8th Feb 07 ARMSHARE update :Link Back to Page 6 Here


Information Archive Folder : http://www.esnips.com/web/SurfaceTransformsInfo/


Main Web Site : http://www.surface-transforms.com/

March 2008 Presentation : Presentation Link


Commerical Overview

Surface Transform plcs core activity is exploiting proprietary technologies to create innovative, lightweight, high energy dissipating braking system materials, which can be commercialised for high-performance applications.

Surface Transforms plc has worked on technology programmes in collaboration with major companies such as AlliedSignal Inc, BAE Systems/Roxel, Dunlop Aerospace and Faiveley

Today, Surface Transforms is commercialising its products for an increasing range of high-performance applications. These include automotive, motorsport and aircraft brakes, for which the company has developed Ceramic brakes with improved friction properties, enhanced lifetime and lower production costs. Other growth areas include aerospace components (principally rocket motors) and anti-ballistic armour.

Key milestones have included:

-A new aircraft brakes development contract (Jan 2004) with a leading US based aircraft brakes maker
-A licensing contract (September 2003) with Dunlop Aerospace to develop and supply CFRC brakes;
-A contract with the UK Ministry of Defence to supply innovative materials that will increase protection against high-power rifle and cannon fire;
-A contract with the United States Airforce Research Laboratory for the supply of prototype CFRC materials for military applications.
-First commercial sales of carbon-ceramic brake discs for installation on the KOENIGSEGG Swedish supercar
-First commercial sales of Carbon Ceramic road car discs to StopTech the California based brake system upgrade specialists.
-First commercial sales of Carbon Ceramic road car discs to MOVIT one of the leading brake after-market upgrade kit suppliers based in Germany.


Not expecting anything over night here but to me it is now at the stage of becoming a good play with potential rewards in 2010 onwards on success.

July 31 Placing at 20p raised nearly 900 grand after expenses....at some dilution to ordinary folk - wow, this has been a long slide.
The money will be used to Accelerate the business - ho! ho!

hangon, what was the offer price ? 20p........so not that bad raising money at full market offer price.

Those investing must have been happy with the business plan, as they took stock at full market offer price, when the bid price was 14p.

So either they are happy to lose 6p a share for "ho ho ho".......or things are about to turn.

My target remains 200p by 2010........lets see.

Well, certainly there must be a buyer in the market, so someone liked the recent news of progress and funding.


On line limits are looking strong, which is most unusual for SCE.

BUY 5K @ 23.25p

SELL 15K @ 22.5p

Good news from todays EGM :


Surface Transforms Plc

("Surface Transforms" or "the Company")
Extraordinary general meeting statement

At the extraordinary general meeting of Surface Transforms to be held at 12 noon today the Chairman will make the following statement:

"I would like to provide the shareholders of the Company with an update of trading during the first two months of the 2007/2008 financial year. Both turnover and operating margins have exceeded budgeted expectations and the Company's order bank as of 22 August 2007, defined as received orders scheduled for delivery prior to 31 May 2008, was 211,000 (31 May 2007: 126,000)."

Never read this one before, but a nice summary of SCE.


http://simindia.org/articles/2007/06


High-tech brakes: this British firm produces materials that are used in aircraft and exotic vehicle applications. But that may be just the start of it

Categories: Aircraft

Posted on Thursday, June 28, 2007 by Simindia Admin

Surface Transforms (www.surface-transforms.com; Ellesmere Port, Cheshire) is one of the UKs leading manufacturers of next-generation carbon fiber reinforced ceramic composite materials (CRFCs). They are designed to replace traditional carbon-carbon products on aircraft by offering an improved product lifetime, thereby increasing the number of landings that can be performed between maintenance schedules. Its products can be found on rocket propulsion systems and as a replacement for conventional technical ceramics for use in body and vehicle armor. They can also be found on high-performance cars. Formed in 1992, Surface Transforms originated out of the Advanced Materials group of ICI when four former employees bought the intellectual property rights to the materials technology. Initially, and for quite a lengthy period of time afterwards, it served as a research and development company. Initial projects were funded programs that looked at various applications including aerospace and railway carriage braking. It even started to become involved in Formula One. However, the timing was unfortunate because the company initiated the project just at the time when the FIA, the sports governing body, was in the process of banning carbon ceramics on Grand Prix cars. Surface Transforms duly refocused its efforts on fitting its brakes to high-performance road cars.

