Radian’s system will be capable of a wide range of space operations including the delivery of people and light cargo to low earth orbit (LEO) with aircraft-like operations.
“To date, a low cost space transport solution has been lacking that can get humans and cargo to and from space at a highly responsive rate,” said Brett Rome, Venture Partner at Fine Structure Ventures. “Radian is well positioned to fill that gap with disruptive technology that helps enable the emerging space economy. We are confident in the experienced team at Radian, and thrilled to be supporting its mission as Radian works to revolutionize the future of space access.”
Radian is building the first of a new generation of launch vehicle with transformational capability and a wide range of applications. The ability to fly to space, perform a mission, return, refuel, and fly again almost immediately enables in-space and terrestrial missions that are simply not possible with traditional vehicles. Radian is leveraging existing enabling technologies with high technology readiness levels and integrating them in ways never done before.
“Wings offer capabilities and mission types that are simply not possible with traditional vertical takeoff right circular cylinder rockets,” said Livingston Holder, Radian’s co-founder, CTO and former head of the Future Space Transportation and X-33 program at Boeing. “What we are doing is hard, but it’s no longer impossible thanks to significant advancements in materials science, miniaturization, and manufacturing technologies.”
Radian’s new approach is expected to uncork existing aerospace markets and create entirely new ones.
“We believe that widespread access to space means limitless opportunities for humankind,” said Richard Humphrey, CEO and co-founder of Radian. “Over time, we intend to make space travel nearly as simple and convenient as airliner travel. We are not focused on tourism, we are dedicated to missions that make life better on our own planet, like research, in-space manufacturing, and terrestrial observation, as well as critical new missions like rapid global delivery right here on Earth.”
Radian will focus on mission types that align with its unique capabilities, many of which can only be done because of its winged configuration. The company already has launch service agreements with commercial space stations, in-space manufacturers, satellite, and cargo companies, as well as agreements with the U.S. government and selected foreign governments.
“Radian is leveraging a unique combination of technologies with an optimized business model to unlock what I like to call ‘the potential of space,’ serving existing aerospace markets and catalytically enabling new ones,” said Doug Greenlaw, a former chief executive of Lockheed Martin and one of Radian’s investors and strategic advisors. “We’re talking about materially enabling an industry that’s expected to grow to $1.4 trillion in less than a decade and Radian is doing what’s known as the ‘Holy Grail’ of accessing space with full reusability and responsiveness to provide customers unmatched cost effectiveness and flexibility.”
The addressable commercial market opportunity for Radian’s disruptive launch vehicle is estimated to be $200 bn. Radian’s goal is to steadily mature its core technologies; eventually permitting aircraft-like flight cadence at lower per mission cost.
“On demand space operations is a growing economy, and I believe Radian’s technology can deliver on the right-sized, high-cadence operations that the market opportunity is showing,” said Dylan Taylor, Chairman and CEO of Voyager Space and an early personal investor in Radian. “I am confident in the team working at Radian and look forward to cheering them along in this historical endeavor.”
About Radian Aerospace
Radian Aerospace (Radian) is disrupting the aerospace industry with a next generation aerospace vehicle that is the world’s first fully reusable horizontal takeoff and landing, single-stage to orbit spaceplane, delivering people and light cargo to low earth orbit (LEO) and multiple terrestrial destinations with aircraft-like operations. Radian will provide the most frequent, reliable, and affordable human transportation in the aerospace industry, inspiring and driving the creation of totally new industries. For more information about Radian Aerospace visit radianaerospace.com. (Source: PR Newswire)
19 Jan 22. Sigma Defense Announces Acquisition of SOLUTE, Expanding DevSecOps Capabilities. Solidifies Portfolio of Technology and Services for Department of Defense. Sigma Defense LLC, a portfolio company of Sagewind Capital, today announced that it has acquired SOLUTE Inc., a technology and engineering firm that specializes in system modernization with a focus on software engineering, cyber security, cloud architectures, and Development Security Operations (DevSecOps) for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).
The acquisition of SOLUTE broadens the Sigma Defense portfolio, expanding its existing capabilities for C5ISR, JADC2 and tactical SATCOM communications. The combined company will deliver a comprehensive suite of software-led solutions and services that autonomously connect people, systems and information.
