Yes an engineer but lets call it a TECH Engineer. Compressed air technology is its main business, develops industrial air compressors and Gas seals and whats more it provides them for the OIL and GAS industry.
Very close to commercialisation now with its compressors and seals and todays deal ( see below ) should bring that very close.

Charges upfront payments, continuing royalties and development contracts so revenues are not lumpy.

It as a market cap circa off the top of my head 20 million(hope my calculator is now working) and as circa of 5 million cash on the books, very nice.

Some very big names as customers.

Heres todays announcement...........

Corac Group Plc
26 May 2004


For Immediate Release 26 May 2004


Corac Group plc ('Corac')

Joint Industry Programme for Downhole Gas Compression

Corac, the intellectual property and licensing company specialising in
compressor technology, is pleased to announce the signature today of a Joint
Industry Programme ('JIP') for the development of its unique, patented downhole
gas compression technology.

Following the recent successful completion of a Shell funded feasibility study
which evaluated both the technical and economic viability of the technology,
considerable industry interest has been generated, culminating in the addition
of a further four major international oil and gas operators to the project.

The participants of the JIP comprise ConocoPhillips, ENI, Husky Energy,
Repsol-YPF as well as Shell, all of whom have gas assets worldwide which they
believe could benefit from this game changing technology. As well as covering
the development costs for the next phase, the participants will also make
substantial resource available to ensure the final product specification meets
the requirements of the industry.

Corac's downhole gas compression concept involves the coupling together of a
number of axial compressor modules in a single compression train for
installation in the well bore in close proximity to a gas reservoir. In this
location, a modest uplift in pressure results in a very significant increase in
gas production compared with conventional methods using surface compression,
thereby accelerating gas production and cash flow from a producing asset.
Potential production rate enhancement of up to 40% has been demonstrated through
the application of downhole gas compression during a number of gas field case
studies carried out over recent months.

Placing the compressor downhole could also have the effect of being able to
lower the reservoir abandonment pressure which in turn would materially increase
the ultimate recovery from a gas field, thereby further enhancing the economic
benefit from the installation of this novel application of existing technology.

Phase 1 of the JIP is scheduled for completion by the end of 2004, with further
engineering and development work leading to the manufacture and testing of a
prototype downhole in a producing gas well within the following two years.

Commenting on the JIP, Professor Gerry Musgrave, Chairman, said:

'The support from such eminent oil and gas companies vindicates Corac's
development to date of the downhole gas compression project and gives the Group
another product line to bring to the market using its core technologies. It is
the start of a major business development opportunity which is expected to have
significant international ramifications throughout the upstream natural gas
industry.'ENDS.

Although loss making at the moment it shouldnt be very long before this one turns the corner.

Outlook

The Company has a loyal, talented workforce dedicated to the innovation and
exploitation of the technology. Successful trials have demonstrated the
commercial performance in Corac's industrial air compressor and its seals. The
Board is striving to deliver the right manufacturing and sales licences which
will yield the best returns in the long term.

We are confident that a number of deals, which have been subject to recent
intensive negotiation, will be successfully concluded in the near term.

Short to medium term investment, and anyone interested should DYOR and please remember you are responsible for the timing of your buying and selling actions.

cheers GF.

thats the spirit, optimism abounds!

investor sentiment is low, generally, therefore only one way that can go!
much prefer that to everyone saying markets are going to the stars.

So you'd prefer to hear stuff that makes you feel good rather than the reality?
I can oblige if you want, but imo sub 60p is still on the cards when the DOW & FTSE have a bad day.

harrycat, whatever
to be honest, not too bothered about where these are on any specific day or if they drop a tad 'cos the Yanks have a bad day at the office.
I'm in these for long term gains, first bought in 3 years ago, average is in the high thirties.
I think they could reach several pounds in the next year or two, and , if they don't get taken out by an oil services major, we could see 5+, subject to everything remaining on track.
imo.

from Share mag

There is a strong upwards 5 year trend and that in the last 6 months it has become very bullish, bucking the trend of the rest of the market. It is recommending buying and selling a 80p, but acknowledges the price could head for 93p once the 60p barrier is broken fully.

CRA moving ahead again in what are tricky markets, a strong performer.
With the relatively near term potential to liberate billions of pounds of stranded gas, then the current market cap look a steal! imo.

It would appear so. As CRA has a market cap of a mere 50milion why doesn't one of the big oil&gas services companies take it over, or are they bideing their time?

Need my head seeing to, as if I haven't stretched my patience enough with PET, DEMG, AMER, BRR, CEPS and 1 or 2 others, I've now bought into CRA, ah well it's only money.
2517

Halifax
that is a real concern for CRA shareholders
Put simply, despite the upward trend over the last 6 months, the valuation is way way too low.

These big oil services co's like to buy fully developed technologies, and Corac is very very close to that now, with the prototype in Cumbria running for many months now under all sorts of conditions. The Cumbria trials have satisfied Conoco, Repsol and ENI and now they are expected to move to the ordering stage within the next few months or so.

