Proposed £1.3 million UAV Contract

RNS Number : 4873D

Strat Aero PLC

27 October 2015

 



Strat Aero plc / Index: AIM / TIDM: AERO / Sector: Support Services

27 October 2015

Strat Aero plc ("Strat Aero", the "Company" or the "Group")

Proposed £1.3 million UAV Contract with Leading Civil Engineer

Strat Aero plc, the AIM listed international aerospace company focused on the rapidly emerging Unmanned Aerial Vehicle ("UAV") sector, is pleased to announce that Geocurve Holdings Limited ('Geocurve'), its UAV inspection and surveying division, has been notified of the intention of Barhale PLC, a leading UK infrastructure focused civil engineer, to enter into a £1.3 million contract to provide Geocurve's UAV based engineering, inspection and surveying services over a five year period, as part of a wider £1.25 billion framework agreement between Barhale and Anglian Water.  This positive development follows the adoption of a more expansive strategy by Strat Aero's new management team to provide a vertically integrated UAV offering, covering all aspects of the value chain including software, hardware and services.  The project is subject to entering into a final contract and the Company will make a further announcement once this has been executed.

Barhale is one of the largest privately owned infrastructure specialists working UK-wide across the water, transport and energy waste sectors, and is a leading provider of civil engineering contracting and infrastructure services to a blue chip customer base.  Barhale has recently been appointed as a Framework partner with Anglian Water for the next 15 years with an anticipated value of £1.25 billion.  The £1.3m of work set out by Barhale establishes the minimum level of engineering and UAV survey work anticipated for Geocurve over the initial five years of the framework period, and does not include additional revenues expected to be due to Strat Aero through the provision of UAV and other related services required to deliver the contract, such as operating UAVs. 

The proposed contract highlights the opportunities available to combine multiple UAV services into one solution for the end customer, and the added value and efficiencies that using UAV technology can bring to many traditional industries.

Tony Dunleavy, CEO of Strat Aero, said: "Upon finalisation, the £1.3 million Barhale contract will be the first the Group has secured since we launched our broader strategy to become a full global solutions provider in the rapidly emerging high growth UAV sector.  With a long pipeline of potential contracts in place, both domestically in the UK and overseas, we are highly confident this represents only the first of many new potential contracts for Geocurve and the wider Group.  I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Geocurve team.    

"As today's update and Geocurve's existing annual revenue base of over £1million demonstrate, there is already a clear market for UAV based solutions.   We firmly believe this market is set to grow exponentially in the years ahead as UAVs transform business practices and provide considerable cost savings to customers across a diverse range of sectors.  Thanks to our new strategy, which has seen us complete two key transactions, the acquisition of Geocurve and the signing of a joint venture agreement with UAV training specialist, UAV Airways Limited, Strat Aero is well placed to become the go to provider of a one stop UAV technology offering, one which covers all of a client's needs including hardware, software, and services.  I look forward to providing further updates on our progress."

- ENDS -

For further information please visit www.strat-aero.com or contact:

Strat Aero plc	Tel: [phone]
Tony Dunleavy (Chief Executive)
Graham Peck (Chairman)
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP	Tel: [phone]
Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker
Stuart Gledhill Jeff Keating
Beaufort Securities Limited	Tel: [phone]
Joint Broker Jon Levinson
Elliot Hance
Cornhill Capital Ltd
Colin Rowbury	[phone]
St Brides Partners Ltd	Tel: [phone]
Frank Buhagiar Charlotte Heap

Notes:

Strat Aero plc is a multi-divisional international aerospace services company, focussed primarily on the provision of complete client solutions in the Unmanned Aerial System ('UAS' market), which is predicted to show exponential growth over the coming decade.  Civilian, law enforcement and military applications in UASs are expected to be a dynamic growth sector in the aerospace industry over the next 10 years with the UAS market forecast to grow to more than US$82.1 billion between 2015 and 2025 (AUVSI Economic Report 2013) and the global airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance ('ISR') market estimated to grow to US$19.23 billion by 2023. 

 

END

 

 

MSCPGGBUUUPAGRQ