IKE - IKE GPS Group

[Untamed]

BP, with all due respect, I don't think you fully understand exactly what IKE does. Please go and have a look at the website. I have posted many links over time, to some very interesting technical information, about their tools and processes. It is a hell of a lot more than simply "spreadsheets" OR even just about "maintenance and reducing manpower." There is enough information on their site, including demo videos, and case studies to keep you occupied for at least an hour. I get that not every investor/holder wants to know the details - they just want to make money - but once you know the details for this company, you might understand why some of us are invested.

I am not naive enough to believe there are any guarantees. But I have done my due diligence, and I have made an effort to get my head around this company and what they do. I also believe that they know exactly what they are doing. They understand the market very, very well, and they have been working with the industries they support, to provide the tools and services they need/want. How else do you think they managed to land contracts for "8 of the 10 largest Investor-Owned Utilities ("IOUs") in North America, all -multi-billion dollar businesses?"

They landed those customers because they know what they are doing, and I don't think people appreciate the significance of that achievement.

[BlackPeter]

BP, with all due respect, I don't think you fully understand exactly what IKE does. Please go and have a look at the website. I have posted many links over time, to some very interesting technical information, about their tools and processes. It is a hell of a lot more than simply "spreadsheets" OR even just about "maintenance and reducing manpower." There is enough information on their site, including demo videos, and case studies to keep you occupied for at least an hour. I get that not every investor/holder wants to know the details - they just want to make money - but once you know the details for this company, you might understand why some of us are invested.

I am not naive enough to believe there are any guarantees. But I have done my due diligence, and I have made an effort to get my head around this company and what they do. I also believe that they know exactly what they are doing. They understand the market very, very well, and they have been working with the industries they support, to provide the tools and services they need/want. How else do you think they managed to land contracts for "8 of the 10 largest Investor-Owned Utilities ("IOUs") in North America, all -multi-billion dollar businesses?"

They landed those customers because they know what they are doing, and I don't think people appreciate the significance of that achievement.

Hi Untamed, I guess we just reached this point where I happen to have a different point of view than you do on a stock you are holding, and I am not.

I know from experience - it can hurt if one put ones money where ones mouth is, buys into a stock, and then come others and have a different point of view.

I understand as well that you have heart blood in this discussion (you hold), while I don't. Actually - the only reason for my posts in this thread is to share some of my experiences and to help others to get maybe a bit more balanced view. Call it "giving back"- there have been the days when I benefitted from the posts of more experienced investors on (then) sharetrader.

Looking into my (relevant) experiences - I do have an electrical engineering degree and used to work basically all my professional life in communications with and for customers running "lines" all around the country or dependant on lines to communicate (yes, this includes line companies, but as well railways, other transport and emergency services - they all rely on communication lines as well and they have all the related issues) - so, I probably understand their situation and issues quite well.

I am quite confident that my background allows me to get an understanding of what problems IKE tries to solve and how they are trying to achieve that.

Does not mean that I can predict the future (nor can anybody else) and does not mean either that I am a specialist for IKE Pole man or any of their other tools. I am not.

It just means that I might have more relevant associations when reading their stuff than many others on this thread. Which can be a good or a bad thing. How do they say - ignorance is bliss?

On a different note - as an investor I have seen over decades many Start Ups with well packaged ideas jump high and far but still landing short. Haven't we all?

And back to my experiences with utilities ... I know it is harder for a new player to bring a new product or tool into this environment, than into many other industries. The customers are very conservative, and hey - there might be a good reason for that.

As an engineer I can reasonably well assess the complexity of tools. Used to run departments developing comparable stuff (as a tool, not a product). I am sure that the companies which supply the relevant North American lines companies for decades with technology and tools are quite able to do the same thing as IKE (if it makes sense), and I am sure as well, that they would find it easier than IKE to ramp them up and become profitable on that new product line.

Well, that's basically it. What I am saying is not that IKE won't be successful, I am just saying, it might be harder than some of the enthused investors in this thread seem to assume - and, the odds to succeed are against them (which doesn't mean they can't win, it just means, its less likely then the other outcome).

I guess if I would invest into them (I don't), than I would at least make sure that an undesirable financial outcome won't hurt me. I guess that's it.