As a result, Surface Transforms System ST brakes can now be found on the Koenigsegg supercar as an option on the CCX, which was launched at last years Geneva Show and on the CCGT that was launched at this years show, the $600,00 Ascari A10, and a new supercar from Weber Sportcars. Altogether, System ST is now fitted to more than 15 different car platforms. Surface Transforms is also working in partnership with StopTech, a California based leader in balanced brake upgrades for production cars and production-based racecars, to promote the adoption of carbon ceramic brakes on high-performance cars in the U.S. market. An annual supply contract has not yet been signed, yet both companies forecast that in the aftermarket between 50 and 100 car sets will be required in the next 12 months. StopTech has placed the first production order and will soon be offering the System ST ceramic brake disc on selected vehicle offerings.

Carbon ceramic brake technology was really brought to the market by three cars that were launched, utilizing the technology at a similar timethe Ferrari Enzo, Porsche Carrera GT and the Mercedes McLaren SLRand Surface Transforms had the appropriate technology, says Antoni Sznerch, Surface Transforms business development director. Unlike carbon-carbon brakes, carbon ceramics do not need to be hot to work, they work optimally from cold while offering significant weight saving over traditional iron rotors. They also have negligible wear in normal use. The fundamental difference between the brake discs that are fitted to these three cars and Surface Transforms technology is that they are manufactured using discontinuous carbon fiber, where our discs are made of continuous carbon fiber. This means that their mechanical integrity should be superior because the strength of carbon lies in the direction and length of the fiber.

Surface Transforms manufactures and supplies 3D multi-directional carbon fiber and oxidized PAN (polyacrylonitrile) preforms to suit a variety of engineering applications. Carbon fiber preforms are mats of interwoven multi-directional carbon fibers and are the basic materials that Surface Transforms converts into ceramic brakes and discs using its patented technology. By developing our discs and pads from our pad partner, we provide a balanced and high-performance complete friction couple, says Sznerch. We use what could be called a traditional nought/90 fiber orientation. However, our raw material is carbon fiber precursor which has 30% elongation in the fiber before it will break whereas carbon fiber only has 2%. This 30% elongation allows us to needle the fibers together so that we not only have the nought/90 orientation but also have the fiber in the Z direction through the material bundle and that is what binds the fibers together. It would be physically impossible to do this with traditional carbon and can only be done at the precursor stage. We convert the precursor to carbon fiber then we crack methane and convert the carbon to carbon-carbon.

The final stage of manufacture is to convert the carbon-carbon to carbon silicon carbide. The carbon that we crack from methane infills around the fiber that is then converted to silicon carbide. In this way we end up with a carbon silicon carbide disc with good mechanical integrity. Because we machine our discs to shape as opposed to shaping them in a mould we have great flexibility in the design and dimensions of the disc.

We are now going through the phase of transforming an R&D company into a more commercial manufacturing one, says Sznerch. We are a materials technology company looking for commercial applications. The company philosophy and strategy is twofold. One is that we dont see ourselves as a large volume manufacturer of automotive brake discs and are looking for licensed manufacturers for the long term. Aircraft brakes, currently, in the main are carbon-carbonmetal brakes are now less common on new aircraftand we are looking to license our technology to carbon-carbon manufacturers. This has a good strategic fit because our siliconization process can be added onto the tail end of their existing process. A licensed automotive manufacturer will be a little bit different because it would need a more complete manufacturing package. However, we have intellectual property rights for the main core of three critical processes, starting with the raw material, how its put together, then the carbonization stage followed by the siliconization process.

Someone in for 22.5K at 22p this morning. Which is strange as there should not be that many spare on the MM books, so they must have sold themselves short and hope to square their books with some weak holders ?


On Line Limits are :

BUY 100 @ 21.5 (yes just 100 shares)

SELL 25K @ 19p



Which tends to confirm that view.

Well thats one of the new institutional holders (and 1.675m of the new shares accounted for).

Not forgetting that the shares were placed at 20p (when the actual price for bid and offer were lower - not often you get placings on AIM that are over the offer price, most struggle to even match the bid price)


28 August 2007

Surface Transforms Plc

("Surface Transforms" or "the Company")

Holdings in Company

The Company has been notified that as at 28 August 2007, following the recent
placing, Gartmore Investment Limited holds 1,675,000 ordinary shares,
equivalent to 8.80 per cent. of the issued voting share capital of the Company.
The shares are registered in the name of Gartmore Growth Opportunities plc.

