Bogen BW mention Says has core business worth $10 + a European division, Speech Design, which could be worth $10 to $20 itself.
BUSINESSWEEK INVESTOR -- INSIDE WALL STREET
Big Noise on the Continent
If you've ever been paged to take a phone call the old-fashioned way--your name blared over a loudspeaker--then you can understand Bogen Communications International's (BOGN) main business. The Ramsey (N.J.) company makes such products as amplifiers, speakers, and intercom systems for the telecom market.
It's a good business but hardly exciting. Last year, Bogen earned $3.5 million on $58.5 million in revenues, or 52 cents a share. Steven Major, an investment manager at Ladenburg, Thalmann & Co., figures the sound systems unit alone is worth $10 a share, while the stock sells at $7.
That's not what has Major and some other New York investors hot on Bogen. The big attraction here is Europe, where Bogen's Speech Design subsidiary is poised to become a major player in ''unified messaging.'' Those are systems that merge voice, e-mail, and fax messages in one place and allow users to access them in any format. Speech Design's systems are already in use at AOL Germany, and it has announced deals with other European Internet service providers.
If Speech Design takes off, Major thinks it can be worth $10 to $20 a share. If not, the core business is still solid. Says Major: ''It's like having a free option on a European Internet play.'' |
