Cambridge technology business AVEVA has defied tough global trading conditions by posting increased revenues and turning a slight loss into a healthy profit in the six months to September 30.

The engineering software company’s UK share price opened slightly up to 1,781p and AVEVA maintains a market cap of £1.14 billion.

Interim revenue was up three per cent to £84.3 million and the company turned a half year loss of £0.8m last time to a profit of £5.5m.

CEO Richard Longdon, who steps up to president and adviser at the end of this year, said the business was retaining a tight rein on costs while increasing the range and reach of its new generation technologies.

AVEVA has net cash 18 per cent ahead of last time at £124.4m and shareholders get an early Christmas present after the interim dividend was more than doubled to 13p a share – up 117 per cent year-on-year.

Longdon said it was a “solid set of results despite tough trading conditions globally” He reported notable new customer wins, success in diversifying end markets and a broadening solution footprint within itsexisting customer base.

Regionally, the trading environment remained mixed, he said.

In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) AVEVA saw generally stable conditions with an increase in solution sales and cross-selling new products to existing customers.

AVEVA enjoyed strong progress in North America where business grew 33 per cent but witnessed lower levels of demand in Latin America, where Brazil remains particularly subdued, as expected. In China, the economic backdrop has been generally slower compared to a year ago resulting in a weaker overall performance.

Longdon said: “Revenue from China was lower than the comparative period in 2015 and we were disappointed not to close two deals which we now expect to close in the second half.

“Elsewhere in Asia, sales in South Korea and Japan were strong and improved over the prior year, despite a reduction in offshore projects in the major shipyards.”

He said AVEVA continued to be impacted by the slowdown in Oil & Gas capex and most of its EPC customers had now responded by downsizing their own operations and adapted to current activity levels. Commodity prices remain relatively low and volatile.

AVEVA remains confident that the medium-term prospects for its key vertical markets of Oil & Gas and Power are fundamentally strong and says a proactive focus on its key strategies “will deliver resilience in the short term and strong growth when more favourable market conditions return.

“Despite the tough market conditions, we have made good strategic progress in the first six months and we expect to achieve a result for the full year in line with the board’s expectations,” Longdon said.
 

Another Asian corporation is set to hoover up a Cambridge UK technology company in a state of financial flux.

Communications technology business Sepura confirms it is in talks with Chinese company Hytera Communications Corporation Ltd.

It will be an all-cash deal but the acquisition price will be moderate because digital radios company Sepura is in a mess because of cash liquidity issues.

Sepura revealed the takeover talks after its share price spiked more than 25 per cent having nosedived in recent times due to cashflow issues and order delays.
Hytera is a world leading solution provider of professional mobile radio communications and operates globally.

Late today, Sepura issued a statement on London Stock Exchange confirming it was in preliminary talks with Hytera regarding a possible offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the company.

Hytera confirmed to the Sepura board that any offer was likely to be solely in cash. The usual caveats were issued that there was no certainty any deal would go through and shareholders would be updated on new developments.

Founded in 1993 in Shenzhen, China, Hytera has grown to be a key player in the PMR (Professional Mobile Radio) communication industry with a large customer base in more than 120 countries and regions across the world.

In China, Hytera’s market share ranks first among Chinese manufacturers while globally Hytera has reached second place in the overall terminal category.

As one of the few corporations that masters TETRA, DMR and PDT technologies, and produces all series of products and solutions of all these mainstream digital protocols, Hytera leads in the draft of digital trunking standard in China.

Its acquisition of the Rohde & Schwarz TETRA business in August 2011 further strengthened its competitive edge in TETRA market.

Hytera has established a global sales network with 30 branches in the US, UK, Germany, Australia, Brazil and other territories and through  600+ partners across the world.

Hytera has an R & D team of over 1200 engineers in five research centres. Sepura won the Business Weekly Awards Business of the Year title in March after a record-breaking 2015 but hit liquidity problems this summer and has temporarily lost its CEO Gordon Watling to ill health.
 

Global economics consultancy, Cambridge Econometrics, is marking 30 years of advising UK and international organisations on a broad range of  challenges.

A child of the Cambridge Phenomenon, the university spin-off opened its doors long before the science & technology cluster began to gather worldwide momentum.

It enters a new era from globally vibrant Cambridge with a new chairman and managing director and a brand overhaul designed to leverage the heritage of the business while staying fresh for future challenges.

Cambridge Econometrics was founded as a commercial spin-off from the University of Cambridge to take forward the pioneering work of Professor Sir Richard Stone, Nobel Laureate in Economics.

