The last boom in the radio section was in 2001 to 2003. Revenue...

The last boom in the radio section was in 2001 to 2003. Revenue per year for this would be in the region on $45-50M. Previous years were higher due to the SatCom sales (that got sold off in FY13) - SatCom sales boomed from 2004-2006 and then steadily declined to a loss making business.

The hope for large lift in sales lies purely in the Minelab business and does not look encouraging. Minelab sales grew from $50M in 2008 to $100M in 2012 and $150M in 2013. This also ties in with the price of gold moving from $800 in 2008 to $1800/1900 in 2012/13 prior to coming back dowm to 1200 to 1300. Excluding the gold boom and Africa upside, it looks to be a $70M pa business. Margins are also significantly lower now once the high end gold detectors have reduced in sales.

With reduced costs and flat sales, say they made about $7M profit for this half year (translating to about 4 cents EPS), this would look like a stock with a PE of about 8 to 10, dividend yield of about 6% (based on 50% payout ratio) with limited growth prospects.

Two good solid businesses with consistent revenue/earnings - the future for this company seems to probably depend on what management does next - the last two acquisitions have been woeful (Minetec and Daniels) and destroyed shareholder value.