Top 10: Vancouver Tech Stocks of 2009

Vancouver isn’t exactly known to be a technology hub in the same way that Kitchener-Waterloo is or Ottawa once was, but perhaps this has more to do with a diverse BC economy. The Top 10 (Greater) Vancouver tech stocks of 2009 features some virtual unknowns, but also some of the more established techs in the country, such as aerospace giant MacDonald Dettwiler.

1. ERA Carbon Offsets (TSXV:ESR) +850%
Price as of Dec 31st, 2008: $.08
Price as of Dec 31st, 2009: $.76
Former Capital Pool Company turned fledgling carbon offset upstart began to bank
some sizable cheques from Europe in 2009, moving it out of the red zone. A proposed
$5 million financing from a large German energy company provided investors security
and sent the stock on a sustained run for most of ’09.

2. E-Xact Transactions (TSXV:EXZ)+409%
Price as of Dec 31st, 2008: $.055
Price as of Dec 31st, 2009: $.28
Seemingly dormant provider of payment gateway solutions, E-Xact never seems to put
out news. Despite it’s tiny size, though, the company offers value to investors,
with a cash position that nearly equals its market cap, and an aversion to losing
quarters.

3. Tranzeo Wireless (TSX:TZT) +279%
Price as of Dec 31st, 2008: $.33
Price as of Dec 31st, 2009: $.1.25
In the summer of ’09 you could have had all the shares you wanted of this Pitt Meadows’s based
manufacturer of wireless network equipment at .35-45 cents. Tranzeo spent the most
of the rest of the year recovering to levels it had not seen since 2007.

4. Western Wind Energy (TSX:WND) +215%
Price as of Dec 31st, 2008: $.60
Price as of Dec 31st, 2009: $.1.89
Coquitlam based Western Wind still isn’t generating much revenue yet from its wind
projects in California and Arizona, but investors have gained confidence in The
Company’s big plans. Recently it was revealed that mega utilities company Pacific
Gas and Electric is looking to spend $900 million on a wind project in Tehachapi,
Cali, where Western Wind owns land rights.

5. Bioteq Environmental (TSX:BQE) +210%
Price as of Dec 31st, 2008: $.39
Price as of Dec 31st, 2009: $1.21
Contaminated water treatment company Bioteq Environmental patented process recovers
metals such as zinc from contaminated water that used to end up in landfill. As a
bonus the process leaves clean, drinkable water. Municipalities like Breckenridge,
Colorado signed on in 2009. Bioteq is now aiming for six new projects in 2010.

6. Zongshen PEM Power Systems (TSX:ZPP) +209%
Price as of Dec 31st, 2008: $.44
Price as of Dec 31st, 2009: $1.36
Vancouver based Zongshen PEM Power, which makes electric and small gas bikes, kept a
tight lip on their fiscal 2008 results. Their April 1st release was no fool; the
244% increase in revenues came as a major surprise to investors. By mid month the
stock was over a dollar and never looked back.

7. Quizam Media (TSXV:QQ) +179%
Price as of Dec 31st, 2008: $.14
Price as of Dec 31st, 2009: $.39
Online learning company Quizam Media was another “back from the brink” story as the
stock recovered when an early January private placement provided some security to
investors.

8. Tio Networks (TSXV:TNC) +114%
Price as of Dec 31st, 2008: $.29
Price as of Dec 31st, 2009: $.62
Burnaby’s Tio Networks, which focuses on processing expedited bill payment
transactions has posted impressive year over year growth, and appeared to begin to
stem its losses in 2009.

9. Westport Innovations (TSX:WPT)+95.7%
Price as of Dec 31st, 2008: $6.25
Price as of Dec 31st, 2009: $12.23
Vancouver’s Westport Innovations put the cherry on top of a strong year in November
2009, when it signed supply deal with Volvo AB, the world’s second-biggest truck
maker. The deal made Westpoort a Tier 1 development supplier of heavy-duty
natural-gas engines to the Swedish carmaker’s fleet of large trucks.

10. MacDonald, Dettwiler (TSX:MDA) +95%
Price as of Dec 31st, 2008: $21.80
Price as of Dec 31st, 2009: $42.60
MCD was punished late in 2008 and early 2009, mostly for its UK real estate
exposure, which includes an automated registration system for land transfers in the United
Kingdom. The Company’s tried to sell its space systems division, for 1.3 billion,
but this move was quashed by the Federal government. This turned out to be lucky for
MDA, as this division scored numerous large sales in 2009.