Its emphasis has always been on applied economic analysis, founded on empirical evidence. The company is a trading subsidiary of the educational charity established by its founder, Professor Terry Barker – the Cambridge Trust for New Thinking in Economics. The charity guarantees the independence of the company.

Over the last 30 years Cambridge Econometrics has helped organisations such as the European Commission, the British Government, local government, businesses and NGOs tackle some challenging questions, applying evidence-based analysis to provide actionable insight.

Its 30-strong team of economists work around the world on issues such as energy and the environment, jobs and skills, transport infrastructure and economic development.

Recent projects include informing investment priorities for the Northern Powerhouse; improving the appraisal of UK infrastructure investment; modelling the economic impacts of accelerating the deployment of renewables for the International Renewable Energy Agency; measuring the GDP impact of the Copernicus space programme for DG GROW and building expertise in econometrics in Saudi Arabia.

Richard Lewney has changed roles from managing director to chairman. He succeeds founder Terry Barker. Phil Summerton has been promoted from director to MD after 10 years at the company.

The new brand development has been led by Cambridge-based Paul Lewis of lewis andersen brand consultants supported by Fellowship Productions of Bury St Edmunds.

Richard Lewney said: “In an increasingly complex world, we see our role as providing rigorous analysis and insight to help decision makers tackle some of the most pressing issues we face in the 21st century.

“These include the impacts of climate change, the changing nature of jobs and the potential impacts of major infrastructure projects.”

Phil Summerton, added: “We have an impressive track record which we want to build on. We are ambitious to do work that makes a difference and that we can be proud of.

“Our new brand image and website have been designed to reinforce the key promise we make to our clients – we deliver clear insights on complex issues.”  
 

Abcam, the Cambridge UK business that supplies life science research tools to global innovators, is moving its HQ from the Science Park to a new 100,000 sq ft building at Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

The move will double Abcam’s Cambridge footprint and put it at the heart of a burgeoning life science community, including AstraZeneca.

It is also expected to generate a significant number of new jobs for the company which is keeping open its options on fresh global acquisitions.

Abcam says it will consolidate its three current Cambridge facilities into one new flagship building, subject to winning planning consent.

CEO Alan Hirzel said the move would accelerate and increase collaboration opportunities with scientific opinion leaders and strengthen links with pharmaceutical discovery groups, leading institutions and clinicians.

The new HQ will house the group’s UK innovation and manufacturing capabilities, laboratories, logistics, sales, marketing and corporate functions and will be the company’s European distribution hub.

Providing approximately 100,000 sq ft of office and laboratory space, compared with 57,000 sq ft currently, the facility will enable Abcam to better serve its consumers’ needs on several fronts.

It will allow better interaction between scientists and those responsible for marketing and selling the company’s products contributing to Abcam retaining  its market leading position.

The move will further establish Abcam as one of the most innovative and influential providers of reagents and tools for the research and clinical communities.

It will enhance its product development capabilities to allow Abcam to better serve the needs of the global research community while increasing capacity and allowing more flexibility in the company’s distribution model.

The facility is also expected to improve efficiency across all business functions.

Hirzel said: “The Cambridge Biomedical Campus is rapidly becoming an influential hub for global life science. We are looking forward to building upon our longstanding relationships with the scientific community and establishing new relationships with other organisations on the site.

“Bringing the Abcam team together will improve our efficiency and innovation process to the benefit of all of our stakeholders.”

A resolution to grant planning approval was passed unanimously in early August with the construction project planned to begin once full approval is received.

Design work has started and final estimates and specifications for the project remain subject to the completion of planning processes.
 

Cambridge technology great ARM Holdings has hailed the launch of the new Micro:bit Educational Foundation as an historic stimulus to a whole new generation of young innovators in the UK and globally.

ARM co-founder MIke Muller, the company’s chief technology officer, was thrilled that the BBC micro:bit minicomputer – already successfully deployed in UK schools – was being enhanced by new features and rolled out into Europe, America and Asia.

He said at the launch of the new foundation: “Just as the BBC Micro inspired a generation of computer programmers and entrepreneurs, the micro:bit is set to take it to the next level, instilling a passion for technology in the innovators of tomorrow.

“By expanding the micro:bit’s functionality and enabling access to tools and resources for young people, educators and makers around the world, the Micro:bit Educational Foundation will create a proud legacy of digital creativity.”

New features including peer-to-peer radio communications are to be introduced; the foundation will also make extensive multilingual project and teaching resources available to encourage creativity and invention with technology at school, in clubs and at home.

