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Offshore Systems International Ltd. Update on Strategy
North Vancouver, British Columbia (September 20, 2001): John Jacobson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Offshore Systems International Ltd. (TSE: OSI) ("Offshore"), today confirmed the company's business strategy of focusing on key niches in military electronic chart markets for future growth.
"We are, as everyone else is, shocked, saddened and horrified by the events in New York and Washington last week, and everyone at Offshore extends their condolences to the families and loved ones of those affected." said Jacobson "We live in a changed world, and we have to challenge the changes, and to deprive the perpetrators of the satisfaction of knowing that they won something, even in a small way. In response to questions from investors I'm taking this opportunity to share Offshore's views on how these events affect our strategy, and how they might affect our business.
"Offshore's strategy is based upon pursuing business opportunities in carefully selected niches in the military electronic chart market. This is a new market which has only just begun to grow, and Offshore has already reported seeing a growing number of new opportunities coming for the future. With its recent success with the Royal Danish Navy, Offshore has established itself as a leader, achieving fleet deployments in two NATO navies.
The key elements of Offshore's strategy are
- A tight focus on specific market opportunities where the company has competitive advantage
- Forming pursuit teams with well-known national players to pursue business in foreign markets
- A highly capable modular product line that meets or surpasses published standards and requirements
- A scalable corporate business model built on the sale of software licenses to fund internal R&D and product development
This strategy is working, and events of September 11, 2001 will not affect its design or execution. Offshore does expect some long-term effects in its NATO and US military markets. In the long term, the company expects that increases in readiness and an increased focus on securing North America's borders will lead to increased expenditures on naval technology in general, including electronic chart systems. Offshore, through its work with the US Coast Guard, owns an extensive portfolio of electronic charts of US Territorial waters, with excellent coverage of remote areas and secondary ports. An increase in operational tempo in these regions may create new demand for the Company's electronic charts and electronic chart systems. And, while this attack was in the US, all NATO countries have joined together in a long-term alliance to pursue and engage the perpetrators, so we expect to see product and data demand increase across the broader market.
In the near term, Offshore is not expecting any specific positive or negative effects on its business from last week's events. The company continues to pursue the opportunities before it, and will announce successes as they are achieved.
Offshore Systems International Ltd.
Founded in 1977, Offshore designs, develops and markets the ECPINS (Electronic Chart Precise Integrated Navigation System) line of electronic chart navigation systems for ships. ECPINS helps to reduce the risk of navigation related incidents by giving bridge crews a precise, real-time display of their position, course and speed, against a background of fixed obstacles and other navigational hazards. The marine industry puts the highest priority on safety of operation and independent studies have shown that ECPINS can contribute significantly to reducing the risk of navigation related shipping incidents.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains discussion of items that may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of securities laws including Section 27a of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21e of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, with respect to achieving corporate objectives, developing additional project interests, OSI's analysis of opportunities in the acquisition and development of various project interests and other matters. These statements are made under the 'safe harbour' provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and, as such, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from the results implied herein. Although Offshore Systems International believes the expectations reflected in such forward-look statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurances that its expectations will be achieved. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from expectations include the effects of general economic conditions, changing foreign exchange rates, actions by government authorities, uncertainties associated with contract negotiations, industry supply.
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Jane Hayward
Investor Relations |
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