Shark Mitigation Systems takes a chunk out of the English language
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Shark Mitigation Systems made its name developing technology to put off — you guessed it — sharks.
But with the company’s latest market announcement, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was trying to put off readers.
Shark Mitigation Systems (ASX:SM8) made an impressive-sounding announcement on Tuesday morning, with the headline: “Shark Mitigation Systems Opens Direct to Market Supply Chain To Further Accelerate SAMS Visual Technology Roll-Out”
What does that actually mean? It’s launching an online shop.
After a roundup of its recent activity and preparations for the Australian spring, the company cut to the chase.
“In the coming weeks, Shark Mitigation Systems will also launch a global online store in which customers can directly purchase the company’s products,” it said.
Under pressure
SMS’s shares have been on the slide since early May, despite some positive news.
First the company announced it had signed up celebrity lifeguard Bruce “Hoppo” Hopkins — of Bondi Rescue — as an ambassador.
Then in July it revealed a manufacturing license agreement with Californian surfboard printing company Boardlams.
The directors of SMS certainly seem to have faith, with David McArthur, Craig Anderson and Hamish Jolly all increasing their stake over June and July in seven different transactions.
SMS has two product lines, visual technology designed to prevent shark attacks — like stickers and fibreglass inlays for surfboards and special patterns for wetsuits — and a “Clever Buoy” that can detect sharks in the water and send an alert back to shore.
The visual technology was created in collaboration with the University of Western Australia.
SMS spent $223,000 in the quarter to June, leaving it with $621,000 in cash. It expects to spend $489,000 in the current quarter, which will be offset by customer receipts.
The company’s shares are currently trading at 5.5c, the lowest they’ve been in 12 months. The highest they traded in the past year was 20c.
SMS will be hoping business picks up over the warmer months in Australia, and said spring was usually the peak period for shark “incidents”.
“Following the immediate summer rollout in California, Shark Mitigation Systems will focus on the forthcoming spring in Australia, which is historically the peak period of shark incidents in the Oceania region,” it said in Tuesday’s announcement.
