Topic: How To Invest

Q: Pat: I would appreciate your evaluation of Velan Inc. Thanks.

Article Excerpt

A: Velan Inc., $17.75, symbol VLN on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 21.6 million; Market cap: 385.5 million; www.velan.com), designs, manufactures and markets a broad range of steel industrial valves that are used across the globe for several industry applications. They include fossil-fuel, nuclear and cogeneration power; oil and gas; refining and petrochemicals; pulp & paper; liquefied natural gas and cryogenics; marine; mining; heating; ventilation and air conditioning; and water and wastewater. The company operates 14 manufacturing plants worldwide with 1,823 employees. Its head office is located in Montreal, Canada. In the three months ended August 31, 2017, Velan’s revenue rose 7.6%, to $76.5 million from $71.1 million a year earlier. However, the company lost $5.6 million, or $0.26 a share, compared to a profit of $2.0 million, or $0.10 a share. Fierce competition and continued market weakness have hurt profit margins and earnings for the company’s North American operations; that’s for both Velan’s commodity valve business and its highly-competitive project valve business. The company saw…