PP
I can't see any point in trying to spend time looking to buy as the turnover is so dismal and the spread is massive. Liquidity is so trivial that not only can't you buy but you would be stuffed trying to sell(which to me is more to the point)

coeliac1, its an investment, not a trade. For those wishing too, like me, buy a stake and hold for the future, it offers potential.

For those looking to buy and sell in 3m or 6m........then unless major news comes (which it could) then its a bit too illiquid,

The StopTech CCBS is of course System ST from Surface Transforms, under their agreement.


http://www.duemotori.com/news/auto_accessories/16403_StopTech_Carbon_Ceramic_Brake_System_makes_its_supercar_debut_on_Callaway_C16_Speedster.php

StopTech Carbon Ceramic Brake System makes its supercar debut on Callaway C16 Speedster

StopTech has been working in conjunction with Callaway to develop the ultimate brake system for Callaway's most exclusive vehicle.................................................

An interesting article, well it would be if the link to it was working. Can only get the header info, but the article is 1st October 2007. Anyone seen the full article, and also the implications of its content ?

I am wondering if its to do with the "study" on fuel consumption + carbon emissions and the reduction in weight (rolling and total too) associated with utilising carbon ceramics. If it is then this is good news, as a confirmed report will enable SCE to push the "green" side of reducing carbon emissions, alongside the performance improvement aspects :


http://www.koenigsegg.com/news/articles.asp?news=189&type=written

Koenigsegg goes green together with Surface Transforms plc.

Read the interesting article how exotic super cars and Formula 1-cars can help to improve the environment.

RNS today:

Surface Transforms Plc
Trading Statement and Update

The Company announces that trading in the six months ended 30 November 2007 was
in line with management's expectations.

Turnover for the period was significantly higher than the corresponding period
last year and cash balances at the period end were 1.6 million (2006: 1.47
million) equating to 8.4 pence per share. Sales of automotive discs to the high
performance and race car markets represent the majority of the turnover
generated in the period.

The Company has a strong forward order book and expects to report the interim
results for the six months ended 30 November 2007 in early February 2008.

Yep, all seems to be going to plan ok.

Early this year, lets hope for something encouraging, like moving a lot closer to break even.



25 January 2008

Surface Transforms plc

Notice of interim results

The Company announces that it will be releasing its interim results for the six
months ending 30 November 2007 on 31 January 2008.

ENQUIRIES:

Surface Transforms plc Tel: 0151 356 2141
Kevin Johnson Tel: 07802 306956
Kevin D'Silva

John East & Partners Limited (Nomad and Broker) Tel: 020 7628 2200
Simon Clements
David Worlidge

Redmayne Bentley (Private client broker) Tel: 01943 886600
Lucy Clapham
Simon Flather

Another new sports car with the SCE System ST braking system as optional, all good news, the more that use it, the more popular and more well known it becomes.

Report is below from 10th Jan 2008 :

http://www.surface-transforms.com/resource.php?id=92


*****************************************************

With regards to the coming results, everyone knows they will make another loss, the key here will be, hopefully, a much reduced loss. Obviously everyone is going to be looking for increasing sales volume.

I will be looking for any mention of the "MIST" process, which was being implemented, this was due to offer cost reductions, and that at the end of the day is the key to mass volume, bringing the price levels down. So any mention of that will be welcomed. They do have another process "CVIST" or something, but as far as I can remember that one is more expensive to implement.

Mention of progress on the aircraft brake testing programme would be nice, lots of irons in the fire, but these things take many years and the bigger money is in the final periods, so at present most are still early to mid stage, and so not contributing much to revenue.

They were also doing tests on whether the change to carbon ceramic discs would reduce carbon emissions, therefore gaining the "green" badge and also this being another useful "sales point" for the adoption of carbon cermaic systems across a broader range of top end vehicles, so potential for some news on that perhaps.

Personally I think that the results being a month earlier than normal tends to suggest the figures will be good, certainly not near breakeven, but should be a lot closer than they were last time around.

Not too much info in the results.

Rocket propulsion systems will start to have a major effect on the bottom line in 2009, and growing annually then.

It would appear that yes the slow sales to the USA is a drag.

Shame no mention of MIST or anything else, will have to wait for the prelims then.

All in all, all is going well.

As per my postings for some time now, like years, Rocket systems signficant sales should come on line 2009 onwards, with aircraft braking having a considerable influence from 2010 onwards.

Provided they keep growing the car braking systems, I'd expect them to break even 2009, and then onwards and upwards for profits.

