The Group will build and launch OCEAN-SCAN, a constellation of its own maritime monitoring satellites.
Companies: SRT Marine Systems plc
SRT Marine (LON: SRT) has announced today it will build and launch its own low earth orbiting (LOE) satellites, set to begin operation in 2019.
With six satellites initially planned, OCEAN-SCAN will provide "enhanced global vessel detection and tracking and a new recurring revenue source from maritime domain awareness (MDA) system project customers" the announcement said.
To fund the satellites, the Group announced in a separate RNS statement it has agreed terms to a £10m secured loan note.
The OCEAN-SCAN system will allow the Group to offer its own, more advanced satellite tracking data on ocean traffic, rather than have to pay third party satellite companies.
Technological innovation means that companies like SRT can now launch their own satellite systems, previously the reserve of Governments and large satellite companies.
The cost of OCEAN-SCAN will impact near-term earnings, with the £10m loan plus the £4m deployment cost spread over three years not seeing a return until the system is fully operational in 2021.
Shares in SRT were trading down 9% this morning with the news.
Today's announcements come a month after the Group received an order for "world's biggest single deployment" of AIS AtoN receivers.
SRT currently trades at a PE ratio of 25x versus the industry median of 14x, with a market cap of c. £50m. Revenue has grown steadily in the three years to 2017, with 2019 Revenue forecast to be almost double 2017's £11m.