Schematics and a complete reference design will be released to enable makers to innovate further. The Foundation is a not-for-profit company that builds on the huge success of the BBC micro:bit and aims to lower barriers to technology invention for young people, makers and developers globally.

The initiative will enable teachers, governments and educational organisations to fulfil their digital educational goals and help improve digital skills across the globe.

Over the last 12 months the BBC micro:bit partnership has distributed up to one million micro:bits to UK schoolchildren and launched a micro:bit website with four different code editors, along with hundreds of resources and supporting content for students and teachers.

Its impact is already being seen; since launching in March this year, users have visited the website more than 13 million times, used the code simulator nearly 10 million times and compiled code onto their devices close to two million times.

As a core part of the BBC ‘Make it Digital’ initiative, it is also helping to change attitudes by encouraging more girls into ICT and computing subjects and making coding and technology more accessible to children.

The Foundation will begin taking over from the original BBC micro:bit partnership from today in a phased transition, ensuring long-term support and expansion of the educational programme in the UK and internationally.

The creation of the Foundation was made possible by support from leading educational and technology organisations including: ARM, BBC, Microsoft, Nominet, Samsung and the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Outside the UK, early adopters of the BBC micro:bit include Iceland and the Netherlands, with deployments now starting in schools. Availability will be extended across Europe during Q4/2016 with plans to roll out the device in North America and Asia in 2017.

There is interest from more than 20 countries, including Bangladesh, China, Finland, Norway and Singapore, to deploy micro:bit educational programmes.

The BBC micro:bit gives teachers and educational organisations an easy-to-use platform to teach STEM skills that align with their curriculum, enabling digital creativity and improving digital literacy.

For makers, developers and hobbyists, the micro:bit serves as a flexible platform for prototyping a wide range of applications and provides the opportunity to contribute to its further development.

The BBC will release schematics for the micro:bit in addition to a complete reference design from the Foundation. This will guide makers on how to get creative with designing technology such as wireless sensors.

As well as increasing the accessibility of the BBC micro:bit, the Foundation will support diverse applications that serve a broad range of educational purposes and target age groups and extend its capabilities, bringing exciting new features to users, such as peer-to-peer radio communications. 

Further development will continue in terms of building a strong library of resources for the micro:bit community, including adding international language support and developing localised educational curriculums.

The BBC micro:bit is available through a number of resellers. A full list is available at http://microbit.org/resellers.   
 

A blockbusting new $100 billion fund with Japanese and Saudi backing promises a long-term payback for Cambridge business ARM Holdings as it builds a world lead in the Internet of Things arena.

ARM’s new Japanese parent, SoftBank, is set to team up with Saudi sovereign wealth vehicle Public Investment Fund (PIF) to launch an investment war chest focusing exclusively on the technology sector.

Sources close to SoftBank believe a sizeable chunk of the investment could be injected into synergistic plays around ARM’s IoT ecosystem following the Japanese company’s $31bn acquisition of the UK superchip architect this summer.

SoftBank says it expects to contribute $25bn to the vehicle – tentatively branded the SoftBank Vision Fund – over the next five years.

PIF is expected to be the lead investment partner with a contribution of around $45 billion. Other partners are expected to make up the $30bn balance over time.

The vehicle will be operated out of the UK – almost certainly anchored in London – by a SoftBank subsidiary.

SoftBank chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said the vehicle would allow the business to accelerate investments into technology companies globally.

ARM sits at the heart of progress towards a fully integrated global IoT system with its chips central to the network of sensors that will ultimately link billions of devices in smart homes, smart cities and futuristic industrial, medical and agricultural environments.

When SoftBank acquired ARM it pledged to maintain the company’s strong growth from an expanded Cambridge headquarters under existing management and double headcount in the cluster in the next five years. ARM employs more than 4,000 people worldwide and to date more than 85 billion systems-on-chips based on ARM’s IP have been shipped worldwide.

PIF has more than $2 trillion worth of assets under management and has signed an MOU with SoftBank for the new project.

Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, chairman of PIF, said: “The Public Investment Fund is focused on achieving attractive long-term financial returns from its investments at home and abroad, as well as supporting the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 strategy to develop a diversified economy.

“We are delighted to sign this MOU with SBG given the long history, established industry relationships and strong investment performance of SoftBank Group and Masayoshi Son.”

Son added: “With the establishment of the SoftBank Vision Fund, we will be able to step up investments in technology companies globally. Over the next decade, the SoftBank Vision Fund will be the biggest investor in the technology sector. We will further accelerate the information revolution by contributing to its development.”