Best wishes and good luck to all IKE investors.

[Untamed]

Hi Untamed, I guess we just reached this point where I happen to have a different point of view than you do on a stock you are holding, and I am not.
<snip>

Thank you for expanding on your background and experience in the sector. I am happy to retract my comment about your understanding of what IKE does, as clearly, that was incorrect. My apologies.

Please do not be concerned about me, or my investment in IKE. IKE has always been my "speculative" holding, and I bought into it, knowing full well I could lose my investment. When I initially invested, I guess I looked at it as my "lotto ticket" holding - I might win, or I may very well lose the lost. I no longer see it quite that way however. Of course I am still hopeful that IKE will reward me for my patience, at some point down the track. But I am actually invested now, not purely for financial reasons, but because I am now genuinely interested in the company and what they do. I can see real potential, and I think they will do well over time. But they are a holding that requires patience. I'm happy to be patient. If it pays off, that will be great. If it doesn't, I always knew and accepted that was a possibility.

IKE is a damned site more "interesting" holding, than anything else I hold. Sometimes you have to have some fun with your investing. Calculated risk and all that. Time will tell 

[Ferg]

I am curious to hear your thoughts Untamed on other options for IKE's clients.  Who are IKE's competitors?  The large ERP systems do not natively offer the features offered by IKE so it would have to be bespoke / purpose built solutions.  I didn't come across anything as comprehensive as this when I worked with a lines company.

Looking at their product it makes sense - I have designed, built and implemented computer systems to track off-site assets; whether they be computer equipment rentals, bar dispensing systems, vending machines and fridges for drinks.  It's easy to get it wrong.  IKE seem to have a good product and a growing subscriber base, and the case studies seem to be 'proof of the pudding'.

It sounds like the only objection is that they are a new player.  So it would be good to hear of existing alternative suppliers, if any, who offer the same range of services as IKE.

I like the fact unearned revenue is increasing, as are subscription revenues and the number of customers.  But it is still in its infancy and FY25 will be an important year for IKE - the biggest question being how long before they are cash flow positive?

[Untamed]

I am curious to hear your thoughts Untamed on other options for IKE's clients.  Who are IKE's competitors?

The large ERP systems do not natively offer the features offered by IKE so it would have to be bespoke / purpose built solutions.  I didn't come across anything as comprehensive as this when I worked with a lines company.

Glen has always been very upfront when asked that question during webinars etc. He has confirmed that there are a couple of competitors in the market, but I cannot recall whether he ever named them or not. I think the question was asked again at the ASM the other day. If the presentation is still available I will have another look later.

Looking at their product it makes sense - I have designed, built and implemented computer systems to track off-site assets; whether they be computer equipment rentals, bar dispensing systems, vending machines and fridges for drinks.  It's easy to get it wrong.  IKE seem to have a good product and a growing subscriber base, and the case studies seem to be 'proof of the pudding'.

Have you had a look at the demo videos on the website? I would be really interested in hearing your opinion, after seeing their software "tools" in use. The case studies are proof of the pudding in my opinion, as is the fact that IKE has 8 of the top 10 largest IOUs "on their books." That is no mean feat.

It sounds like the only objection is that they are a new player.

Which those of us who hold, knew when we decided to invest. As I said in reply to BP above, I am under no illusions about that. Having said that, I no longer consider IKE to be a "start up" company. I think they have moved some distance beyond that, but I guess that depends on how people define "start up." I think IKE have proven themselves to be a professional, switched on company, with a high level of expertise and an excellent handle on the market they are serving. They are making forward progress, have no debt (and do not need a capital raise anytime soon, as confirmed by Glen), subscription and transaction revenue is increasing, and they continue to sign new contracts. The sector(s) they serve, are tough sells by nature. Glen has mentioned this several times in the past. They traditionally very conservative (as BP said), so IKE has always made it clear that patience is required. I don't see that as being a negative, or an indication that IKE isn't, or won't be, a successful company. I think they are a "Mainland Cheese" type of holding, and I am ok with that.

As for when they might be cash flow positive - who knows? Nobody has ever asked that question during webinars - not that I can recall anyway. Maybe that is a question for next time. I feel confident though, that IKE will get there sooner rather than later.

