Hong Kong investor Scobie Ward builds 5.6% stake in ikeGPS

Thursday 5th January 2017

Hong Kong investor Scobie Ward, who co-founded hedge fund Ward Ferry Management, has emerged as a substantial shareholder in NZX-listed laser measurement device maker ikeGPS.

Ward bought 3.6 million shares, or 5.6 percent of the Wellington-based company, on market and emerged as a major shareholder on Dec. 22, a notice to the NZX today showed, without disclosing the price paid. The same day, Harbour Asset Management dumped its 7.4 percent stake, or 4.7 million shares, in on market trading at an average price of 31.2 cents per share, a discount to the 39 cents they were trading at and where they've stayed since then.

The shares sold at $1.10 in ikeGPS's 2014 initial public offering when it raised $25 million of new capital and shifted into sales and marketing from production development.

In November, ikeGPS reported a first-half loss of $6.8 million on operating revenue of $2 million, blaming a supply chain problem for delays in the recognition of some sales until the second half. It still expects to break even on a cash basis in the fourth quarter of the 2017 financial year.

Scobie Ward's other New Zealand investments include online translations firm Straker Translations, booking app flossie.com, and point-of-sale software developer Vend. He's also named as a trustee for start-up KiwiSaver provider Simplicity.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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