Waterloo Tech Digest - September 14, 2009
Compiled and written by
Gary Will
gary@garywill.com
In this issue:
S P O N S O R S
EXCITING TIMES
"People crowded around our booth at the WES BlackBerry Conference to watch our new iLane video. Check it out at www.ilane.com. Bell Canada has recently signed on to promote and distribute our product. Exciting times for IMS!" Tony and Ken, IMS
MFX Partners has a 25 year history of elevating B2B brands (including iLane and IMS), from concept to living breathing product. To see more visit our website.
EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE HEARD - and we want to listen
Hagon Design is #1 at creating marketing communications that get heard. Our technology industry experience includes Annual Reports, Brand Identities, Brochures and Collateral, Email Marketing, Websites and more. Let's get together for a coffee and chat. You tell us where you want to go, we listen, and we'll help pave the way to successful marketing. Give creative director, Ben Hagon a call at 519.500.7985 or email ben@hagondesign.com
GO BEYOND STAFFING
For over 30 years, Procom has been matching people with companies, for jobs that are a perfect fit - contract, full-time, or part-time. We partner with large and small companies across North America, including some of the world's best-known enterprises, to provide a range of services, training tools, and the ideal candidates to help them flourish. We've been named one of Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies and go beyond staffing to look strategically at the processes and people that will truly help a company succeed. Phone: 519.885.4331.
AERO CORPORATE BENEFITS - Your Employee Benefits Solutions Provider
Located in Waterloo, we've served the KW technology community for over 20 years, providing employee benefits solutions to companies large and small. Our mission is simple. Help our clients succeed by doing what we do best: -- Design and monitor programs that attract & retain the most qualified employees -- Contain costs of employee benefits, retirement plans, and HR support -- Provide employee-level support & advice to help you manage risk & compliance. Please contact Herb Goedecke at 519.489.2376 x11 or herbg@aero-corp.com for details.
RISK FREE LEAD GENERATION
From sales opportunity development to increasing attendance for events, Virtual Causeway accelerates your sales process! With a focus on selling and marketing complex services and technology, we guarantee a consistent and reliable flow of quality leads - assuring that your pipeline is constantly full. Contact us today to learn how we can help connect you with your next customer. Call 519-886-1600 ext. 405 or email marketing@v-causeway.com for details.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
[1]---------------------------------------------------------------
RapidMind acquired by Intel
August 20, 2009
Intel has bought RapidMind for an undisclosed amount. It says it intends to keep nearly all of RapidMind's 20-or-so Waterloo employees.
RapidMind -- originally called Serious Hack -- was founded by UW professor (and former UW student in his undergrad years) Michael McCool and then-UW grad student Stefanus Du Toit. McCool and Du Toit were originally known for Sh, a system that simplified the programming of shading for computer graphics. RapidMind developed technology that made it easier for developers to make use of multi-core processors. Since the beginning of 2006 it has been led by CEO Ray DePaul, who had previously worked at Waterloo tech firms Kaleidescape, RIM, and Switchview.
In 2007, RapidMind raised $10 million in venture capital in a round led by Ventures West with EdgeStone and BDC participating. BDC had provided $500,000 in seed funding in 2006, and the company also received support from OCE. It also received $200,000 last year from the Ontario government as the winner of the 2008 Premier's Catalyst Award for start-up company with the best innovation.
Intel becomes the latest in a long list of multi-billion-dollar tech giants who have been brought to Waterloo through the acquisition of a locally-developed startup. It follows Electronic Arts, Google, Sybase, Agfa, Oracle, and several others over the years.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
S P O N S O R
GOWLINGS RELEASES NEW TECHNOLOGY LAW HANDBOOK
Gowlings is pleased to announce the first edition of Technology Law Issues--15 articles on topics ranging from valuing patents to open source software. Gowlings' Waterloo Region Technology Law Group provides sophisticated, practical and timely advice in all areas of technology law to a broad range of clients, from start-ups to public companies. 40 professionals serving Waterloo Region and Guelph (over 700 professionals nationwide). The Right People. Right Here. Contact David.Petras@gowlings.com or Sean.Gomes@gowlings.com at 519-576-6910.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
[2]---------------------------------------------------------------
T-Ray Science files for IPO
August 31, 2009
T-Ray Science has filed a preliminary prospectus for a $1-1.5 million IPO. It plans to list its shares on the TSX Venture Exchange. The offering values T-Ray at $5.6 million (pre-money).
