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20-07-10, 02:37 PM
Preparing for Disaster
By BARBARA OPALL-ROME
Published: 19 July 2010
TEL AVIV - Having repositioned itself as a player in the international armor market, Israel's Hatehof is taking on a new market niche, this time as a provider of vehicles for nuclear, biological or chemical (NBC) events.
The 64-year-old, formerly family-owned specialty company transformed itself nearly a decade ago from a supplier of ground-based equipment for refueling military aircraft to a design and production house for armored and protected vehicles.
The 2004 acquisition of a controlling interest by Israeli businessman David Oron brought the company under new management, which expanded its portfolio of armored and protected vehicles and strengthened its presence in the domestic and international market.
In June, the Nazareth-based company announced its launch of an NBC division following several years of internal research and development. Hatehof's portfolio now has three fully encased vehicles for command and control, chemical reconnaissance and decontamination, said Shlomi Shraga, Hatehof's director of research, development and engineering.
"Hatehof can now provide an effective response to new and emerging threats from weapons of mass destruction," said Shimon Shacham, Hatehof's CEO.
Traded since 1981 on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, the company's fully transparent and audited financial results reveal fluctuations between minimal net income and operating losses over the past three years. First-quarter reports from this year show negative net income of 459,000 new Israeli shekels ($118,841) on revenues of 57 million new Israeli shekels, up from first-quarter 2009's minus 3.67 million NIS on revenues of 39.7 million NIS.
Nevertheless, Hatehof expects to end 2010 with a balanced profit-to-loss posting, and executives here say several new opportunities and another repositioning should stabilize and fortify the company in the years ahead.
A Strategic Decision
Through its latest foray into the niche field of nuclear, biological and chemical protection - coupled with the strengthening of its armored vehicle sector - the company aims to more than double sales within four years, Shraga said.
"We've taken the strategic decision to vector our experience in vehicle design and ballistic and mine protection into new means for detecting, identifying and decontaminating in the face of nonconventional events," he said.
According to Hatehof data, 70 percent of its current business base is devoted to armored vehicles, featuring five different levels of protection at weights ranging from eight to 17 tons. Similarly, 70 percent of Hatehof's sales are for export; the remainder goes to the domestic market.
Shacham said Hatehof has a backlog of more than 250 million NIS, with sales growing modestly from 152 million NIS in 2008 to 175 million NIS in 2009. He also said the company expects to conclude 2010 with nearly 300 million NIS in sales, and to progressively expand on that figure through 2014.
"Significant sales growth is doable, and that's what we're all working toward," Shraga said.
He noted that by the end of the year, Hatehof will come out with its new Xtream, a high-level protection all-terrain vehicle accommodating a crew of seven for tactical patrol, anti-tank missile launching, general utility and reconnaissance missions. And by the end of 2011, Shraga said, the company will be ready with its Hurricane vehicle, designed to house a crew of seven in midlevel protection for tactical command and recon missions.
As for its NBC portfolio, Hatehof is currently offering command-and-control and chemical reconnaissance vehicles based on the four-wheel-drive Wolf, an armored off-road vehicle built to accommodate a nine-person crew and a 1.3-ton payload. Hatehof has supplied hundreds of such vehicles, initially through strategic partner Rafael, the Haifa-based defense firm. Today, the company builds the Wolf independently for the Israeli military and international customers at its plant near its Galilean headquarters.
NBC versions of the Wolf feature a cased and sealed hyperbaric chamber container for air and ground sampling; sterile container cells for samples; and advanced communications gear and subsystems for transmitting images and data to ground commanders.
The company's decontamination version is based on its Girit unit built for the Israeli military, which functions as a separate container installed on flatbed trucks in times of emergency, Shraga said.
"The container configuration offers the added advantage of operating as a stand-alone unit, independent of the vehicle, when decontaminating a stationary source," he said.
The decontamination unit includes a water tank, a specialized elevator for loading decontamination materials, a system for mixing water and chemicals, and decontamination hoses reaching heights of 50 meters.
An official at Israel's Ministry of Commerce and Industry said Hatehof's high potential has earned it research and development funding through the ministry's chief scientists.
"We're very particular about our research and development support," the government source said. "Only companies that demonstrate a clear, near-term ability to perform in the market are eligible for our support."
