The Internet of Things – Telit and Tern

The Internet of Things – Telit and Tern

Please note that views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of ShareSoc.

Most investors in AIM will have noted the unfolding news at Telit Communications (TCM) last week. It has culminated today with an announcement from the company that CEO Oozi Cats (a.k.a. Uzi Katz) has resigned after an independent review did indeed find that he was the subject of a US indictment 25 years ago which had not been disclosed to the board. However, they denied that other allegations about the operations and finance of the company were true. Specifically, they said “there is no substance to the speculative and accusatory articles that have been published and that it stands behind the Group’s audited accounts to 31 December 2016 and the most recently published interim statement”.

Is this yet another example of how AIM regulation is defective? The simple answer is no. Both I and ShareSoc have campaigned for improvements in that area, and the LSE have recently published a paper entitled “AIM Rules Review” which has some helpful suggestions.

But the alleged legal problems of the CEO and his wife were 20 years before the company even listed on AIM in 2015 so no amount of due diligence was likely to have discovered that issue. The more recent allegations – which are about possible fraud at the company – are not an issue of AIM regulation. Possibly more an auditing issue if any such problem exists, which the company clearly denies. However, one has to question the willingness of AIM to list companies based in foreign countries some years back. Why did they list on AIM rather than in Israel or the USA for example? Possibly because they thought there would be less scrutiny. There does appear to be more examination of new listings of late and it’s covered in the paper mentioned above also.

Now I have never invested in Telit, although I have looked at it more than once in the past. There were several aspects about this company (other than the country of residence) that put me off. The nature of the product was one – albeit it’s operating in a hot sector but was there good protectable IP? Others were the lumpy nature of hardware orders, the directors and their pay, the issue of director share sales, the failure to turn profits into cash, the repeated fund raisings…..I could go on.

In summary, this is the kind of company I do not want to own.

It’s probably just another example of a persuasive CEO encouraging investors, often unsophisticated private investors, to punt on a concept of rapid growth in a hot technology sector.

Interestingly another company focused on the “Internet of Things” sector is investment company Tern (TERN) who raised some funds via platform Primary Bid over the weekend via a placing and open offer. The latter closed early due to the demand. Indeed, the COO of Primary Bid said: “We are delighted to have facilitated the fundraise for Tern plc. It was good to see such strong demand for this Offer, demonstrating how popular Technology related companies can be with tech savvy PrimaryBid Investors. More than 50% of all investors subscribing for this offer did so via a mobile device”. Note particularly the last sentence.

I had a quick look at Tern, but had great difficulty in valuing the company because it’s largest investment by a long way is a holding in a company named Device Authority Ltd. Is there any information provided on the revenue or profits of that company in the announcements about the fund raising or in recent past company announcements, or are there any recently published accounts filed at Companies House for this UK registered company? Apparently not, so any “due diligence” is difficult. But Tern does not look expensive at face value because of their revaluation of the investment in Device Authority last year by the company in the same way as any other private equity investment is valued.

Is this another case of over-enthusiasm by private investors to get into this high tech world? We shall no doubt see in due course.

Investors are recommended to take a cold shower whenever anyone talks about hot technology sectors. A lot of businesses in them never turn a profit, or give a decent return on investment. You just have to look at the early history of Apple – now the largest company in the world by market cap – to see how tortuous and extended can be the path to success. And most of their early competitors simply disappeared.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://twitter.com/RogerWLawson )

Post Date: August 14, 2017

Group description:	Following the launch of the SIGnet Technical Traders groups, it was identified that there were a number of members who use fundamental and other information as their main source of choosing companies to invest in, who would find some understanding of technical analysis helpful to identify good entry and exit points for their investments. This new SIGnet Technical Analysis in Support of Investing group is therefore being launched and we welcome members of all levels of experience to join.
Meeting Type/Venue:	Online via Zoom
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	There will be an initial Zoom meeting on Monday 29th April at 7pm to launch this group, please email info@sharesoc.org if you are interested in joining.