The company has an office at the Accelerator Centre and its CTO is Daryoosh Saeedkia, who received his doctorate from UW in electrical and computer engineering in 2005. Jake Thiessen, director of UW's School of Pharmacy (formerly director of Health Sciences) is on T-Ray's board of directors. Most of the company's other directors, and its CEO and CFO, are based in Vancouver. CEO and largest shareholder Thomas Braun -- a practicing securities lawyer until last year -- splits his time between T-Ray and LGC Skyrota Wind Energy Corp., which just went public itself last month.
T-Ray is developing products that use terahertz radiation, an alternative to X-rays and other imaging technologies such as ultrasound, MRI, and NIR. It says it hopes to "revolutionize the way skin cancer is diagnosed and cured" by creating portable scanning devices that are compact enough to be used in doctors' offices, clinics, and other non-hospital locations.
It says it has exclusive licenses for technologies developed at MIT and Germany's RWTH Aachen University. T-Ray lists its main collaborators as UW, OCE, NSERC and NRC. It has received $200,000 in NRC-IRAP grants and entered a two-year collaboration agreement with OCE in 2007 under which OCE contributed an estimated $306,000. It has also received funding from DFAIT for a research program in Armenia under a former visiting scientist at UW's Microwave and Terahertz Photonics Integrated System Lab. T-Ray has filed five provisional applications for patents.
The company raised about $500,000-670,000 earlier this year through private placements. At March 31, T-Ray was pre-revenue and reported R&D expenses of $464,000 over the prior 15-month period (with G&A expenses of $649,000). It sold its first products in April and June for revenue of about US$3,325. At March 31, the company had an accumulated deficit of $1.6 million with working capital of $61,275. It subsequently closed a private placement on July 31.
Under the IPO, T-Ray will offer 5-7.5 million new shares at $0.20 each for gross proceeds of $1-1.5 million. It currently has 27.9 million shares fully diluted. The agent is Research Capital, which tried to raise money with ARISE five years ago. Research Capital will receive 10% of the gross plus agent's warrants equal to 10% of the shares sold, along with a $25,000 fee.
[3]---------------------------------------------------------------
MKS starts fiscal 2010 with a big quarter
September 9, 2009
Following a couple of disappointing quarters, sales at MKS jumped back up to the levels they were at six and nine months ago -- with stronger earnings this time around. MKS reported earnings of US$1.4 million on sales of US$15.7 million in the quarter ended July 31 (Q1 10). Sales were up 16% from the previous quarter and 2% from a year ago.
Other than its record-breaking Q4 2008, this was probably MKS' best quarter in years. Operating income of US$2.3 million was well above the US$627,000 reported in Q4 and the US$1.1 million from a year ago. ALM sales in the quarter accounted for 91% of revenue, compared to 87% a year ago. The company had one licensing deal worth more than US$2 million.
Operations provided US$3.6 million in cash, with US$1.3 million returned to shareholders as quarterly dividends. MKS ended the quarter with US$19.7 million in cash.
[4]---------------------------------------------------------------
Com Dev reports continued strength in sales and profits
September 3, 2009
A strong bottom line for Com Dev in the quarter ended July 31 (Q3 09), as the company reported earnings of $5.2 million on sales of $61.5 million. Sales were up 19% from a year ago and down 4% from the record levels of Q2, but improvement in margins led to a small sequential increase in gross profits.
With one quarter remaining in the fiscal year, Com Dev sales are up 21% in 2009, so it should easily meet its forecast of at least 15% growth for the year.
The company booked $45 million in new orders in Q3 and its backlog at quarter-end was $156 million, down from $173 million at the start of the quarter. Com Dev says it expects to win work on 10 of the 11 satellite programs announced in the quarter (and on all four of the programs announced in Q1, with three already signed).