I will look for further info on competitors later when I have time. Will post back if/when I find anything.

 EDIT: it is actually a transcript of Q&A I need, but I can't find that anywhere unfortunately

[Ferg]

Thanks for that.  I did look at their demos.  What I like is they offer a range of services, including DB&M (design, build & maintenance) as well as mapping out 'as built' networks, and also regulatory/compliance checks etc.  I agree their list of clients is impressive which is no small feat.

[Left Field]

.......As for when they might be cash flow positive - who knows?

Just watched today's seminar.......
A few of key points
1.) No Cap raise likely in FY25
2.) Still managing costs and on target to be EBIT positive 2H FY25.......

FB were more conservative and estimate cash flow positive in FY 26/7

[Untamed]

FB were more conservative and estimate cash flow positive in FY 26/7

I can live with that 

[Untamed]

I haven't been able to find a transcript of any Q&As from recent presentations unfortunately, but Google threw up an "Intelligent Investor" interview with Glenn, from back in 2021, which is obviously out of date now, but this bit was interesting, and relevant to our discussion about competitors:

How do you go about customer acquisition, I imagine with these companies it's not just buying ads on Google?

No. Alan, you've got to have something of a good sense of humour to sell into this market. Electric utilities are very defensive, understandably, given the critical services that they provide. They're very risk averse and they're obsessed with safety and network reliability. Changing work practices and adopting a platform like IKE is not something that they do quickly or without a lot of assessment. We sell and deliver directly, we think that's a really important part of what we do, we deliver a really great customer experience directly into these groups. It takes some time to win these businesses on the electric utilities side.

The communications market, however, moves much faster. All they care about is getting their fibre deployed as fast as possible, they're in a competitive situation to get a fibre network deployed. We dramatically speed up aspects of this process for them and the sale cycle is much faster as a consequence.

Do you have direct competitors or are you blazing a new trail in these industries?

There's parts of technology that are getting introduced that quasi-compete with IKE. But mostly, we're truly replacing existing engineering practices. All of these groups, they're extremely good at what they do but they can be quite antiquated with certain parts of their workflow and their use of technology. It's harder than it sounds to change these really large organisations from doing things one way to doing another, but typically we are just replacing manual work practices.

Does that mean you don't have direct competitors?

No one at the moment is doing what we're doing in terms of an end-to-end solution for the collection analysis and management of power pole information. There's really innovative things happening with technologies like drones, to go and fly assets. We try to be the analysis engine that can work with any field technologies and field data collection. The other competitors that we face in the market tend to be private equity-backed national engineering companies that are looking to build a technology platform to speed up their own workflow so they can sell more of their engineering services, but they're less about selling – we're seeking to sell a platform to the entire industry to power the whole industry which is how we are differentiated.

We are 3 years down the track from there now, so maybe some of those engineering firms would now be considered "competitors." We will have to ask that question at the next presentation. Or, I could always email Glenn again. He was really helpful last time, and did say he is always happy to answer questions. Maybe I will get brave and do that 

EDIT: Just saw this - I did not know this! Very interesting.

You said the company started in New Zealand. What was the original conception and the original technology that you've brought with you, that you invented?

It's really interesting, like a lot of technology companies the business was originally started by a telecommunications engineer that was doing a lot of fieldwork in Europe and he came back to New Zealand and built a hardware device called the IKE Device and it combined a range of sensors to be able to let you – at the time, it had a laser and a camera and compass and inclinometers and it would let you take a photograph of something that you were far away from and give the position of the target rather than the position of where you're standing. It actually got picked up by the US military and the United States Army Corps of Engineers, so that's about a 60,000-strong government engineering group. That was the original customer base, so it was used for managing critical infrastructure for the Army Corps...

Just take us through that again. The IKE Device took a picture of a pole or something in the distance and it could tell you where it was or the position of it?

Correct, it would give you a photograph and it would tell you where that asset was...

Using GPS?

Yeah – Iraq and Afghanistan, they'd go in after events and go in and do the engineering assessment and be able to take photographs of things that were far away from them. The origins of the company was as a hardware business, we then began to sell to some electric utilities and some telecommunications companies.

