Intermap’s CEO Steps Down
Intermap Technologies (TO:IMP), a company engaged in capturing high accuracy digital elevation models (DEM) and imagery will be replacing their CEO, Brian Bullock. And not a moment too soon. Intermap is one of the few publicly traded companies in the geospatial technology section and while it would be hard to call its stock a bellwether indicator of our business it does provide some insight into the what’s happening with data. But the picture would be anything buy rosy. Its stock has cratered from a high of $10.64 on November 7, 2007 to its close of $0.71 (Canadian$) on Friday.
What could have happened? Intermap has invested, some would say gambled, on collecting DEM data for their NEXTMap program that has flown nearly all of Western Europe and has just recently completed the U.S. It is a premier data set ripe for 3D applications. But sales have been sluggish and in case no one has noticed there is a global recession in progress. Therefore "premium" anything, even with stellar marketing, would be a tough sell.
But NEXTMap is now complete. In the company’s recent 10K statement it indicated that headcount was reduced and other expenses were about to come down. Is there room for a turnaround? Well replacing the CEO is a start but they need to get someone out on the stump touting Intermap’s data because you never see them provide a presentation at conferences. I’ve said on these pages before that I thought the company was a takeover target and at $0.71/share, the company looks cheap. And if you look at their client base beyond mapping companies like TomTom and MapQuest and into the automotive and insurance sectors there may be some hidden value. Would another data company like GeoEye (GEOY) or DigitalGlobe (DGI) look at them for a competitive advantage? Hard to say but both have seen their stock prices improve recently although GeoEye was recently downgraded by JP Morgan.
The bottom line is that 3D is hot right now and Intermap seems to be well positioned. Let’s see what the new CEO can do.
[Disclosure: The author is a stockholder of Intermap]