Operations used $6.2 million in cash and Com Dev ended the period with $19.8 million in cash, down $12.1 million from the end of Q2.
[5]---------------------------------------------------------------
Arise signs $10M term sheet as prices & revenues fall
August 12, 2009
Arise lost $13.6 million on sales of $6.6 million in the quarter ended June 30 (Q2 09). Revenue was down 8.2% from the previous quarter, although the company's shipments of PV cells increased from 2.3MW to 2.9MW over the same period. Prices for PV cells continue to decline and the company says it expects they will go lower still. PV sales accounted for nearly all of Arise's revenue in the quarter, as its home installation PV systems business generated only $33,000 in sales.
The loss included a $6.3 million inventory writedown, bringing the total writedowns over the last three quarters to $24.1 million. Excluding the writedown, Arise still had gross margins of -27.7%, a big drop from levels in the last three quarters.
Operating expenses went up 13% from Q1, but that was because of a reversal of $872,000 in government R&D funding that had been recorded in the last two quarters. The funding was tied to Arise's planned Kitchener PV silicon plant, which has been put on hold.
Operations used $843,000 in cash and the company was down to $3.0 million in cash (including restricted cash) at the end of the quarter, a drop from $7.2 million at the beginning of the period. The company says it has signed a term sheet with an unidentified fund that will provide it with up to $10 million in cash as needed. Arise would receive the money in return for common shares sold to the fund at a discount to market rates. Arise filed a preliminary prospectus which would cover up to $50 million raised over a 25-month period through various equity and debt offerings. At June 30, Arise had a working capital deficiency of $27.1 million, or $18.2 million excluding deferred revenue.
Arise also disclosed that one of its minor silicon suppliers, LDK Solar Hitech, has filed a statement of claim against the company, seeking about $940,000. Arise says it found the quality of wafers the company was supplying to be inadequate.
[6]---------------------------------------------------------------
Open Text ends year with 8% growth, earnings of US$57M
August 20, 2009
Open Text ended its 2009 fiscal year with Q4 sales of US$203.4 million in the period ended June 30, up slightly from a year ago and 6% from the previous quarter. Earnings of US$19.5 million were down from US$22.0 million in Q3. Operations generated US$38.6 million in cash in the period.
For the year, earned US$56.9 million on sales of US$785.7 million, which were up 8% from 2008.
The company ended the year with US$275.8 million in cash.
[7]---------------------------------------------------------------
Descartes sales up 9%
September 10, 2009
Descartes earned US$812,000 on sales of US$18.6 million in the quarter ended July 31 (Q2 10). Sales were up 7% from the previous quarter and 9% from a year ago.
Income from operations was US$2.7 million, up from US$1.7 million in Q1, but income tax expenses erased 71% of that, and the bottom line was below the US$2.2 million recorded in the previous quarter. Descartes expects that income tax expenses for the year will be 50-55% of operating income.
Operations generated US$4.3 million in cash, about the same as in Q1. Descartes ended the quarter with US$51.2 million in cash -- more than enough to continue to look for other acquisition opportunities.
[8]---------------------------------------------------------------
STOCK REPORT: Descartes shares near seven-year high
August 2009
Biorem shares climbed to their highest month-end price since February after the company announced strong sales growth in its most recent quarter as well as a seven-figure government investment (see tidbits below).
Descartes shares, after an 11% gain in August and the same percentage again so far in September, are now trading at their highest levels in nearly seven years. MKS shares also followed a strong August with an equally strong September, and are now at their highest point in two-and-a-half years.
For the month of August:
Biorem [TSXV: BRM] +24%
Descartes [TSX: DSG] +11%
MKS [TSX: MKX] +9%
TurboSonic [OTCBB: TSTA] +8%
Dalsa [TSX: DSA] +4%
--S&P TSX COMPOSITE INDEX +1%
RDM [TSX: RC] 0%
===============================
--S&P TSX VENTURE INDEX -0%
RIM [TSX: RIM] -2%
Sandvine [TSX: SVC] -5%
Arise [TSX: APV] -21%
ATS [TSX: ATA] -5%
Open Text [TSX: OTC] -6%
Com Dev [TSX: CDV] -15%
August had been the best-month end price for Dalsa shares since September of last year, and the stock is up another 10% so far this month. Sandvine shares didn't have a good August, but are up 16% in September. For no real reason that I can see, Com Dev shares had their lowest month-end price in three-and-a-half years. They're rebounded a little this month following the announcement of the quarterly results.