There is a Webcast (Webcon) that people can take part in, its on the 6th of March. To register to get the instructions on how to take part, go to the Armshare.com web site.


If you go to http://www.armshare.com/index.php

Then go to "Content Update" you can register there.


Upcoming Webcons

Surface Transforms (SCE) Thursday 6th of March 2008 1:00 PM

Nice to see, and as I said earlier, from 2009 onwards the rocket systems side should be delivering decent revenues. This small contract is all part of the process, and we should see more of these deals as we move onwards.



http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=20080218070000P1123

18 February 2008

Surface Transforms plc

("Surface Transforms" or "the Company")

New Contract

Surface Transforms (AIM:SCE) is pleased to announce the award of a 3 year
contract with a value of 150,000 from MBDA, which is owned jointly by BAE
Systems, EADS and Finmeccanica and is one of the largest missile manufacturers
in Europe.

The contract with MBDA is linked to the development of a novel attitude control
system applicable to a range of future European missiles. The work will
characterise material design properties of carbon-ceramics in missile
components including at very high temperatures and develop alternate low-cost
manufacturing routes culminating in the manufacture of test component
demonstrators.

The work will be supported jointly by the UK and French Ministries of Defence
as part of the Innovation and Technology Partnership ("ITP") on Materials and
Components for Missiles.

Commenting, Kevin Johnson, Chief Executive of Surface Transforms, said:

"Earlier work with MBDA over the past two years has shown that carbon-ceramic
is now a strategic material which gives significant performance advantages over
carbon-carbon and huge weight savings over advanced metal alloys. We can
deliver distinct cost benefits with improved performance using our proprietary
technology."

The Directors believe Surface Transforms is the only UK supplier of this
strategic material. The material is derived from the Company's core business in
automotive ceramic brakes. The desire for lower cost high quality products has
led the Company to invest significant time and money in its technology in order
to improve the manufacturing process while reducing the material production
cost. The IPR for the Company's carbon-ceramic products relates to the
combination of three key process stages: carbon fibre pre-forms, carbon matrix
CVI, and silicon melt infiltration. The Directors believe whilst there are two
European competitors in automotive ceramic brakes neither use this high
mechanical integrity 3-stage route developed by Surface Transforms.

From Armshare Website. A good forum for anyone wishing to ask questions about braking systems, for cars and planes, rocket solutions, nuclear reactor potentials etc.... 6th March 2008.

"Dear ArmShare reader,

I am contacting you in my capacity as editor of ArmShare because you have elected to receive email alerts re Surface Transforms. The latter is hosting a webcon on 6th March at 13.00 to discuss the half year results and provide a trading update - essentially this is the equivalent of an institutional investor presentation delivered via a conference phone call whilst the powerpoint presentation is displayed on your computer screen, with the pages being turned by the presenting company. You can register on http://www.armshare.com to join the webcon by going to the Content Update page - you will see an Upcoming Webcons section near the top of the page, where you click on Register alongside Surface Transforms, and then complete and submit the resulting page - a few days before the webcon, you will be emailed instructions on how to join the webcon.

In my opinion, webcons are the best use of computing and telephony to date to make a major and straightforward contribution to levelling the playing field between private and institutional investors. I am therefore very keen to help private investors use this interactive communication tool - if you have any queries arising from the above or encounter any difficulties with registering, do contact me.

Regards

Charles Breese

Editor of ArmShare

T: 01280 703482"

Post from AFN :

longshanks - 6 Mar'08 - 15:22 - 598 of 608

Must say it was a very good web conference. Quite illuminating. Pity that only 9 people (other than directors) listened in.

Anyone else take part?

Answered quite alot of my questions.

There is a new note due out from their Private Client Stockbroker but salient points for me were:

1. Looking to break-even in 18 months time

2. Cash burn currently 50K/month

3. They have started selling carbon-fibre preforms (December 2007)

4. They expect to announce a new automotive OEM customer imminently for a batch of 400 special edition cars [I think we know which ones]

5. Aircraft brakes still progressing but at pace of system suppliers. ST is currently uniquely qualified to provide Carbon-Ceramic materials due to requirements for physical integrity. First flight using these type of brakes is still a way off though - probably 2011 at earliest.

6. When they do fit brakes to aircraft the income to ST will be 300K per plane per year!!

7. They are very open to anyone interested in making an offer as they see this as a clear exit strategy for the business. However they will only consider offers that reflect their perceived future prospects which - from the presentation - were MASSIVE.