Making facilities environmentally friendly, or “green” as it’s often called, is a growing trend. It’s good for Mother Earth and can certainly help save on expenses in the long haul through efficient use of energy and products. Green practices can be employed virtually anywhere with the right mindset and Parkit Enterprise Inc. (TSX-Venture:PKT) (OTCQX:PKTEF) has taken parking to the next level with its business model of a virtually net zero carbon footprint with its facilities.
Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Parkit is an alternative real estate investment firm focused on parking facilities in the United States that was named to the TSX Venture 50® for 2015, placing third in the Diversified Industries category. The company has joined with executives at industry leading Companies, including Propark America, the operator of airport parking facilities across the country, to grow its business through joint ventures and acquisitions.
In 2013, the company was featured on "Extreme Parking" on the Travel Channel showcasing its 4,200-space, $18.6-million Canopy Park facility at Denver International Airport. Canopy Park exemplifies Parkit’s goal of building the greenest parking facilities in the world. Featuring asphalt made from recycled tires, steel made from recycled cars, LED lighting and solar panels and windmills for power generation, the company is hitting the mark. For electric car drivers, Parkit facilities provide a “Juice Bar” where EVs are recharged for free while the customer travels.
Keeping the green parking theme, Parkit recently closed the $18.6-million acquisition of Expresso Airport Parking, a 14-acre off-airport parking facility servicing the Oakland International Airport. Customers can take the eight-minute trip to the airport via Expresso’s green natural gas shuttles, check flight statuses on real-time screens and pay by swiping a card from their car as they leave…all for the same
price of nearby parking structures.
Features aside, investors care about profitability and Parkit made the grade in the fiscal year ended October 31, 2014. Compared to the year prior, revenue increased 28% to $9.8 million. Parkit swung to a profit of $1.2 million, versus a net loss of $300,000 a year earlier, as it repaid debt and refinanced Canopy Park to de-leverage its balance sheet.
Parkit chief executive Rick Baxter says 2014 was a "dynamic year" in an aggressive plan to work alongside institutional capital in a joint venture targeting $500 million in asset value.
On Tuesday, Parkit announced the results of the quarter ended January 31, 2015.
The company achieved record Q1 revenue of $2.8 million, a hike of 38 percent over the year prior quarter. Profit for the quarter was also a record at $272,000, or one cent per share, reversing course from a loss of $753,000, or five cents per share, the year before. Net assets increased to $1.7 million from $800,000 at the end of October.
Investors are not reacting to the improving top and bottom lines with shares edging down by a penny to 51 cents on 102,000 in volume in Tuesday trading, equating to a $15.82-million market capitalization, according to data from QuoteMedia. The stock price has been chumming in a range essentially stuck between 55 cents and 48 cents since hitting a high of 60 cents in the second trading day of January.