Companies with core operations outside the area:
Agfa-Gevaert [Brussels: AGFA] +66%
Acorn Energy [Nasdaq: ACFN] +13%
Ansys [Nasdaq: ANSS] +12%
ON Semiconductor [Nasdaq: ONNN] +11%
Intel [Nasdaq: INTC] +6%
Blue Coat [Nasdaq: BCSI] +5%
Google [Nasdaq: GOOG] +4%
NCR [NYSE: NCR] +3%
===================================
Oracle [Nasdaq: ORCL] -1%
Sybase [NYSE: SY] -3%
McAfee [NYSE: MFE] -11%
Electronic Arts [Nasdaq: ERTS] -15%
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
S P O N S O R
JUMPSTART YOUR STARTUP
For your startup to succeed, you need more than a good business plan--you need a way to implement it quickly and cost-effectively. That's how Sun Startup Essentials can help, with unbelievably discounted hardware and services, free support and training, and access to a network of investors and startups around the globe. Apply online in minutes, and get your company off the ground fast at the lowest possible cost.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
[9]---------------------------------------------------------------
Startup Notes
Miscellaneous Tidbits
Gary Will
gary@garywill.com
In this issue:
- RapidMind acquired by Intel
- T-Ray Science files for IPO
- MKS starts fiscal 2010 with a big quarter
- Com Dev reports continued strength in sales and profits
- Arise signs $10M term sheet as prices & revenues fall
- Open Text ends year with 8% growth, earnings of US$57M
- Descartes sales up 9%
- STOCK REPORT: Descartes shares near seven-year high
- Startup notes from Energent, Terapac, Primal Fusion, Xylotek, LiveHive
- Miscellaneous tidbits from eSentire, Dalsa, Arius, IMS, Biorem, RIM, Kaleidescape, Everus, Broadband Learning
S P O N S O R S
EXCITING TIMES
"People crowded around our booth at the WES BlackBerry Conference to watch our new iLane video. Check it out at www.ilane.com. Bell Canada has recently signed on to promote and distribute our product. Exciting times for IMS!" Tony and Ken, IMS
MFX Partners has a 25 year history of elevating B2B brands (including iLane and IMS), from concept to living breathing product. To see more visit our website.
EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE HEARD - and we want to listen
Hagon Design is #1 at creating marketing communications that get heard. Our technology industry experience includes Annual Reports, Brand Identities, Brochures and Collateral, Email Marketing, Websites and more. Let's get together for a coffee and chat. You tell us where you want to go, we listen, and we'll help pave the way to successful marketing. Give creative director, Ben Hagon a call at 519.500.7985 or email ben@hagondesign.com
GO BEYOND STAFFING
For over 30 years, Procom has been matching people with companies, for jobs that are a perfect fit - contract, full-time, or part-time. We partner with large and small companies across North America, including some of the world's best-known enterprises, to provide a range of services, training tools, and the ideal candidates to help them flourish. We've been named one of Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies and go beyond staffing to look strategically at the processes and people that will truly help a company succeed. Phone: 519.885.4331.
AERO CORPORATE BENEFITS - Your Employee Benefits Solutions Provider
Located in Waterloo, we've served the KW technology community for over 20 years, providing employee benefits solutions to companies large and small. Our mission is simple. Help our clients succeed by doing what we do best: -- Design and monitor programs that attract & retain the most qualified employees -- Contain costs of employee benefits, retirement plans, and HR support -- Provide employee-level support & advice to help you manage risk & compliance. Please contact Herb Goedecke at 519.489.2376 x11 or herbg@aero-corp.com for details.