[Untamed]

Thanks for sharing this Lorraina.

https://www.thepress.co.nz/a/business/350455366/us-storms-blow-more-business-towards-kiwi-power-pole-tech-company-ikegps?lid=a17gwbmovt0a&utm_source=newsletters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_press_digi_weekday_bulletin?_ptid={kpdx}AAAAnHrZeIPzXgoKZ283ZzJTVERwYRIQbTJkcWZ6MWhqYXF4MndobRoMRVhJRFlGRzlQR0tMIiUxODBpZzNvMDhjLTAwMDAzNGtzMnVuOG92cGkwczkwNnBoamxjKhRydW5Kc0E4T0U0QVFCSkIyTjEwMlISdi1fAPAZbGtib25oMzN5Wg4xMTkuMjI0LjY1LjEzNmIDZG1zaIKAy7gGcBh4CA

The comment about "fearsome" competition is pretty emotive, but the article didn't offer any expansion on that claim. Maybe they were simply labelling it that way because those companies are huge, not because they actually are competing with IKE? So far, I have seen no actual evidence, anywhere, that any of these companies are providing the same tools and service as IKE, OR, that they are taking business from them. I'm happy to accept it is a real possibility, but I'd like to see some proof.

[Untamed]

ikeGPS 1H FY25 Performance Update Notification

21/10/2024, 08:30 NZDT, MKTUPDTE

ikeGPS Group Limited (IKE) (NZX: IKE / ASX: IKE) is pleased to announce it will release its performance update for the six-month period to 30 September 2024 (1H FY25) on Thursday, 24 October 2024.
 
 The Company will discuss the results on a webinar with CEO Glenn Milnes at 9:30am AEDT/11:30am NZDT on the same day of the release – Thursday, 24 October 2024.
 
 Registration for the investor webinar is available via the link below:
 https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_R4mMjX3qRKi3XLOcDtpCjA
 
 Questions can be pre-submitted to simon@nwrcommunications.com.au or asked via the Q&A function during the webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Here is your opportunity to ask whatever questions you have. I emailed Glenn the other day, to ask a couple of questions - around competitors and profitability. No reply as yet. If I don't hear back from him before the webinar, I will submit them there too.

[BlackPeter]

Here is your opportunity to ask whatever questions you have. I emailed Glenn the other day, to ask a couple of questions - around competitors and profitability. No reply as yet. If I don't hear back from him before the webinar, I will submit them there too.

Pretty sure he won't tell you anything about profitability before the conference, unless you expect him to spread insider info ;

[Untamed]

Pretty sure he won't tell you anything about profitability before the conference, unless you expect him to spread insider info ;

I realise that. I wasn't aware of the results webinar at the time I emailed him.

[Untamed]

Once again, Glenn has been very willing to respond to my email, and is happy for me to share here.

Hi Carren

Thanks for the email and your support as an IKE shareholder.
Quick comments on the below as am currently flying to the east coast.

• The journalist used the words 'fearsome competition' rather than us.  However it is a reality that we compete with the largest industrial tech companies in the world to win these massive electric utility companies as customers.  So, while we are always building a differentiation strategy, it's true that we need to be at a certain scale to be a legitimate partner / supplier.  The scale of this industry in the US can be hard for some folk to comprehend

• Profitability: we could be profitable tomorrow if we wanted to be.  However the long term value of winning and then retaining these very large utility customers is so significant, our view is that we need to continue to invest in customer acquisition and also product-extensions – that increases annual revenue per customer.  We can balance these items on short notice but at present we have a balance sheet / investment backing that supports growth vs the former.

Hope this helps
Glenn


I can tell you this. A CEO who is willing to reply to emails from ordinary people/small investors, who is transparent and honest in his responses, gets a thumbs up from me.  I am satisfied with his responses to both of my questions. They show that IKE is grounded in reality while at the same time, still being very focussed on achieving their goals of gaining more and more customers, especially the big guys, and becoming the standard for these sectors.

Looking forward to tomorrow's webinar.

[winner (n)]

Latest update out

https://announcements.nzx.com/attachment/430318.pdf


I try my best to get enthused over IKE but my chart monitoring it makes it hard to be enthusiastic

The line just doesn't seem to line up with the hype they churn out .....huge growth, macro tailwinds, AI enhanced blah blah

Maybe I just don't get it

Sorry untamed

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