NextVision execs cash in on soaring stock

NextVision Stabilized Systems  credit: Shlomi Yosef/Tali Bogdanovsky
NextVision Stabilized Systems credit: Shlomi Yosef/Tali Bogdanovsky

NextVision Stabilized Systems' share price has risen by 326% since its flotation in 2021.

NextVison Stabilized Systems (TASE: NXSN) gave one of the highest returns on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in the Jewish year 5783 just ended. While the main indices on the local exchange have been marking time, NextVision’s share price rocketed by 200%.

NextVision is one of the technology companies that went public in the wave of flotations in 2021, but, unlike dozens of immature technology companies that have since lost most of their value and occasioned their investors heavy losses, NextVision has become a success story. Since the company’s flotation in June 2021, its share price has risen by 326%.

NextVision, a developer of stabilized cameras, has a current market cap of NIS 1.8 billion, giving it a trailing p/e ratio of 27. Senior managers of the company realized some of their holdings last year and this year, for an aggregate NIS 180 million.

Last week, it was reported that four of the senior managers - director Ofer Sandler, CTO and co-founder Boris Kipnis, chief business development officer and co-founder Chen Golan, and CEO Michael Grosman - sold shares for an aggregate NIS 77 million. The deals were all at NIS 22.85 per share, close to the market price.

Sandler sold shares for NIS 28.9 million, and remains with a holding of 13.3% in NextVision; Golan sold shares for NIS 32 million, and has a holding of 8.2%; Kipnis sold shares for NIS 6 million and has a holding of 9.7%; and Grosman sold shares for NIS 10 million and has a holding of 1.3%. Golan, Kipnis and Grosman also sold shares earlier this year. In March, the three sold shares for an aggregate amount of NIS 50 million, at a price less than half of the price in last week’s transactions: NIS 10 per share. A year previously, five senior managers of the company sold shares for a similar sum, at a price of NIS 8.9 per share.

NextVision develops and produces lightweight stabilized day and night cameras for vehicles and aircraft. The company, founded by Golan and Kipnis in 2009, sells in both the civilian and military markets. Among other applications, its cameras are installed on drones and UAVs.

In the past year, the company has benefitted from heightened demand because of the war in Ukraine. In recent weeks, the company has reported several orders of between $1 million and $2.5 million each.

In the first half of 2023, NextVision’s revenue grew 80% to $21 million, after 73% growth in sales in 2022 to $26 million for the full year.

Operating profit in the first half of 2023 almost doubled, to $10.7 million, and the company posted a net profit of $10.2 million, which compares with $3.9 million in the first half of 2022 and $11 million for the full year, which was double the net profit in 2021.

Compensation policy in dispute

Meanwhile, the shareholders meeting that was due to take place this week has been cancelled amid continuing negotiations between the company and the financial institutions invested in it. The latter are apparently dissatisfied at the proposed change in the company’s compensation policy. Prominent among the institutional investors are The Phoenix Holdings, Meitav, and More Mutual Funds Management.

The policy proposed was that the ceiling for the variable cash compensation for the CEO should be up to twice the fixed compensation ceiling, that is, up to NIS 6 million; the ceiling for the variable cash compensation for the chairperson and the CTO should be up to NIS 4 million, and that the ceiling for the variable cash compensation for company officers reporting to the CEO should be up to twelve times their monthly salary cost.

It was also proposed that the maximum annual cash bonus for these executives should be 2.5% of the company’s pre-tax profit, subject to the variable cash compensation ceiling. In the event that the company posted an annual loss, that would be deducted from the following year’s profit for the purposes of calculating that years bonuses.

Another change proposed is that liability insurance cover for company officers should be raised from NIS 20 million to NIS 50 million, and that professional liability insurance should be raised by a similar amount.

Approval of the proposed compensation policy requires a majority among the minority shareholders.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 20, 2023.

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2023.

NextVision Stabilized Systems  credit: Shlomi Yosef/Tali Bogdanovsky
NextVision Stabilized Systems credit: Shlomi Yosef/Tali Bogdanovsky
Inflation  credit: Tali Bogdanovsky March CPI higher than expected, housing prices rise

The March reading brings annual inflation in Israel down to 3.3% from 3.4% at the end of February.

Ben Gurion airport credit: Tali Bogdanovsky Abundance of affordable last minute Passover flight deals

The return of foreign airlines to Israel has brought down fares dramatically even for last minute vacations.

Karish rig  credit: Eyal Izhar Kesem Energy signs gas deals worth $2.8b

The power plant, scheduled to begin operating in 2029, will buy gas worth $2 billion from Energean and a further $700-800 million from the Tamar partners.

Kosher for Passover Coca Cola bottles credit: social media Why are yellow cap Coca Cola bottles different from all others?

Nostalgic Coca Cola aficionados claim that the kosher for Passover version, made from sugar cane instead of high fructose corn syrup, is the genuine taste of the soft drink.

Avigdor Willenz credit: Intel Exclusive: Avigdor Willenz's Element Labs raises $50m

The Israeli startup is developing AI processors for inference, the stage in which AI models are activated after they have already been trained.

Ilya Sutskever credit: Cadya Levy SSI hiring dozens in Israel

AI company Safe Superintelligence is hiring many dozens of people in Tel Aviv, "Globes" has learned.

Johny Srouji credit: Amos Ben Gershom GPO Apple SVP leads senior delegation of execs to Israel

Jony Srouji: I am always filled with renewed energy and optimism about our shared achievements when I visit our R&D centers here.

Israeli apartments Credit: Shutterstock Apartments sold and rented

A selection of recent real estate deals in Israel in Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Petah Tikva, Givat Shmuel, Tiberias and Dimona.

Infinity Tower Tel Aviv credit: Courtesy Hagag Group French investors buy 2 Tel Aviv apartments for NIS 27.5m

The two apartments are in Hagag Group's Infinity Tower in the Summeil district.

El Al plane credit: Shutterstock El Al receives state approval to distribute dividend

The Israeli airline has now announced that it will be able to distribute up to 30% of net profit in 2025 and up to 40% in 2026-2028.

groundcover founders credit: Yossi Yarom Israeli observability co groundcover raises $35m

groundcover has developed a “Bring Your Own Cloud” (BYOC) observability solution, redefining the architecture of a modern observability platform.

Tel Aviv Stock Exchange credit: Shutterstock MagioreStock Foreign investment in TASE hits five-year high

Foreign investors have been flocking to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in recent weeks, the TASE research department tells "Globes."

Elbit Systems tank turret systems credit: Elbit Systems Elbit Systems wins $100m tank turret systems deal

The Israel defense electronics company will supply its advanced UT30 MK2 unmanned turret systems to General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) to be supplied to a NATO European country.

Tomer Weingarten Photo: PR Trump targets SentinelOne exec in act of revenge

The US administration has suspended the security clearance of the company's chef intelligence and public policy officer Chris Krebs and everyone associated with him.

Tel Aviv Stock Exchange share prices rising credit: Tali Bogdanovsky TASE opens sharply higher after Trump U-turn on tariffs

The pause is being interpreted as a climb down after US President Donald Trump admitted he had made the move to calm the markets.

Ashot Ashkelon credit: Ministry of Defense Up 250%, Ashot Ashkelon wins another Defense Ministry order

The Israeli defense company's share price has risen 250% in the past three years since FIMI Opportunity Funds acquired control.

Twitter Facebook Linkedin RSS Newsletters גלובס Israel Business Conference 2018