By BARBARA OPALL-ROME
Published: 19 July 2010
TEL AVIV - Having repositioned itself as a player in the international armor market, Israel's Hatehof is taking on a new market niche, this time as a provider of vehicles for nuclear, biological or chemical (NBC) events.
The 64-year-old, formerly family-owned specialty company transformed itself nearly a decade ago from a supplier of ground-based equipment for refueling military aircraft to a design and production house for armored and protected vehicles.
The 2004 acquisition of a controlling interest by Israeli businessman David Oron brought the company under new management, which expanded its portfolio of armored and protected vehicles and strengthened its presence in the domestic and international market.
In June, the Nazareth-based company announced its launch of an NBC division following several years of internal research and development. Hatehof's portfolio now has three fully encased vehicles for command and control, chemical reconnaissance and decontamination, said Shlomi Shraga, Hatehof's director of research, development and engineering.
"Hatehof can now provide an effective response to new and emerging threats from weapons of mass destruction," said Shimon Shacham, Hatehof's CEO.
Traded since 1981 on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, the company's fully transparent and audited financial results reveal fluctuations between minimal net income and operating losses over the past three years. First-quarter reports from this year show negative net income of 459,000 new Israeli shekels ($118,841) on revenues of 57 million new Israeli shekels, up from first-quarter 2009's minus 3.67 million NIS on revenues of 39.7 million NIS.
Nevertheless, Hatehof expects to end 2010 with a balanced profit-to-loss posting, and executives here say several new opportunities and another repositioning should stabilize and fortify the company in the years ahead.
A Strategic Decision
Through its latest foray into the niche field of nuclear, biological and chemical protection - coupled with the strengthening of its armored vehicle sector - the company aims to more than double sales within four years, Shraga said.
"We've taken the strategic decision to vector our experience in vehicle design and ballistic and mine protection into new means for detecting, identifying and decontaminating in the face of nonconventional events," he said.
According to Hatehof data, 70 percent of its current business base is devoted to armored vehicles, featuring five different levels of protection at weights ranging from eight to 17 tons. Similarly, 70 percent of Hatehof's sales are for export; the remainder goes to the domestic market.
Shacham said Hatehof has a backlog of more than 250 million NIS, with sales growing modestly from 152 million NIS in 2008 to 175 million NIS in 2009. He also said the company expects to conclude 2010 with nearly 300 million NIS in sales, and to progressively expand on that figure through 2014.
"Significant sales growth is doable, and that's what we're all working toward," Shraga said.
He noted that by the end of the year, Hatehof will come out with its new Xtream, a high-level protection all-terrain vehicle accommodating a crew of seven for tactical patrol, anti-tank missile launching, general utility and reconnaissance missions. And by the end of 2011, Shraga said, the company will be ready with its Hurricane vehicle, designed to house a crew of seven in midlevel protection for tactical command and recon missions.
As for its NBC portfolio, Hatehof is currently offering command-and-control and chemical reconnaissance vehicles based on the four-wheel-drive Wolf, an armored off-road vehicle built to accommodate a nine-person crew and a 1.3-ton payload. Hatehof has supplied hundreds of such vehicles, initially through strategic partner Rafael, the Haifa-based defense firm. Today, the company builds the Wolf independently for the Israeli military and international customers at its plant near its Galilean headquarters.
NBC versions of the Wolf feature a cased and sealed hyperbaric chamber container for air and ground sampling; sterile container cells for samples; and advanced communications gear and subsystems for transmitting images and data to ground commanders.
The company's decontamination version is based on its Girit unit built for the Israeli military, which functions as a separate container installed on flatbed trucks in times of emergency, Shraga said.
"The container configuration offers the added advantage of operating as a stand-alone unit, independent of the vehicle, when decontaminating a stationary source," he said.
The decontamination unit includes a water tank, a specialized elevator for loading decontamination materials, a system for mixing water and chemicals, and decontamination hoses reaching heights of 50 meters.
An official at Israel's Ministry of Commerce and Industry said Hatehof's high potential has earned it research and development funding through the ministry's chief scientists.
"We're very particular about our research and development support," the government source said. "Only companies that demonstrate a clear, near-term ability to perform in the market are eligible for our support."