Strix Group Live Discussion

Ripley94 21 Feb 2020

Halosource KETL… XXXXX These fell to a month low of 172p. before RNS on 19th when they jumped 10% to 190p. Maybe a corona china affected share. Back to 180p by today . Below from Steve More. … A “Statement Regarding Current Situation in China” from domestic appliances, primarily kettles, safety controls group Strix (KETL) – and the shares have currently responded to 190p, 10.5% higher… This is with the company stating that its “manufacturing operations, which are located near Guangzhou, resumed on 10 February 2020 which was only a one week delay from the planned opening… Strix’s facilities have experienced minimal impact to date” and “there are also no immediate concerns regarding Strix’s supply chain, given over 80% are based in a same area near Guangzhou and were able to restart production last week”. However, it is added on its manufacturing “currently two-thirds of the workforce have returned to the facility and whilst others have been hampered by travel disruption this remains sufficient to fulfil the customer commitments for February and the company are now focussed on securing March and April to minimise any disruption” and “the company remains closely in touch with all of its largest OEM customers. The majority have either resumed production or are expected to imminently. Strix has seen some customers increase order sizes due to disruption elsewhere in their supply chain”. But some other customers not properly resumed work though, and a third of the workforce still away and most of the supply chain seemingly in a similar situation suggests the potential for “minimal impact” to not be for long. However, the current situation reassurance following the shares down from 200p towards the end of last year, has seen the share price bounce. It compares to a broker to the company, Zeus Capital, having been looking for 2019 adjusted earnings per share of 15p, rising above 16p this year, though with also end-2020 net debt of £38.5 million (more than 20p per share). The shares are on the watchlist for a potential value opportunity, but the current uncertainty at the current valuation sees me presently avoid.

Ripley94 14 Feb 2020

Halosource KETL… XXXXX Went higher 200p on 24 Dec 2019 but back to around 180p now.

Ripley94 28 Oct 2019

Halosource KETL… Back to year high now of 180p … 167p when i looked in September .

Ripley94 27 Sep 2019

Halosource Thank you for clarifying that No Question . I lost in Halosource ( Trusted Woodfords judgement ) It was an AIM share but then gave up its UK listing i thought. A British company with US listing ( Rather like GWPH ) Maybe i had that wrong ?

NoQuestionMarks 25 Sep 2019

Halosource Hi Ripley94, My comment of US companies listed on AIM was relating to Halosource. We acquired their intellectual property for a song when they hit the skids, shareholders lost out big time. Strix are based in the Isle of Man, have been trading successfully for decades and are one of my bigger holdings. The figures speak for themselves. Bear in mind they floated at 100p… There may be a bit of froth in the price at the moment. Long term I am hopeful they’ll do very well

Ripley94 25 Sep 2019

Halosource NoQuestionMarks: I was advised many years ago never to invest in US companies listed on AIM. I was told they only list on AIM because they would not pass scrutiny in the US. If you have a look at the record of US companies on AIM it has proven to be sound advice. Hi noQuestion . Is Strix a US company ?

Ripley94 25 Sep 2019

Halosource KETL… XXXX 155p when they got the IP from Halo … 167p now 7 months on .

NoQuestionMarks 22 Mar 2019

Strix Group plc A Positive Result for 2018 & Confident of 2019 One of my better investments and still relatively under the radar. Kettle Market growing at 7% per year. Able to go head to head with the chinese competition. AquaOptima to be differentiated from competition. New factory on stream in Q3 2021, which we will own rather than rent. Div yield of 4-5% keeps us ticking over until the market re-rates. If we dip down to the 130’s again I would love to buy some more.

