Tiny Qonnectis is at present in an embryonic stage, but seems to have an interesting product with great potential. Their flagship product connects energy and water meters to the Internet via Qonnectis' own server and users' website, providing 24-hour real-time accessibility as well as the opportunity for instant data comparison and updates as frequently as every 15 minutes. This avoids the costs of traditional meter-reading methods (i.e. reading by eye or the more recent "drive-by" technology). The new technology has already saved one early customer a reported 180,000 after it spotted a water leak and alerted the user. Early adopters include utilities such as Scottish Water and Generale des Eaux Lyon, plus public sector clients such as the NHS, the RAF and various District Councils (the list is numerous, so please see QTI's press releases for the whole picture). In November 2005 QTI announced a distribution deal with Compteurs Farnier of France, providing potential access to the USA and Canada in addition to the French market.

The business case for QTI seems strong: the product is inexpensive and provides cost savings both in terms of labour-saving and of cutting wastage. Sales include an element of subscription on a five-year basis; it seems logical that satisfied customers will both increase their number of meters in use and come back for further subscriptions after the five-year period has elapsed. The potential market is huge. The real question is, when will QTI achieve break-even?

CEO Mike Tapia previously built up the Talisman remote/drive-by meter-reading business, which was then sold to Severn Trent Water Co around 1997.

Does anyone have any figures on the Talisman sale, or perhaps on Compteurs Farnier? It would be good to get some idea of the current market.


EDIT: New charts added, 21Dec2007.

690k+ shares bought at 0.85p - biggest single trade since the interims published.

1.3m+ shares bought today, sp back to 0.5/1.0

Recent news item on QTI website includes the following:

Redditch Borough Council gets results
dramatic improvements since the Qonnectis equipment was installed. She commented, We have been working with Redditch Borough Council for over four years and one of their most impressive achievements is not only to install the data monitoring equipment but also to spend time understanding the data and taking the appropriate actions to reduce waste. Their results speak for themselves.

And they really do. To date, the Councils usage monitoring programme on the pilot sites has delivered significant benefits, with a 29% reduction in out-of-hours electricity usage and a 39% reduction in annual gas usage at the Town Hall, as well as a reduction in water usage at Crossgates Depot by 2,000m3 per annum. Annual cost savings achieved to date are in the region of 20,000, meaning that the payback period after deployment of the system is less than a year. Emissions savings at the Town Hall alone amount to more than 125 tonnes of CO2 per annum.

Mick Merrick, Sales Director of Qonnectis is impressed at the resolve of Redditch Borough Council to tackle their utility consumption issues. He commented, "Local Authorities are large users of water, gas and electricity over many disparate sites. It's impressive to see Redditch Borough Council using very modern technology to cut wastage, save council tax payers money and reduce their overall carbon footprint."

The Council has now identified funds for a further two years and two more sites have since been targeted, including one high usage gas site where the meter is particularly inaccessible. Here the system will be used to provide both a remote meter reading capability plus data to allow gas consumption to be monitored and hopefully reduced. The other is a high water usage site where an initial audit has identified scope for consumption reductions and hence savings via changes in work practices. It is still worth remembering that investigative work is far from complete at the four initial pilot sites, hence, further savings could be identified in the near future.

Good update, JMAC. Thanks!

9 July 2007

Qonnectis plc
Partnership with Major UK Water Company - new product shipments commence

Qonnectis plc ('Qonnectis' or 'the Company'), the energy and water conservation
technology and services provider, announces that it has begun shipping its new
'Leakfrog' product for water leakage monitoring, which was first announced in
October 2006. Thames Water, Qonnectis' partner and launch customer, is now
taking delivery of Leakfrog units for trial. Leakfrog is a small, cost-effective
electronic device which can be easily attached to domestic water meters and has
the intelligence to spot and size leaks. It is expected to be a significant
contributor to leakage reduction.

The Board believes that Leakfrog represents a breakthrough in extending water
company leakage monitoring into homes and expects the product to make a
significant contribution to the Company's sales and prospects going forward.

Looks like it wants to push higher

175k buy at 0.7. Trading statement due soon.

Was really trying to move higher.Wouldn't be suprised if it does tomorrow.

Evening all. Not been on here for a while.

Nice news re Leakfrog. Any ideas when that TU is due?

TU ?

Trading Update

The end FY06 trading statement came out on July 14 but understand there's to be a formal launch of the Thames/leakfrog deal so maybe a combined statement will be issued

Ahh ! Bid up and online buying limited to 15K

Can sell upto 525K over the published bid. Not going to take much to get this going now.

JMAC, any chance of posting the release of 14th July on here as I can't find it.

TIA.

An early move higher tomorrow may find some traders move into the stock as money moves from the large cap sector into the smaller cap.It's not going to take that much to achieve either IMO.

As they say the early bird catches the worm.

Soul think he was reffering to last years.

That's right.

Someone took advantage of the drop and picked up 100K

any idea why no buys being accepted at present?

From BBC News - Friday, 29 June 2007

Thames Water in 1bn leaks plan

Thames Water has been heavily criticised for leaks in the past
Thames Water has unveiled plans to spend about 1bn in the next year as it tackles leaky pipes in London.