Mike,
FYI; hope this helps; I don't own any shares.
Dow Jones News Service ~ July 29, 1996 ~ 5:13 pm EST
By Wendy Mitchell
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Shares of ICTS Holland Production BV
(ICTSF) hit a 52-week high in response to increased worries about
terrorism and domestic airport security.
The stock of the provider of enhanced airport security rose 3 5/8 , or 39.7%, to 12 3/4, after hitting a 52-week high of 14 5/8 earlier. Nasdaq volume was 1.8 million shares, compared with average daily volume of 138,500. The previous high was 9 7/8, reached Friday.
ICTS currently provides services only to foreign airports and U.S. airlines'foreign operations, but increased worries about terrorism could open up a large U.S. market, analysts said.
''Though it's too early to tell, the U.S. market has the potential to be twice as big as the European market,'' said Kurt Kammerer, an analyst at Unterberg Harris.
Kammerer said President Clinton's call Friday for increased security at U.S. airports could be seen as the first step toward enhanced security,with new regulations probably following a report from Vice President Al Gore's task force on aviation safety and airport security.
ICTS, based in Amstelveen, Netherlands, has not announced potential
new contracts in the wake of the TWA Flight 800 crash and Saturday's
bombing in Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta.
ICTS is the only publicly held company providing enhanced aviation
security measures, known as risk analysis, that use ''profiling'' techniques for interviewing and monitoring passengers to identify potential terrorists.
Kammerer said he thought ICTS was prepared to expand into the U.S.
market immediately, by increasing its consulting and training services used by some airlines here.
Kammerer said that after the crash of TWA Flight 800, the market
responded primarily to technology companies such as makers of
bomb-detection devices. But the jump in ICTS demonstrates that
technology alone is not enough, he said. ''There is a great need for
human intervention,'' he said.
William Smith, an analyst at Renaissance Capital Corp. in Connecticut, said the company is also poised to benefit from increasing outsourcing by the airline industry.
''Whether it be food or security, airlines are taking more and more of nonflight concerns and outsourcing them,'' Smith said.
Smith said ICTS is the leader in the market, with privately held
competition including Air Defense International Inc. and International Aviation Security Inc. |