RISK FREE LEAD GENERATION
From sales opportunity development to increasing attendance for events, Virtual Causeway accelerates your sales process! With a focus on selling and marketing complex services and technology, we guarantee a consistent and reliable flow of quality leads - assuring that your pipeline is constantly full. Contact us today to learn how we can help connect you with your next customer. Call 519-886-1600 ext. 405 or email marketing@v-causeway.com for details.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
[1]---------------------------------------------------------------
RapidMind acquired by Intel
August 20, 2009
Intel has bought RapidMind for an undisclosed amount. It says it intends to keep nearly all of RapidMind's 20-or-so Waterloo employees.
RapidMind -- originally called Serious Hack -- was founded by UW professor (and former UW student in his undergrad years) Michael McCool and then-UW grad student Stefanus Du Toit. McCool and Du Toit were originally known for Sh, a system that simplified the programming of shading for computer graphics. RapidMind developed technology that made it easier for developers to make use of multi-core processors. Since the beginning of 2006 it has been led by CEO Ray DePaul, who had previously worked at Waterloo tech firms Kaleidescape, RIM, and Switchview.
In 2007, RapidMind raised $10 million in venture capital in a round led by Ventures West with EdgeStone and BDC participating. BDC had provided $500,000 in seed funding in 2006, and the company also received support from OCE. It also received $200,000 last year from the Ontario government as the winner of the 2008 Premier's Catalyst Award for start-up company with the best innovation.
Intel becomes the latest in a long list of multi-billion-dollar tech giants who have been brought to Waterloo through the acquisition of a locally-developed startup. It follows Electronic Arts, Google, Sybase, Agfa, Oracle, and several others over the years.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
S P O N S O R
GOWLINGS RELEASES NEW TECHNOLOGY LAW HANDBOOK
Gowlings is pleased to announce the first edition of Technology Law Issues--15 articles on topics ranging from valuing patents to open source software. Gowlings' Waterloo Region Technology Law Group provides sophisticated, practical and timely advice in all areas of technology law to a broad range of clients, from start-ups to public companies. 40 professionals serving Waterloo Region and Guelph (over 700 professionals nationwide). The Right People. Right Here. Contact David.Petras@gowlings.com or Sean.Gomes@gowlings.com at 519-576-6910.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
[2]---------------------------------------------------------------
T-Ray Science files for IPO
August 31, 2009
T-Ray Science has filed a preliminary prospectus for a $1-1.5 million IPO. It plans to list its shares on the TSX Venture Exchange. The offering values T-Ray at $5.6 million (pre-money).
The company has an office at the Accelerator Centre and its CTO is Daryoosh Saeedkia, who received his doctorate from UW in electrical and computer engineering in 2005. Jake Thiessen, director of UW's School of Pharmacy (formerly director of Health Sciences) is on T-Ray's board of directors. Most of the company's other directors, and its CEO and CFO, are based in Vancouver. CEO and largest shareholder Thomas Braun -- a practicing securities lawyer until last year -- splits his time between T-Ray and LGC Skyrota Wind Energy Corp., which just went public itself last month.
T-Ray is developing products that use terahertz radiation, an alternative to X-rays and other imaging technologies such as ultrasound, MRI, and NIR. It says it hopes to "revolutionize the way skin cancer is diagnosed and cured" by creating portable scanning devices that are compact enough to be used in doctors' offices, clinics, and other non-hospital locations.
It says it has exclusive licenses for technologies developed at MIT and Germany's RWTH Aachen University. T-Ray lists its main collaborators as UW, OCE, NSERC and NRC. It has received $200,000 in NRC-IRAP grants and entered a two-year collaboration agreement with OCE in 2007 under which OCE contributed an estimated $306,000. It has also received funding from DFAIT for a research program in Armenia under a former visiting scientist at UW's Microwave and Terahertz Photonics Integrated System Lab. T-Ray has filed five provisional applications for patents.
The company raised about $500,000-670,000 earlier this year through private placements. At March 31, T-Ray was pre-revenue and reported R&D expenses of $464,000 over the prior 15-month period (with G&A expenses of $649,000). It sold its first products in April and June for revenue of about US$3,325. At March 31, the company had an accumulated deficit of $1.6 million with working capital of $61,275. It subsequently closed a private placement on July 31.