Any bid now would be very opportunistic. It could be the oil services co's have got CRA on their radar and are, as you suggest, bideing their time. Certainly some of them are aware of Corac. The business model, with the recurring revenue stream from re-furbs, is one that suits the service companies.

I'm just hoping Corac can get further news out on the DGC project and get the share price well over a 1 before any bid hits.

Notlob tks for that, do you know if there are any substantial shareholders able to block a bid? Seems pretty cheap to me considering the potential.

well, there are a number of substantial shareholders who strongly believe in the story.
For example, Gartmore have been very supportive and at the last count they had around 12.5% of the shares.
There are a number of institutions who fall into the same category. They have not invested in Corac to get a 20% of whatever return.
On the other hand, they all get paid performance fees and if, for example, CRA received a bid of 1 tomorrow, they may well have difficulty in refusing that. I don't think it would go for much less, as the institutions and others can see the end game now, in terms of DGC being deployed, growing orders and reaching serious profitability probably next year

Whilst I wouldn't exactly be crying over a bid of 1+, I belive the DGC technology could well be worth a lot more than that, like 500m+. That is assuming that everything stays on track.

For example, the JIP partners have identified a near term use for 170 DGC units, which would mean gross profits of over 100m plus a recurring revenue stream.
To be fair, that is not going to happen this year, but certainly over the next few years that could well happen. I would rather have 5 in a few years time than 1 tomorrow. I hope CRA remain independent and that a decent value is placed on the Company by the markets.

recent comment from Barclays, received yesterday:

Corac (CRA) Market Cap 48.7m, 52-week high/low: 61p/34p
This company is involved in compressors and has developed an oil-free compressor. The bearings it uses are frictionless and are based on air rather than physical bearings.

For the last four years it has been developing downhole compressors for the oil industry. At the moment you have a vacuum compressor on top of the well and that sucks out the gas, but Coracs compressor sits down the bottom of the hole and sucks it from there. The oil industry has put numerous demands on them and theyve carried out all sorts of tests and now the orders seem to be coming through for this piece of kit.

I dont know how many the oil industry are going to start ordering as tens of thousands of gas wells are created each year. Imagine what will happen to the share price if this happens! The upside appears enormous and this is very exciting.

Now that sort of market cap would have us dancing in the street.
2517

you are right, george!
Clearly barclays had multiplied the cap by the odd 100, have now edited it to give correct sum.
I do quite like the idea of 4.87bn market cap though, works out about 55 a share!
Settle for a mere 1bn market cap and 10+ a share, I'm not greedy, leave some for the next investor!!!

Did a dummy buy, quoted 57p so perhaps the other trades @ mid-price of 57p are also buys.
2517

moving up again now.
Results are out in a few weeks time, remarkably efficient, as efficient as their compressors, I hope!

For Immediate Release 21 January 2008


CORAC GROUP PLC


Notification of Preliminary Results


On behalf of our client Corac Group plc, we notify the London Stock Exchange
that the Company will be announcing its preliminary results for the year ended
31 December 2007 on Tuesday 19 February 2008.


An analyst briefing will be held on the morning of results at Buchanan
Communications, 45 Moorfields, London EC2Y 9AE.


For further information please contact:

Suzanne Brocks/Ben Romney
Buchanan Communications Tel: 020 7466 5000

moving up nicely today, be good to get through the 60p level .

these are extracts from a Numis brokers report, sounds good!

Economic case is compelling

We agree with the companys view that, for this particular field and the many others that have been analysed, once DGC has been fully proven down the hole, there is an overwhelming case for deployment wether it is recovering stranded gas or just giving the operators a much better return on their investment. For Corac, as well as the capital cost of sales, in this particular example there would be a size from refurbishment of the units every two years.

130m sales opportunity from JIPs in the short term

According to Corac, the JIP partners have identified 170 wells immediately suited to DGC technology. Even excluding engineering fees and replacement/refurbishment potential, which should occur at least once every three years, we estimate that 170 units could amount to some 130m sales and about 80m operating profit. If the DGC extends a well life for say 5-6 years for example, then this estimate could almost double with aftermarket sales.

Numis say DGC becomes a no brainer if the technology works down hole

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

gosh .... don't tell me bolt-on and i actually have a liking for the same company

could be , ci-nyc
although I prefer to hold a company for longer than the concentration period of a gnat, but each to his own.

I'm currently sitting on a 100% or so gain on a decent chunk of these, with plenty more to come. That has required a quality that seems to be missing nowadays, called patience. Nowadays a long term investor is thought of as someone who buys on a T10
Medium term holds for the day
Short term less than an hour.

oh dear, no wonder we are in such a mess.

notlob .... I'd agree with most (well, perhaps all) of your last post as regards future potential for CRA share price and the timelines of some 'investors' who seem to like posting (on boards other than Moneyam) the L2 data on 'long term' holdings throughout the day... ;-)