Together, Sigma Defense and SOLUTE are positioned to provide enhanced capabilities for digital modernization throughout the DoD, and will strengthen SOLUTE relationships within the Department of the Navy, specifically NAVSEA, NAVAIR, and NAVWAR. SOLUTE’s DevSecOps programs include Black Pearl, which provides a shared development environment and platform as a service capabilities that solve software delivery issues across the Naval Enterprise through proven technologies, services, and methodologies.
“The acquisition of SOLUTE furthers Sigma Defense’s strategy of delivering a comprehensive suite of products for the JADC2 construct,” said Matt Jones, CEO of Sigma Defense. “It is another step in helping our DoD customers modernize programs by leveraging open-source platform as a service concept to deliver mission critical software enablement for command and control (C2), autonomy and communications. I am extremely excited by the immediate value we will be able to deliver to our customers and how that will continue to grow over time. Our nation’s ability to retain our advantage is underpinned by collaboration and speed to delivery, and we are ready to help.”
“Sigma Defense aligns perfectly with the mission, capabilities and people of SOLUTE,” said John Lyons, CEO of SOLUTE. “Both organizations have a pedigree of delivering digital modernization for the DoD. Sigma Defense’s focus on hardware led solutions combined with SOLUTE’s software-led approach creates a powerful company that has the ability to deliver impeccable results for our DoD customers.”
Mr. Lyons will continue to oversee SOLUTE’s operations, while driving the growth of the business and supporting integration efforts.
About Sigma Defense
Sigma Defense Systems LLC is a leading technology company serving the Department of Defense (DoD) providing systems and services for Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance since 2006. The company’s software-focused approach to tactical communications accelerates information collection and sharing for faster decision making and better mission outcomes. Customers turn to Sigma Defense for engineering, program management, and data logistics services for technical solutions that encompass ground, air, and space-based systems and sensors and network and satellite communications. Sigma is headquartered in Perry, GA with satellite offices both CONUS and OCONUS. For more information visit sigmadefense.com, and follow Sigma Defense on LinkedIn for news and updates.
About SOLUTE Inc.
SOLUTE is a premier DoD engineering firm specializing in system modernization using the latest advances in Software Engineering, Cyber Security, Cloud Architectures, and Development Security Operations (DevSecOps). SOLUTE has a talented workforce with tremendous expertise in building, deploying, and managing containerized applications deployed to public/private cloud infrastructures. SOLUTE is leading the charge across multiple large and complex Navy, Army, and Air Force systems and is actively collaborating with DoD leadership on engineering best practices for mission critical PaaS deployments and DevSecOps best practices. SOLUTE also brings expertise in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) development, engineering, and integration. (Source: PR Newswire)
18 Jan 22. Interim results show Kromek on track to significantly increase revenue in 2022. Kromek Group plc, the Sedgefield-based technology company, has announced that is on track to significantly increase revenue in the full year 2022. The company’s interim results for the first half of the financial year have shown continue delivery of existing contracts, alongside new and repeat orders. Although the announcement reveals the company was impacted by supply chain related challenges for components, it is confident about achieving its highest ever full year revenue by the year end.
Dr Arnab Basu, CEO of Kromek, said: “During the first half of the 2022 financial year, we continued to deliver on our existing contracts as well as win new and repeat orders in both our advanced imaging and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) detection segments. We also made substantial progress with our existing development programmes and initiated new programmes with a number of strategic partners. While our growth and margin during the period were impacted by challenges related to the supply chain for components, this is being recovered in the second half and we remain on track to deliver a significant increase in revenue for full year 2022, in line with market expectations, with visibility of over 90% of full year forecasts. This would represent our highest ever full year revenue with growth in both segments.
“Looking further ahead, we have significantly strengthened our pipeline in the multiple substantial markets in which we operate. We offer our customers a differentiating technology that supports early medical diagnosis to improve patient outcomes and government vigilance to the threat of terrorism – which are long-term growth drivers. As a result, the Board continues to look to the future with great confidence.”
