"Hockey-stick growth" is how the Globe & Mail's Dec 24 article on
"Where Are They Now" characterized this company. This followed a
mention in the Investor Alert column in the Dec 21 issue in which
they mentioned that analysts at Taurus Capital Markets Ltd. had
recommended Image Processing Systems (IPS) as a buy with a 12-month
target of $5 (currently $2.65).
The above, which mentioned that they are profitable already, prompted
me to do some digging and I came up with some more information from
company news releases, the source for almost all that follows.
IPS develops and manufactures systems used for automated inspection
and process control in specialized industrial markets. Over 95% of
their sales are exported. The Company's primary product ADI Systems
(Automated Display Inspection) are used worldwide in factories of
major electronics manufacturers including Philips, Siemens, Daewoo,
Sony, Zenith, Thomson (RCA), RCT Sharp, Caihong Electronics, JCT
Electronics, Chunghwa Picture Tubes and International Electronics.
In addition, the Company has also developed and installed a bottle
thread inspection system for Labatt breweries.
Some financials & misc:
- year ended Mar 31/96: revenue 3.1m (vs 1.1m in '95)
- Q1 ended June 30: revenue 2m (vs 0.5 in '95)
EPS -0.23 (vs -0.083 in '95)
- 6m ended Sept 30: revenue 5.2m (vs 1.8m in '95)
EPS +0.036 (vs -0.26 in '95)
- Nov 25: office opened in Taiwan to serve Far East
- Dec 12: new hand-held unit announced
- Dec 16: office opened in Beijing
- Dec 24: article in Globe & Mail. President forecasts FY revenue
of $9m to Mar 97 with $0.2m profit, and expects
revenue to double to $18m in the following year. They
had to increase staff to 71 from 53 in May. The
bottle thread inspection system installed recently at
Labatt's has large expansion potential.
IPS trades on the Canadian Dealing Network (symbol IMPS) in
Toronto. The company contacts given are:
Chris Cory, CEF, Toronto, Ontario (416) 777-0001
Terry Graham, President IPS Inc., Scarborough (416) 492-4000
The full texts of the news releases used in extracting the above can
be obtained via Carlson at www.fin-info.com (do a search for stock
symbol IMPS). |
