Spectur targets WA market dominance in security technology

Tech provider Spectur (ASX: SP3) has set out a plan to expand the sales footprint of its intelligent security and surveillance technology with one eye still firmly fixed on its home base of Western Australia.

Spectur is a Perth-based developer of security surveillance and warning solutions powered by solar, the Internet of Things (IoT), camera and cloud-based technology. It currently serves customers in WA, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and New Zealand.

Speaking with Small Caps, managing director Gerard Dyson said WA clients make up about half of Spectur’s business but the state still offers a lot of potential growth.

“We were established in WA, and we’ve had more time to build our brand and reputation, which will extend by continuing the process we are in now,” he said.

“We’ve been narrow in what we’re offering at the moment; there’s a lot more artificial intelligence or sensing that we haven’t introduced yet.”

Platform that senses, thinks and acts autonomously

Spectur owns the rights to its innovative hardware and disruptive cloud-based systems which are deployed in the government, utilities, building construction and civil sectors.

Mr Dyson said the technology is like “having a site manager on a construction site that could be in five different places at the same time”.

Other examples are surveillance at the beach that can detect sharks in the area, bad weather conditions, or security systems that can alert the system user of trespassers, graffiti, or illegal dumping.

“It’s an autonomous sensing, thinking and acting platform that solves problems.”

“You can’t be on five different sites at the same time – you can’t even be on one site if you’re in lockdown. So, the ability to see what is happening remotely, either in a live view session or through lapsed footage, is enormously valuable,” Mr Dyson said.

Moving to market dominance

WA clients make up about 50% of the business although Mr Dyson said this only accounts for about 25% of the total WA market.

“WA continues to be our largest location – no matter how much we grow the east coast, we keep growing WA as well.”

He said the company’s pathway to market dominance in the state involves expanding into other sectors such as mining, oil and gas, farming and other high-risk remote facilities.

Mr Dyson added the company is also looking past Australia and New Zealand to potentially expand into the United States, which is regarded as a “very large addressable market”.

He noted Spectur was wary of being the “fox that chases everything and catches nothing”, but plans to focus on sales in its established markets while also pursuing these opportunities.

Recent financial highlights

Spectur showed strong growth in the second half of the 2021 financial year (ended 30 June) despite the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on some customers.

“As we’ve been moving to more institutional, government or large construction customers, we’re becoming less affected by lockdowns and are getting really good growth in equipment sales, which brings a recurring revenue stream,” Mr Dyson said.

Spectur has been run rating at more than $3 million per year in recurring revenue (made up of a subscription revenue and rental business sales) and finished the 2021 financial year with $1.6 million in the bank.

The company has achieved growth in multiple sectors, with telecommunications and government now complementing water and power utility customers, and larger businesses and alliances onboarded from the building and construction industry.