Highlights include:
- Kromek delivered on existing contracts, won new orders and experienced greater customer engagement regarding future projects in both of its advanced imaging and CBRN detection segments
- Signed a seven-year supply agreement, worth up to $17m, to provide industrial screening
- Awarded a two-year contract worth up to $1.6m by a US federal entity for the D3S-ID wearable nuclear radiation detector
- Received a £173,000 order for the D5 RIID high-performance handheld radiation detector from a UK government-related customer
- Awarded a $6m contract extension from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (“DARPA”), an agency of the US Department of Defense, to advance the development of a mobile wide-area bio-security system capable of detecting and identifying airborne pathogens
- Successfully completed piloting in schools, airports and other locations of an airborne COVID-19 detection system under a project funded by Innovate UK
- 15 new customers won in the civil nuclear market
- Three new patents were filed and three were granted during the period
Kromek Group plc, a spinout from Durham University founded in 2003, is located in NetPark, Sedgefield. The company produces radiation detectors for both civil and nuclear security purposes; world-leading medical imaging capabilities, and is pioneering bio-security technology which could deliver a global early warning system for future pandemics.
19 Jan 22. Piaggio Aerospace relaunches sale process. Piaggio Aerospace announced on 19 January that it has formally restarted the process for finding a new owner following the collapse of a potential bid last year.
The company’s Extraordinary Commissioner, Vincenzo Nicastro, announced the relaunching of the sale, with formal advertisements being placed in a number of financial news outlets.
“Discussions with a number of counterparties are still ongoing, but we want to be sure we can guarantee a long-term future for the company”, Nicastro said. “That’s why we are formally starting the sale process again. But not from scratch: The preparatory work on the data room is already done, while we have set very tight deadlines for the due diligence and bid submission phases in order to speed up the process as much as possible. As always, we will carefully evaluate all the offers that will be submitted,” he added. The company also revealed that in 2021 it had achieved a turnover of EUR125m (USD142m), along with an order book worth EUR500m and a pipeline of an estimated EUR180m yet to be finalised. Bidders for the company will have until 28 February to submit an expression of interest. (Source: Google/Jane’s)
19 Jan 22. Pivotal year unfolding for Kromek. A Sedgefield-based radiation detection technology company expects first sales of Covid-19 bio-security pathogen detectors by April and a recent takeover in the sector has prompted OEM customers into action.
- First sales of Covid-19 bio-security pathogen detectors by April
- Initial orders with new strategic OEMs could lead to huge orders
- Bid potential for undervalued medical imaging business
Investors are materially underestimating trading prospects of Kromek (KMK:14.5p) in what could be a pivotal year for the Sedgefield-based radiation detection technology company that is focused on the medical, security screening and nuclear markets.
Firstly, during our results call, chief executive Arnab Basu revealed that he expects first commercial sales by April for Kromek’s bio-security pathogen detectors which sample air and identify the presence of any biological pathogen including Covid-19. The company is working with the NHS and a major transportation group, both sectors being obvious candidates for deployment on a commercial basis.
Secondly, Canon’s recent US$270m (£199m) acquisition of Redlen Technologies, the only independent commercial producer of Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) detectors globally other than Kromek, is material. House broker Cenkos Securities’ read across implies a valuation of £196m (45p a share) on Kromek’s medical imaging business, or more than three times Kromek’s current market capitalisation.
Moreover, by removing one rival from the market, it means that medical imaging OEMs – Phillips and United Imaging, for instance – that are looking to adopt CZT technology but lack in-house production capacity are now far more reliant on Kromek than previously. Basu notes that three new strategic original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have placed initial orders with Kromek and “we expect a number of contracts to be signed in 2022 as they look for surety of supply”, adding that “more conversations are ongoing”. They could be very large contracts given that one seven-year medical imaging contract signed with an OEM in 2019 is delivering US$58m of revenue to Kromek over a seven-year contract term.
Basu also revealed the potential to split out the group’s two distinct business units – chemical, biohazard security, radiation and nuclear (CBRN) activities comprise the other one. The fact that the directors have segmented the two operations in the results presentation is telling. The point is that a medical imaging OEM looking for security of CZT supply could be tempted to make a bid for that part of Kromek’s business, which analyst Mike Jeremy at Equity Development values at £225m. He also highlights the undervaluation of the CBRN business, which could generate half of group revenue of £18m in the 2022/23 financial year, and could be worth £54m.
Importantly, with 96 per cent of budgeted annual revenue of £15m covered by orders as well as 60 per cent of the £18m revenue estimate for 2022/23, then the long-awaited move into cash profitability is on the cards. Jeremy predicts £0.6m cash profit in the second half to 30 April 2022 to wipe out the £0.6m first-half loss, and is pencilling in cash profit of £0.75m in 2022/23.
