Back in
August, we introduced our Stockhouse investor audience to a very different, and very profitable, kind of ESG company that’s been a market leader in Environmental Services –
Vertex Resource Group Ltd. (
TSX-V.VTX,
Forum).
In this exclusive video podcast, Stockhouse Media’s Dave Jackson was joined by company CEO Terry Stephenson to get shareholders and investors up-to-date on the latest news from Vertex and just how important ESG-related companies really are to future global economies.
(Click image to play video)
TRANSCRIPT BELOW:
SH: To start off with, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and the history of the company?
TS: Vertex has been around since 2005. I first got involved with Vertex as the President and CEO. Vertex has operating roots back to 1962 in Western Canada, and today we have operations from Victoria all the way to Brampton, Ontario in Canada and a few select spots in the United States. We're a diverse environmental service company providing consulting and engineering, as well as field expertise and equipment with the ability to actually help clean up and execute the work ourselves.
SH: Simply put, Terry, why invest in ESG?
TS: Well, I think since 2005, the reason that I got involved with this company was because they did such a great stewardship on environmental liabilities and cleaning up. That's been an interest and something near and dear to my heart, so that's why I got involved with the business 17 years ago. So today, I think it's becoming more prevalent as we want to be able to pass on our wonderful country to our children and grandchildren, and want to make sure that the air, the water, and the land are all preserved and able to be enjoyed. . The other part of ESG is the social and governance and I think that's becoming more and more important that companies are sustainable and profitable for their shareholders, but at the same time be able to do it in a socially conscientious way that helps promote locally and other communities, as well as First Nations throughout the use of land.
SH: At present, what do you see as the biggest area of growth for Vertex and how are you positioned to take advantage?
TS: Our biggest area of growth continues to be on the energy area and really that's energy transition, as well as, on infrastructure. So, within the energy transition we've been doing for over, I think 12 years, solar and wind farms, geothermal, a bunch of carbon capturing. We're an industry leader in methane reporting and coming up with solutions for air emissions. On the infrastructure side, we see again throughout North America, not just in Canada and the US, continuing strength on critical infrastructure that helps allow cleaner amounts of energy to sustain life, moving forward to net zero targets by mid-century.
SH: What separates Vertex from the competition and makes your business model unique?
TS: I think the big differentiator for us is that we're a good combination of grey matter of the consulting and engineering, as well as the practical field and the expertise to actually execute the work and clean up the work. So, by integrating that model and having the solutions as well as the effective way in which we address it and get the liabilities cleaned up and addressed for our clients, I think we do that in a very thoughtful and cost saving, practical matter for our clients.
SH: I have to mention Vertex’s share price has remained fairly steady over the last six months. Why should investors be confident of a higher price and what can you tell our investor audience regarding the current valuation of your stock and why you think it’s still a good buy right now?
TS: Yes, I feel it's a really good value buy right now, we're trading at about two times, or just under two times our free cash flow for 2022. So, I think there is lots of runway on our stock. We're starting to get known, we're relatively unknown in the public markets. So, I think those are good things. I'm really excited as we exit some of the pandemic and get back to dealing with some of the normal operations especially on infrastructure spending, we're heavy in the 5G and other telecommunication services. They've been somewhat subdued because of the COVID measures and lockdowns. I'm very excited about that as well as additional environmental legislation in the United States, and in Canada, where again we, as mentioned before, are a leader in methane emissions. We do a lot of that in the US. New strengthening legislation in the US will allow us to help provide different solutions for our clients moving forward, and then up here in Canada, we've seen additional measures coming in to ensure that companies are cleaning up their liabilities in a timelier fashion, and that'll kick off in January as well. So, I'm very bullish on the next three to five years for Vertex.
SH: Can you tell our audience a little bit about your corporate management and board teams, along with the experience and innovative ideas they bring to the ESG space?
TS: We've got a nicely experienced board; we have members that are heavily involved in technology to bring that expertise to our board. Other members are sitting on numerous public boards and provide guidance on front end trends in the industry. Technology and stuff like that is big part of Vertex. We want to use that to help deliver our goods and services in a better and more efficient manner. One such example is our involvement with the Canadian Space Agency on doing remote sensing in Burnaby. We're doing a study on the tanker traffic and the effects of LG in the bay. Those are all things where we're able to take different forms of technology and use our expertise in the environmental field to come up with solutions for our various clients in various industries.
SH: And finally, Terry, if there’s anything I’ve overlooked, the floor is all yours.
TS: Ah, thanks, Dave. No, again I'm excited to introduce Vertex to the public markets and very proud of what we've achieved in the last 10 to 12 years since I've been at the helm and look forward to the next decade on where we're able to transition and continue to provide our services. Hopefully, we're providing those solutions to our customers as they try to meet their own ESG requirements going forward.
For more details about Vertex Resource Group, please visit their website at
vertex.ca.
FULL DISCLOSURE: This is a paid article produced by Stockhouse Publishing.