A number of investors have contacted me over the past few quarters to find out the status on Gateway International Holdings (“Gateway”). Well, I wish I had some more “concrete” news to pass along, but I will pass along what I do know.
I had dinner with Tim Consalvi, Gateway’s CEO on January 3rd. He said that the Company is working towards getting to a point where they can get their stock trading again. I believe Tim when he says that he “wants to do what is right by the shareholders, but they don’t want to find themselves in a situation with the SEC where they miss another filing date.” I tend to agree with this assessment, I just wish they would do what is necessary to both file and not miss a date. If they were to miss a filing after moving back to a reporting company, I think Tim is concerned as to what action the SEC might take towards the Company, or potentially towards him personally.
So where does that leave investors. Well, the SAP system is "supposed" to be up and running by the end of this month. (I'll believe it when I see it.) Steve Kasprisin, Gateway’s CFO, left the Company in the fall and left Gateway in a precarious position of not having the right personnel in place. Steve was brought on as CFO in November 2006 to get all of the reporting issues squared away, get the financials to where everything could get closed out on time and prepare the Company to re-file its Form 10SB with the SEC. Steve convinced the Company to spend a lot of money on a new SAP ERP Business Suite and supporting staff, which would have been a little more acceptable had he completed his task. Instead, he bolted for another job and the Company is still trying to finish out what Steve started.
I have been told that they are going to have SAP up and running by the end of January and then for the month of February Tim wants to run dual accounting programs to make sure that everything is balancing to the penny. Once they feel comfortable with the SAP system, they will drop their old system and be able to close out their books in a timely fashion and they will feel better about filing with the SEC.
Just using history as my guide, I'll hope for February with the SAP, two months of concurrent accounting instead of one, leaving the Company fully on SAP by itself for May and June and then the audit.
I have suggested to them that they consider a reverse merger into a Pink Sheet shell. This method would prevent them from having to file a Form 10SB at all (unless they decide later that they want to move to the OTCBB) and they could return to trading very quickly and for less cost. To date, my desire has apparently fallen on deaf ears. If the Company is not trading within the next 6 months, we may have to consider other alternatives. There are a number of shareholders that are considering taking legal action if the shares are not trading in the near future, however, to date I have asked them to remain patient. In about 6-9 months, I have a feeling all gloves will come off.
For what it is worth, the Company is apparently doing very well from an operational standpoint. They have recently achieved certain industry certifications that will allow for the Eran Engineering subsidiary to move from a sub-tier contractor to a Tier 1 contractor. This is a very big development for Eran as this will allow them to bid directly for larger projects with companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman. This will also allow for production at better margins … although the margins at Eran Engineering are already quite good.
Sales have continued to grow on the new and refurbished CNC equipment sales side and Tim Consalvi has been spending a fair amount of his time servicing the new equipment sales business. While I understand that it is important to make sure that All-American CNC Sales continues to grow, I wish he would focus more on getting Gateway back to a tradable status.
As it stands right now, for the year I think the Company could make in the 6 to 8 cents per share range for a pre-tax profit number (their year ends June 30). While it might not show up on EPS for another year due to carry forward write downs that they can use for tax purposes, the Company is generating pretty good cash flow. On a continuing operations basis, the Company has grown internally at roughly 50% on a year over year basis for several years now and with the 400% expansion of their new manufacturing facilities, I don’t see any reason for that to slow down. If one were to apply the equivalent of a 1.0 PEG ratio to the forecasted EBITDA, I can see a realistic valuation in the $3 - $4 range after the stock starts trading again. It was well on its way at around $2.35 per share when the SEC order was issued back in 2005.
The audit for last year is ready to be submitted to the SEC. The Company’s yearend is now 5 months away. Although I don’t like it, I have a feeling that Gateway is going to wait until late this summer to file their Form 10SB, after they have closed a couple of quarters under the new accounting system and they get their second complete audit under their belts. While this is certainly the cleanest way to get back to trading, it just takes a while, which is requiring more patience … and mine is running thin.
I’ll keep you posted if I hear anything new.
If you have questions, call Tim Consalvi directly at 714-630-6253.
DISCLOSURE: I worked with Gateway as a Capital Markets Advisor and Investor Relations Consultant from 2003 thru 2007. However, at present, while they remain non-trading, I am not under any type of contract as they have indicated that their desire is to reduce expenses. Also for the record, as part of my private equity holdings, I own stock in Gateway International Holdings and have clients that own stock in the Company as well.