Kromek’s shares have been volatile since my last buy call at 15.75p (‘Backing a tech winner in the fight against Covid-19’, 14 July 2021), but with game-changing orders from medical imaging OEMs likely and the commercial launch of the Covid-19 airborne detector imminent, then I maintain the view the share price could double. Buy. (Source: Investors Chronicle)
18 Jan 22. With Record Order Books, Cohort PLC Looks Forward to Better Days Ahead. Founded in 2006, based in Reading, Berkshire and with its shares nestled away in the AIM listed company market, employing around 1,000 core staff in Reading, and other sites in the UK and in Germany and Portugal, Cohort is one of those smaller specialist technology companies that many of us know but unfortunately take for granted. So, who are Cohort and why have I chosen now to highlight their business? The answer to the first question is that Cohort is the parent company of six innovative, agile and responsive businesses providing a wide range of services and products for British, Portuguese and international customers in defence, security and related markets. As with some other successful smaller companies that I occasionally talk about, Cohort was founded on the principle that SME-size businesses can prosper by being part of a larger group, where they can benefit from financial oversight, management support and the exchange of information and practices. The company aims to achieve this while preserving the high growth potential of innovative independent businesses – and has as its central aim to add real value through the experience and contacts of its senior team whilst providing a light-touch but effective governance framework to its subsidiaries. The bottom line then is to deliver value to shareholders through its five operating subsidiaries: Chess, EID, ELAC SONAR, MASS. Cohort CEO is the highly respected Andy Thomis and the company is chaired by Nick Prest who some readers of this will remember had many years ago been CEO of Alvis before major consolidation occurred within Land Systems companies. This morning the company produced Interim Results for the six-month period to 31st October 2021. Period. The results may be summed up as a mix of good and not so good news. Revenue was up 10% during the period to £60.0m (2020: £54.4m) and importantly, order intake was up 18% to £105.3m (2020: £89.2m) leaving the company with a record closing order book of £285.8m (30 April 2021: £242.4m). However, adjusted operating profit was down 60% to £1.7m (2020: £4.3m), this being due to weak performances at Chess and EID. The company had net funds (excluding leases) of £6.1m (31 October 2020: net debt £6.1m; 30 April 2021: net funds £2.5m) which is pleasing but with adjusted earnings per share down 60% to 3.04 pence (2020: 7.74 pence). Even so, in what will have surprised some, the Interim dividend which is not covered by EPS for the period has actually been increased by 10% to 3.85 pence per share (2020: 3.50 pence per share). In respect of looking forward to the second half of the year Cohort says in its statement that the record order book of £286m underpins over £74m of revenue deliverable in the second half of the year and that taking into account revenue recognised in the first half, this covers 89% (2020: 92%) of consensus forecast revenue for the full year and that subsequent to the period end, this percentage figure is now up to 92%. The company says that the outlook for the majority of the Group’s businesses is unchanged, but unfortunately, that CHESS order intake and delivery issues are expected to continue to impact the Group result for the full year. Nevertheless, the company remains optimistic in respect of seeing a positive outlook for organic growth in the medium term. (Source: Howard Wheeldon, FRAeS, Wheeldon Strategic Advisory Ltd.)
BATTLESPACE Comment: The problems at Chess are in part self-inflicted. Chess was part of the AUDS consortium which was a world-leader in the early days of C-UAS with Blighter and ECS. Andy Thomis chose to run down this technology when everyone else was riding the wave and events have now overtaken them to the extent that they are a now marginal C-UAS player in the UK with their US partner Liteye riding the C-UAS wave, where we understand that Chess is still exploiting what they see as large opportunities. Cohort also has a major problem in that it has no proper PR structure to promote the various technologies, particularly MASS which is a world leader in cyber technology. The Board has a too parochial view to Cohort which has excellent technology to exploit if management were given the chance.
17 Jan 22. The accountancy watchdog has announced an investigation into PwC’s 2019 and 2020 audits of Babcock after a company review. Babcock’s review of its contract and balance sheet profitability resulted in the company taking £2bn of impairment charges last year, with £1.3bn of goodwill from acquisitions written off. The Financial Reporting Council is already looking at PwC’s 2017 and 2018 audits. (Source: FT.com)
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TCI International, Inc., is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SPX Corporation. TCI provides turn-key solutions for spectrum management and monitoring, direction finding, geolocation and communications intelligence to civilian, government, military and intelligence agencies as well as antennas for communications and high-power radio broadcasting. TCI is headquartered in Fremont, California, USA. For more information, visit www.tcibr.com.
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