Under the IPO, T-Ray will offer 5-7.5 million new shares at $0.20 each for gross proceeds of $1-1.5 million. It currently has 27.9 million shares fully diluted. The agent is Research Capital, which tried to raise money with ARISE five years ago. Research Capital will receive 10% of the gross plus agent's warrants equal to 10% of the shares sold, along with a $25,000 fee.
[3]---------------------------------------------------------------
MKS starts fiscal 2010 with a big quarter
September 9, 2009
Following a couple of disappointing quarters, sales at MKS jumped back up to the levels they were at six and nine months ago -- with stronger earnings this time around. MKS reported earnings of US$1.4 million on sales of US$15.7 million in the quarter ended July 31 (Q1 10). Sales were up 16% from the previous quarter and 2% from a year ago.
Other than its record-breaking Q4 2008, this was probably MKS' best quarter in years. Operating income of US$2.3 million was well above the US$627,000 reported in Q4 and the US$1.1 million from a year ago. ALM sales in the quarter accounted for 91% of revenue, compared to 87% a year ago. The company had one licensing deal worth more than US$2 million.
Operations provided US$3.6 million in cash, with US$1.3 million returned to shareholders as quarterly dividends. MKS ended the quarter with US$19.7 million in cash.
[4]---------------------------------------------------------------
Com Dev reports continued strength in sales and profits
September 3, 2009
A strong bottom line for Com Dev in the quarter ended July 31 (Q3 09), as the company reported earnings of $5.2 million on sales of $61.5 million. Sales were up 19% from a year ago and down 4% from the record levels of Q2, but improvement in margins led to a small sequential increase in gross profits.
With one quarter remaining in the fiscal year, Com Dev sales are up 21% in 2009, so it should easily meet its forecast of at least 15% growth for the year.
The company booked $45 million in new orders in Q3 and its backlog at quarter-end was $156 million, down from $173 million at the start of the quarter. Com Dev says it expects to win work on 10 of the 11 satellite programs announced in the quarter (and on all four of the programs announced in Q1, with three already signed).
Operations used $6.2 million in cash and Com Dev ended the period with $19.8 million in cash, down $12.1 million from the end of Q2.
[5]---------------------------------------------------------------
Arise signs $10M term sheet as prices & revenues fall
August 12, 2009
Arise lost $13.6 million on sales of $6.6 million in the quarter ended June 30 (Q2 09). Revenue was down 8.2% from the previous quarter, although the company's shipments of PV cells increased from 2.3MW to 2.9MW over the same period. Prices for PV cells continue to decline and the company says it expects they will go lower still. PV sales accounted for nearly all of Arise's revenue in the quarter, as its home installation PV systems business generated only $33,000 in sales.
The loss included a $6.3 million inventory writedown, bringing the total writedowns over the last three quarters to $24.1 million. Excluding the writedown, Arise still had gross margins of -27.7%, a big drop from levels in the last three quarters.
Operating expenses went up 13% from Q1, but that was because of a reversal of $872,000 in government R&D funding that had been recorded in the last two quarters. The funding was tied to Arise's planned Kitchener PV silicon plant, which has been put on hold.
Operations used $843,000 in cash and the company was down to $3.0 million in cash (including restricted cash) at the end of the quarter, a drop from $7.2 million at the beginning of the period. The company says it has signed a term sheet with an unidentified fund that will provide it with up to $10 million in cash as needed. Arise would receive the money in return for common shares sold to the fund at a discount to market rates. Arise filed a preliminary prospectus which would cover up to $50 million raised over a 25-month period through various equity and debt offerings. At June 30, Arise had a working capital deficiency of $27.1 million, or $18.2 million excluding deferred revenue.
Arise also disclosed that one of its minor silicon suppliers, LDK Solar Hitech, has filed a statement of claim against the company, seeking about $940,000. Arise says it found the quality of wafers the company was supplying to be inadequate.
[6]---------------------------------------------------------------
Open Text ends year with 8% growth, earnings of US$57M
August 20, 2009
Open Text ended its 2009 fiscal year with Q4 sales of US$203.4 million in the period ended June 30, up slightly from a year ago and 6% from the previous quarter. Earnings of US$19.5 million were down from US$22.0 million in Q3. Operations generated US$38.6 million in cash in the period.
