Sign Up NowThis Month's Tiny Gems - February 2011

Birks & Mayors Inc. (BMJ)
Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc. (UEPS)
Subaye, Inc. (SBAY)

 

 

 

Birks & Mayors Inc. (BMJ)

 

Birks & Mayors (BMJ), a leading operator of luxury jewelry stores in the United States and Canada, operates 33 stores under the Birks brand in most major metropolitan markets of Canada, 29 stores under the Mayors brand in Florida and Georgia, two retail locations in Calgary and Vancouver under the Brinkhaus brand, as well as three temporary retail locations in Florida and Tennessee under the Jan Bell brand.

 

Founded over a century ago, Birks is recognized as Canada's premier retailer, designer and manufacturer of fine jewelry, timepieces, sterling and plated silverware and gifts. The company's Mayors brand was founded in 1910 and has maintained the intimacy of a family-owned boutique while becoming notorious for its fine jewelry, timepieces, giftware and service.

 

Birks has collected the highest total of awards than any other Canadian jeweler over the last fifty years. Among them, Birks has earned 12 Diamonds Today Awards, the most prestigious jewelry-design award in Canada. Birks designers have also received 6 Diamonds-International awards, sponsored by De Beers, and the Academy award of jewelry design. Mayors designers have also received merited praise and recognition for exceptional creative designs.

 

Birks & Mayors recently reported its net sales for the fiscal 2011 holiday season. Net sales increased 8% $75.5 million compared to net sales of $69.7 million during the previous year's holiday season. President and CEO Thomas A. Andruskevich said the company is pleased with the increase in sales in its Canadian market and is encouraged by the sales growth in the U.S. Over the next quarter, Birks & Mayors will continue to focus on increasing sales and gross profit while diligently controlling expenses and managing the level and productivity of its inventory and limit capital expenditures.

 

 

 

Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc. (UEPS)

 

Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc. (UEPS) is focused on providing its Universal Electronic Payment System ("UEPS") as an alternative payment system for the unbanked and under-banked populations of developing economies. The company's system enables the estimated four billion people who generally have limited or no access to a bank account, to enter into electronic transactions with each other, government agencies, employers, merchants and other financial service providers.

 

UEPS works by using real-time smart cards that have offline functionality, unlike traditional payment systems offered by major banking institutions that require immediate connectivity to a network. This offline capability allows users of the Net 1 system to enter into transactions at any time with other card holders, even in the most remote areas, as long as a portable offline smart card reader is available. In addition to payments and purchases, UEPS can be used for banking, healthcare management, international money transfers, voting and identification.

 

Net 1 also focuses on the development and provision of secure transaction technology, solutions and services and offers transaction processing, financial and clinical risk management solutions to both funders and providers of healthcare. The company's core competencies around secure online transaction processing, cryptography and integrated circuit card technologies are mainly applied to electronic commerce transactions in the telecommunications, banking, retail, petroleum and utilities market sectors.

 

Currently two analysts offer coverage of the stock with "Strong Buy" ratings with price targets ranging from $16.00 – $22.00. As of last report, the company had total assets of $552.6 million, with $200.2 million in cash and equivalents, and $228.9 million in liabilities. Investor sentiment is almost entirely bullish with less than 1% of the float sold short.

 

 

 

Subaye, Inc. (SBAY)

 

Subaye, Inc. (SBAY), a leading online business services provider in China, is primarily focused on enterprise cloud computing and video marketing business solutions. The company's online business services include business to consumer (B2C) ecommerce, e-managment solutions, e-marketing solutions, e-service solutions and video search engine optimization.

 

Cloud computing is poised to change the way enterprise computing is conducted in China. CCW Research anticipates the Chinese cloud computing market will reach approximately $9 billion (61.3 billion RMB) by 2013. Because few domestic firms have ventured into cloud computing and global firms are less visible in the Chinese market, Subaye has a unique advantage on which to capitalize.

 

The company began its expansion initiative outside of Guangdong Province in 2010 and will continue to seek out customers of all sizes, primarily through its direct sales force. Subaye recently completed an aggressive expansion of its internal sales force and plans to further increase its sales department to meet the demands of the various markets in China that it now operates in.

 

The company currently serves its customers from data center hosting facilities located in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, China. Subaye plans to add additional data centers in other primary market locations this year while reaching out to potential new customers in new markets, developing and strengthening its local contacts within each market and increasing brand awareness throughout China.