Quick shot of the still waters of Auckland Viaduct Harbour

Personal opinion only as a retail investor and an ordinary member of the public.

First learned of this company, Smart Parking Ltd while trawling through the ASX company listings.

This is a company that appears to predominantly generates revenue off of identifying contractual breaches of parking conditions at various business’ private car parking (retailers, shopping centres, etc) remotely via video / CCTV and then issuing the registered owner or keeper of the infringing vehicle a “Parking Breach Notice” (PBNs) with the view of hoping the recipient will pay up without challenging it.

Disclosure / Personal analysis:

Have “pilot bought” stock (Buying an initial parcel of shares with the view of adding to the Long position) into this company to help take the edge off of my personal moral indignation towards this company (similar to what I did with Facebook, now Meta Inc. a few years ago admittedly – as a counteracting mental analgesic).

This action is based off knowing how toothless the Consumer Watchdog Agencies can be on both sides of the Tasman and globally along with the public never seemingly bothering to kick up enough fuss (nor bothering to understand the rights available to them under relevant consumer / trading laws), as such, I don’t hold much hope of meaningful action being taken to curtail this company’s activities.

While I’ve never received a PBN from this company or others like them, I have gone and reported this company (in vain admittedly) to the Commerce Commission with a screenshot of the investor presentation where they seem to promote how many PBN’s they are able to issue as their key revenue strategy, but I only expect to hear crickets frankly (I reported this company prior to buying shares).

Known trading names:
Smart Parking Ltd., Smart Parking Technology, Smart Compliance Management, Smart Comply.

Stream of consciousness and other personal thoughts garnered throughout the week and which will be added to as the week rolls on. These thoughts are unrefined, unquantified, unverified, and raw. Any of these may be either be edited, deleted or otherwise spawn out into its own separate post particularly if new information comes to light…

• Upward pressure on House prices in Hamilton. Thought seriously about buying in Hamilton and have been looking around with the serious intention to buy, but can’t make the cash flow work in a way that is acceptable me. It needs to be at least cash flow neutral with a 50% deposit and with all ongoing costs factored in (council rates, insurance, maintenance), many just aren’t except old houses which frankly the majority I’ve seen need a lot of work to meet Healthy Home compliance along with preventative maintenance.

• From a personal conscience perspective, I still believe houses should be regarded as a place to live in, not as financial instruments of speculation. Talked to politicians in the lead up to the last election to express my concerns and the obvious damage it was inflicting on Society, but frankly was met with apathy, especially from the National Party candidates. Came away with the vibe that investing in houses is to be rewarded and encouraged (hence what I’m doing, although have concerns about it morally)

• If you’re intending to profit primary from capital gain (as oppose to eventually deriving an income from rent), isn’t it technically a taxable activity, regardless of how long you’ve held on to it?.

• A lick of paint and new cabinetry isn’t necessary going to prompt me to buy a place. I need to find out if the stuff in the walls is in good nick (does it need rewiring, re-plumbing?). Also, frankly, can see a lot of houses, particularly the older 1940s-1950s dwellings with clay tiles in Hamilton will need to have their roofs replaced. Also, the detailing of these ex-state houses of the era with a gable end I feel is a water ingress hazard.

• I’m also concerned about the quality of tenants a place will likely to attract. I sense I’m not going to get the same long term company exec type families as I can with Rolleston / Christchurch given the age of Hamilton properties.

• End up pilot buying shares in a morally questionable company that specializes in sending out inflated parking breach notices by way of remote video enforcement (ASX:SPZ). From a personal conscience POV, I would like to see the company crash and burn, and in fact had written to the Commerce Commission to express my concerns. But from a cold analytical business perspective, given the lack consumer watchdog teeth in many jurisdictions and the public apathy I’ve seen around the place, feel and fear these companies are going to thrive.

 

 

Older Stream of Consciousness thoughts can be found here.