Tech: Spectur is making a heap of money selling its solar-powered bad guy detectors

Spectur (ASX:SP3), the makers of solar-powered, AI-enhanced security cameras as well as shark warning systems, has just posted its best ever quarterly result, as it sells and rents more cameras than ever before.

Customer receipts for the March quarter were $1.2 million, up 99 per cent on the previous year and up 9 per cent on the December quarter.

That was off the back of a record February, in which sales revenue was $469,000. This was despite, Spectur says, the third quarter being “traditionally one of the slowest quarters of the year”.

It was not clear whether Q3 is the company’s slowest quarter, or whether others are slower.

Revenue in the 2019 financial year to date stands at $3.4 million, up 96 per cent on this time last year. Camera rentals, sales, active cameras in the field and recurring revenue from the software that comes with the products all rose year-on-year.

On top of these impressive figures the company also recorded its lowest quarterly cash burn since listing, $190,000, which has been decreasing exponentially this financial year.

It has $1.2 million in the bank — though expects to spend $1.7m in the June quarter — and is “in negotiations with a major Australian bank” for a debt facility to fund future growth.

All of this was just enough to get Spectur shares off all-time lows. The company offered shares at 20c in its IPO in 2017 and hit highs of 42.5c before Christmas, but it has lost 74 per cent of its value since then.
 

In other ASX tech news today:

 
Axsesstoday (ASX:AXL) calls in the administrators. The troubled business lender, which has imploded after it realised it had breached covenants with senior bank lenders, has hired a suite of administrators to assess “sale and recapitalisation” options. The company says “significant growth and higher arrears” are to blame for its downfall.

Those lenders told Axsesstoday on Friday they were “unable to continue to support the business with ongoing waivers of breaches of the terms of the finance documents”, leading to the decision to appoint administrators.
 
5G Networks (ASX:5GN) raises $8 million for working capital. The telco successfully sold 10 million shares at 80c a pop to sophisticated and professional investors in order to provide extra money as it advances the east coast roll out of its fibre network and looks for acquisitions.

Its share register has been diluted by 16 per cent.
 
Digital speaker maker Audio Pixels (ASX:AKP) still doesn’t have a product. Shares in the company, worth $555 million, rose as much as 13 per cent today to $20.02 after it rolled out an update to investors saying that the refinement of the fabrication process is in its “final stages”. The speaker has been 12 years in the making. 

Its annual report, released last month, showed revenue of just $86,961 and full-year loss of $4.5 million. Its board of directors and key management staff paid themselves $663,570, an increase of more than $10,000 on the prior year.