Group description:	All levels of experience welcome. A typical meeting agenda includes: – Macro Environment – Trades: Members review existing positions and identify securities with promising TA entry patterns or setups and with suitable risk/reward. Any security, long, short, futures, options may be considered. The convener takes actual positions in trades and maintains his own detailed ledger, accurately measuring performance of individual securities and cumulative activity. Members are notified by e-mail prior to the entries or exits that are decided upon. Following each meeting an updated copy of the ledger is circulated together with the next meeting agenda. Members may wish to maintain similar ledgers of their own but there is no obligation to do so. – Technical Analysis: Techniques and systems used in trades. Members can request discussion of particular aspects of TA.
Meeting Type/Venue:	Online via Zoom
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	The first Tuesday of every month from 7 to 9pm

Group description:	Despite most members of this group being experienced investors, all levels of experience are welcome. Meetings take place at different locations in the West Sussex area.
Meeting Type/Venue:	In person with some Zoom meetings.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	Face to face meetings are generally held on the second Monday in every month, during the day between 12 noon and 4pm. Zoom meetings are also held from time to time but these are shorter in length (max. 2 hours) and generally in the evening.

Group description:	A new in person group coming soon! Keep and eye on our Events page to register for the launch meeting.
Meeting Type/Venue:	In person
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	TBC

Group description:	Open to all investors / people with an interest in investing. Typical meeting will involve members talking about recent purchases, successes, failures and possible future purchases. Also with occasional visiting speakers or members making presentations on a topic of interest.
Meeting Type/Venue:	We aim to meet on the last Tuesday of each month in a private room at a pub in Playhatch. Start time 7pm with members encouraged to meet up around 6pm for a bite to eat / drink before hand, if their diaries allow.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	7pm on the last Tuesday of the month. Meetings likely to last about two hours but with informal ‘overspill’ before / after.

Group description:	Our group is a broad church that contains investors of varying age and experience. We discuss stocks and investment trusts that we have bought, sold or are interested in and the reasons behind our decisions, and try to make sense of the ever changing investment environment. Our members backgrounds are diverse and include corporate banking, engineering, teaching and the leisure industry. Discussions are robust and challenging but tend to be to be informal, and do not generally involve agendas, presentations or detailed preparation. We are a friendly and approachable group who welcome investors of all levels – we just ask that you contribute, at whatever level you can.
Meeting Type/Venue:	Our meetings are held in a very nice pub near to South Ealing tube station (Piccadilly Line), not far from Ealing Broadway (District, Central and Elizabeth Line). Group numbers permitting (and assuming members are happy to purchase food and drink from the bar), we may also have access to a private room in the pub.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	We meet every 2 months, usually on a Wednesday morning at 11am.

Group description:	Our group covers a wide spectrum of mainly stock market investing and trading from equities – which include shares, ETF’s Investment and Unit Trusts. We normally rotate the meeting chairperson (responsible for creating, with member’s help, suitable agendas) and a meeting presenter (members take it in turns to provide a 15 to 45 minute presentation on a subject of their choice). Various investing topics of interest are regularly discussed such as software, brokers, investing categories and markets and any related topics of interest.
Meeting Type/Venue:	Meetings will be returning to in-person in a private room at a West London golf club, close to an underground station. In the meantime monthly video calls and an in-between meeting email group will continue.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	In-person meetings will be held on the second Wednesday of each month in the afternoons, following a golf club one course lunch.

Group description:	Experienced investors who have been members many years and newer members wanting to learn about investing. Members discuss portfolio content and reasons why they have certain assets and investments. Buys and sells discussed along with interesting shares being considered along with current issues in the market of local or international influence.
Meeting Type/Venue:	Physical face to face meetings held in a central pub in Easton in Gordano.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	Usually monthly to 6 weekly, mid week 12 noon to 2pm with lunch.

Group description:	A long-established group, however, we welcome new applications. Our meetings start at 10:15am with coffee and scones when members comment on their investment activities since the previous month. Generally, each member reports on a specific Company/IT/Fund e.t.c. This brings us to about 12:30pm when the meeting ends, and we have lunch.
Meeting Type/Venue:	In-person at a Golf Club in Belfast.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	The group usually meets on the second Wednesday of the month, all year round, except in July and August when we have no meetings. Meetings commence at 10:15am and last 2-3 hours (including lunch).

The Internet of Things – Telit and Tern

Share this:

Leave a ReplyCancel reply