For the year, earned US$56.9 million on sales of US$785.7 million, which were up 8% from 2008.
The company ended the year with US$275.8 million in cash.
[7]---------------------------------------------------------------
Descartes sales up 9%
September 10, 2009
Descartes earned US$812,000 on sales of US$18.6 million in the quarter ended July 31 (Q2 10). Sales were up 7% from the previous quarter and 9% from a year ago.
Income from operations was US$2.7 million, up from US$1.7 million in Q1, but income tax expenses erased 71% of that, and the bottom line was below the US$2.2 million recorded in the previous quarter. Descartes expects that income tax expenses for the year will be 50-55% of operating income.
Operations generated US$4.3 million in cash, about the same as in Q1. Descartes ended the quarter with US$51.2 million in cash -- more than enough to continue to look for other acquisition opportunities.
[8]---------------------------------------------------------------
STOCK REPORT: Descartes shares near seven-year high
August 2009
Biorem shares climbed to their highest month-end price since February after the company announced strong sales growth in its most recent quarter as well as a seven-figure government investment (see tidbits below).
Descartes shares, after an 11% gain in August and the same percentage again so far in September, are now trading at their highest levels in nearly seven years. MKS shares also followed a strong August with an equally strong September, and are now at their highest point in two-and-a-half years.
For the month of August:
Biorem [TSXV: BRM] +24%
Descartes [TSX: DSG] +11%
MKS [TSX: MKX] +9%
TurboSonic [OTCBB: TSTA] +8%
Dalsa [TSX: DSA] +4%
--S&P TSX COMPOSITE INDEX +1%
RDM [TSX: RC] 0%
===============================
--S&P TSX VENTURE INDEX -0%
RIM [TSX: RIM] -2%
Sandvine [TSX: SVC] -5%
Arise [TSX: APV] -21%
ATS [TSX: ATA] -5%
Open Text [TSX: OTC] -6%
Com Dev [TSX: CDV] -15%
August had been the best-month end price for Dalsa shares since September of last year, and the stock is up another 10% so far this month. Sandvine shares didn't have a good August, but are up 16% in September. For no real reason that I can see, Com Dev shares had their lowest month-end price in three-and-a-half years. They're rebounded a little this month following the announcement of the quarterly results.
Companies with core operations outside the area:
Agfa-Gevaert [Brussels: AGFA] +66%
Acorn Energy [Nasdaq: ACFN] +13%
Ansys [Nasdaq: ANSS] +12%
ON Semiconductor [Nasdaq: ONNN] +11%
Intel [Nasdaq: INTC] +6%
Blue Coat [Nasdaq: BCSI] +5%
Google [Nasdaq: GOOG] +4%
NCR [NYSE: NCR] +3%
===================================
Oracle [Nasdaq: ORCL] -1%
Sybase [NYSE: SY] -3%
McAfee [NYSE: MFE] -11%
Electronic Arts [Nasdaq: ERTS] -15%
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
S P O N S O R
JUMPSTART YOUR STARTUP
For your startup to succeed, you need more than a good business plan--you need a way to implement it quickly and cost-effectively. That's how Sun Startup Essentials can help, with unbelievably discounted hardware and services, free support and training, and access to a network of investors and startups around the globe. Apply online in minutes, and get your company off the ground fast at the lowest possible cost.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
[9]---------------------------------------------------------------
Startup Notes
- Energent has become the third official graduate of the Accelerator Centre, following Primal Fusion and Miovision. The company develops software to help companies monitor and manage their energy consumption. Its largest customer is GM Canada. The company is a participant in the OCE-sponsored, UW-led Energy Hub Management System program, announced early in 2008.
- Terepac, which itself is sort-of an Accelerator Centre graduate, announced it has launched pilot-scale production of its Microscale Circuit Cluster products and has started shipping samples to customers. The company says its technology will lead to wireless sensing and two-way communication systems "inexpensive and unobtrusive enough to be placed on virtually all ordinary objects."
- Primal Fusion has published a tagged directory of sites that have been created by its alpha testers on a wide range of topics.
