Mobile Video Outfit Refocuses
Posted: November 28, 2007 Filed under: Technology, Transportation Leave a comment »Washington, D.C. – In early 2004, Peter Durand took the top job at Integrian, a North Carolina company specializing in mobile surveillance systems for vehicles like police cars and buses. It’s been a busy run since, with two venture funding rounds closed, three acquisitions, and a headcount that went from 12 to 200.
“This has been four years of 90 miles an hour every single day,” says Durand, 38.
Not all decisions made at 90 miles an hour turn out well. Integrian hopes one acquisition gone amiss will help another bear fruit.
Two years ago, Integrian deployed a big chunk of its venture capital to acquire publicly listed Innovonics, a $9 million (revenues) Australian developer of transit surveillance technology. The rationale behind the buy: Innovonics’ specialty in passenger rail systems and subways would complement Integrian’s strengths in camera systems for cars and buses.
“We had this goal of combining the technologies into one platform,” says Durand.
Full story at Forbes.com
Concrete Proposals
Posted: November 20, 2007 Filed under: Transportation Leave a comment »WASHINGTON, D.C. – “We have a very, very underfunded and seriously challenged transportation system in severe crisis.”
So says Peter Ruane, chief executive of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), as he unveils a 70-page plan for updating legislation on federal surface transportation spending. The law–called the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU)–passed in 2005 with a $287 billion price tag. It’s set to expire two years hence.
Yes, 2009 is a way off, and it isn’t a drop-dead date. The SAFETEA law didn’t get signed until two years after its predecessor’s expiration.
Still, shareholders in companies like Caterpillar (nyse: CAT – news – people ), Deere & Company (nyse: DE – news – people ), and Vulcan Materials (nyse: VMC – news – people ) should watch the road building industry’s Washington standard bearer in the off-season: The federal government finances nearly half the country’s highway and bridge building.
Full story at Forbes.com
As The Aerospace And Defense Cycle Turns
Posted: November 15, 2007 Filed under: Investing Leave a comment »Washington, D.C. – With third-quarter earnings season winding down, we checked in with Alex P. Hamilton, defense and aerospace analyst at New York brokerage Jesup & Lamont Securities, on his outlook and picks in two areas with very different prospects: makers of airplane equipment, and companies specializing in government technology services.
We’ll start where the bulls are running now. “Commercial aerospace has been great,” Hamilton says. “The end markets are awesome.”
Hamilton explains that the commercial aerospace business tends to have five good years followed by five bad ones. He pegs 2004 as the start of the current upswing, meaning it should run until 2009. Factor in the rollout of two jets– Boeing’s (nyse: BA – news – people ) 787 and Airbus’ A380–and the consensus thinking has the good times lasting to 2011.
As we’ve observed on occasion this year, aerospace equipment stocks have climbed along with expectations. The upward price movement gives even a bull like Hamilton pause.
“At the beginning of the cycle it was value investors,” he muses, “Now it’s momentum guys.” Also troubling are high fuel prices, the possibility that tightening credit could lead to an economic slowdown and production delays for both the 787 and A380.
The latter item doesn’t especially bother Hamilton. The delays have raised concerns, he suggests, and could dampen cash flow among certain suppliers. But they’re unlikely to sink the jet programs altogether, and they’re not enough to undo the broader aerospace recovery. “It might change the trajectory of it,” he says, “but that’s it.”
Full story at Forbes.com
Good Luck Beating SAS
Posted: November 9, 2007 Filed under: Technology Leave a comment »Washington, D.C. – Since 1995, SAS Institute has proved itself a juggernaut on our annual tally of America’s largest privately held companies. The Cary, N.C., software concern debuted on the list 12 years ago, ranked 402 with $482 million in revenues and an employee count of 3,400. Today it claims the No. 219 spot with sales of $1.9 billion and a staff of 10,000.
Lately, SAS’ big competitors have been bulking up with a string of acquisitions in its specialty–software that helps managers pull together and analyze big chunks of data. Yet there is scant evidence that its rivals can knock SAS off its stride.
“[SAS] is a force to reckon with,” says David Hilal, an equity analyst who oversees technology research and covers 15 business-software companies for Arlington, Va., investment bank Friedman, Billings, Ramsey.
SAS’s public-sector business illustrates. Founded in 1976 by Forbes 400 member James Goodnight, SAS (pronounced “sass”) has long targeted the government customer. Today, the company draws 14% of its revenues from governments around the world, with work for U.S. federal, state and local customers set to bring in $200 million in 2007.
