New CEO at BSM Technologies gets thumbs up at Laurentian Bank Securities

A change at the top for BSM Technologies (TSX:GPS) is being greeted positively by Laurentian Bank Securities analyst Nick Agostino.

This morning, BSM Technologies announced that former CFO Louis De Jong had been appointed CEO and that Aly Rahemtulla had resigned, effective immediately.

“I am honoured by the board’s confidence in me and our leadership team,” De Jong said. “BSM has an incredible opportunity in a growing but rapidly changing industry. To realize our considerable potential, we must focus clearly, move faster and continue to transform. A big part of my mandate is to accelerate our ability to bring innovative products to our customers. I have the utmost confidence in the capabilities of our team and look forward to working closely with them to drive our success.”

Agostino today gave the development a thumbs-up.

“Mr. De Jong is a natural successor to Mr. Rahemtulla as he brings an existing strong operational understanding of the business (CFO since 2014), a deep finance background and capital markets experience (with senior roles at Jemekk Capital, Credit Suisse and Sprott Securities), and has a solid standing with investors given our extensive observations during past company marketing meetings,” the analyst said. “We do not believe Mr. De Jong’s appointment is intended to alter the strategic direction of the company.”

In a reserch update to clients today, Agostino maintained his “Buy” rating and one-year price target of $1.75 on BSM Technologies, implying a return of 37 per cent at the time of publication.