- Kitchener-based IT consulting firm Xylotek Solutions has made the Profit Hot 50 list of "Canada's hottest startups" for the second year in a row. The company reported 123% revenue growth between 2006 and 2008, ending with $1.9 million in sales (slightly above its 2007 sales of $1.8 million). This was Xylotek's final year of eligibility for the listing.
- LiveHive has introduced its Social Engagement Index, which it says ranks TV shows (at least 60 of them) by how active their viewers are in various online activities relating to the show while it's airing. Programs are ranked by their engagement levels per audience size, so a show with a small but highly engaged audience outranks one with a huge number of moderately engaged viewers. The low-rated One Tree Hill and 90210 top the LiveHive list by a wide margin. LiveHive's tvClickr Facebook app is one of the data sources and apparently Twitter is as well. Other sources haven't been specified. LiveHive says it will release "demographic trends of TV social engagement" this month.
Miscellaneous Tidbits
- Waterloo placed two companies in the top 15 on Fortune's list of the 100 fastest-growing companies in the world. RIM took top spot on the list, with Open Text ranking 15th. California-based chip maker Sigma Designs placed second, with Chinese search engine Sohu.com in third.
- Cambridge's eSentire is getting $100,000 in IRAP funding for "two separate projects related to software security and network monitoring."
- Dalsa is a founding partner of a new microelectronics innovation center in Bromont, Quebec, site of its semiconductor fab. The centre has received $178 million in grants from the governments of Quebec and Canada. Dalsa will assist in the design and operations of the centre, particularly its state-of-the-art 200mm MEMS and wafer-level packaging systems. IBM Canada is the other industrial partner.
- Arius' OpenAdvantage account opening software is being used by Winnipeg investment firm Wellington West Capital. It says the software replaces what had been a five-day, manual paper-based process.
- There was some kind of fundraising or restructuring at IMS in August, as the Ontario Securities Commission reported a $30 million transaction with one purchaser on August 24.
- The Ontario government is investing $1.2 million in Biorem through its cleantech Innovation Demonstration Fund. The money will be used to fund two prototype demonstration projects, including one at the Preston Wastewater Treatment Plant in Cambridge. The company reported a $239,000 loss on sales of $5.7 million in the quarter ended June 30 (Q2 09). Sales were up 40% from the previous quarter and 130% from a year ago. The company ended the quarter with an $11.1 million order backlog, down from $14.6 million at the start of the period.
- RIM has acquired Toronto's Torch Mobile, developers of the WebKit-based Iris Browser (which had been primarily focused on Windows Mobile devices).
- Following a decision by a California appellate court, Kaleidescape is headed back to court to resolve the suit filed against the company by the DVD Copy Control Association. In 2007, Kaleidescape had successfully argued that a set of DVDCCA specifications were not part of its agreement and, therefore, it was not obliged to comply with them. But the appeals court found that Kaleidescape had promised to conform to specifications that would be provided by DVDCCA at some point in the future. With the specifications now considered to be part of the agreement, the matter goes back to the trial court to determine if there was a breach. DVDCCA says it will seek an injunction against the sale of Kaleidescape's products that do not comply with the agreement. Kaleidescape may seek to appeal the decision to the California Supreme Court.
- Waterloo- and Holstein-based Everus Communications, which provides high-speed Internet access to rural Ontario communities, has gone into receivership. It is continuing to operate under the receiver's control while an investor is sought. The company is involved in projects in Grey County and Wellington County, among others. In 2008 it announced it had received $5 million in funding from Toronto's C.A. Bancorp, but Everus told the Owen Sound Times in August that its financial backer has decided to dispose of its holdings and would not fund the company's Grey County project, for which Everus had committed $2 million. The company used to be known as High-Speed FX.
- From the where-aren't-they-now file: Broadband Learning Corp., which was at least nominally based in Waterloo when it went public in 2006 (it evolved out of Waterloo's AccessTNG, but most of its operations were based in Utah) has announced that it is ceasing operations. Most directors and executives have resigned and the company says its liabilities "far exceed" the value of its assets.
posted by Gary Will at 12:53 AM