NoQuestionMarks 08 Mar 2019

What we've bought $1.33m… I think we have done rather well. "History of HaloSource and description of the assets being acquired HaloSource has attracted and deployed significant investment over the past 20 years, and as a result, has developed two technically advanced water purification technologies that are being acquired by Strix pursuant to the Acquisition. HaloSource has two primary patented technologies - a bromine based water treatment bead system proven to kill 99.99%+ of bacteria and viruses, and a composite filter material certified to remove heavy metals from water, with its main differentiator being its lead removal performance. HaloSource has also developed a consumer product (Astrea) using its filter technology. This product is a reusable portable water bottle with changeable filters that is certified to remove lead from tap water. Lead removal is a major differentiator in the USA in particular, where a number of health scares have occurred due to lead levels in drinking water. Astrea allows consumers to obtain filtered drinking water at a much lower cost per litre than bottled water, whilst avoiding the negative environmental impact of plastic water bottle usage. Astrea was launched in late 2018 and is available via a number of distribution channels as a subscription product including the delivery of regular replacement filters."

Gamesinvestor1 14 Feb 2019

Halosource NQM - You are probably right about the US start up scene, but I suspect Strix have seen some value here and the price they are paying for the technology and IP is peanuts - hopefully Strix have a much bigger established market for this. Games

NoQuestionMarks 14 Feb 2019

Halosource Seems like a decent deal for us, but then again you have to wonder why there has seemingly been no other interest All I know of Halo is that they have a filtration system to remove lead from tap water, still a big issue in the USA apparently. Halo shareholders are not going to receive a penny of the proceeds of the sale… Will they agree to it? I was advised many years ago never to invest in US companies listed on AIM. I was told they only list on AIM because they would not pass scrutiny in the US. If you have a look at the record of US companies on AIM it has proven to be sound advice. “Strix (or its wholly owned subsidiary) will acquire HaloSource Water Purification Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary in China, along with substantially all of the assets of the Company’s US subsidiary, HaloSource, Inc. Under the terms of the Offer, the Company will receive, on Completion, a cash payment of approximately U.S.$1.3 million, including an advance of funds to the Company for working capital purposes of approximately U.S.$0.1 million by way of an unsecured promissory note. The book value of the assets expected to be sold at 30 June 2018 was approximately U.S.$2.8 million. For the six months to 30 June 2018 those assets incurred a loss of approximately U.S.$3.7 million and for the year to 31 December 2017 a loss of approximately U.S.$5.3 million.”

Gamesinvestor1 12 Feb 2019

Halosource Ripley, Nah m8 - to be honest I’d never heard of them. You can rest assured, if it had been on Woodford’s list I wouldn’t be holding it. Sounds like it was on the verge of going bust, not uncommon for a Woodford company these days. Strix could make sensible use of the IP if they are successful at buying it for peanuts. Games

Ripley94 11 Feb 2019

Halosource KETL… XXXXXX HI Gamesinvestor1 Did you invest in Halosource ?

Gamesinvestor1 07 Feb 2019

Halosource [link] Strix Group PLC on Thursday said it has made an offer to acquire assets from HaloSource Corp for USD1.3 million in cash. Strix,a designer and manufacturer of kettle safety components, has offered to acquire some US and Chinese assets from water technology firm HaloSource, which will “assist in accelerating its strategy to expand and grow its water filtration division” it said.

frusset 30 May 2018

inventor John Taylor on BBC radio 4 Life Scientific This is mostly of historical interest, because JT isn't on the board ( [link] ). Strix's "About" page has "1982Castletown Thermostats becomes Strix under John Taylor, son of Eric Taylor."There's a podcast currently available on [link] . While I don't think it's directly relevant to the investment case, some people could learn something about Strix's tech and about inventing.There's a possibly obscure point which I don't understand. JT said that if Americans had kettles like ours, they'd save enough power to be able to do without all their nuclear power. But, according to [link] kettles are relatively rare in the US because the lower voltage over there means they don't boil as fast. I can't resist quoting "Seriously? Americans can put a man on the moon and build the USS Nimitz, yet in 2014 you need to travel to Britain to experience the electric kettle?" (there's more on that theme).