Asite Share Discussion Threads

[goonertone] 02/11/2006 18:25

Gresty

I take your point, I think, but can't see how else you register.

I agree with your previous posting regarding the need to know there pricing model but I'm not so sure about the demise of the concept of a business portal per se.

A lot of websites set up claiming to be able to get you leads etc and to connect you with the right people. I think that stand alone model has indeed seen a demise but the actual ideas of portals and trading hubs hasn't they have just evolved from another direction. They have morphed from the providers of contract software and doc management software and the back office software of the big suppliers like Travis etc.

The difference I think now is that the industry leaders and second liners, place asite where you wish, have seen the need to be able to integrate with each other and so eventually any business regardless of provider will be able to do business with any other businness.

I work for a fairly small business main contractor and we are currently in the process of upgrading our systems and document management is probably next on the list. Framework and pre qual documentation is more and more asking questions on the sharing of information online.

Asite doesn't need to be market leader it just needs to reach a critical mass which is a numbers game. The construction industry isn't going to disappear, once decent homes is out of the way you have the education and health arena, the thames gateway, crossrail and 2012. I'm quite happy for Asite to be a small fish in a big sea as long as it is a profitable fish. The co I work for make more money than Laing or Stanhope per £1 of share capital but we are probably 1000th there size.

GT

[flc] 02/11/2006 17:16

What about possible acqisition of one of their competitors to give them more critical mass?

[gresty] 02/11/2006 16:36

You got me going, GT. At first glance, over 3,000+ businesses looked great....

However, I think anyone can register on the directory (or maybe Asite registers all people who use its other solutions? - 3,161 is just a few more than the 2,700 collaborating organisations it claimed at the end of 2005). The additional subscription is paid to become an Asite Network member, and when I ticked the box to search only for Network members, there were only 61 (including a few 'demonstration' companies). So: not a major money-spinner.

This low level of take-up doesn't surprise me. I'm told numerous portals targeted the construction industry at the height of the dot.com boom, all claiming to offer an online market/meeting place for buyers and sellers, few/none of them survived, and the industry remains skeptical about the business model.

A minor point, but if it was a major money-spinner, you'd think Asite would be actively managing its special offers. The current deal expired almost 3 months ago but is still displayed.

[goonertone] 02/11/2006 14:00

Me again

Been doing some lunchtime sleuthing. Can anyone help who is in the know, or just someone to give a second opinion, with the following.

We know that Asite have been trying to get away from reselling software to selling their own software solutions which then have recurring reveues from subscriptions, support & training etc.

Whilst browsing the Asite website I came across the the Asite Directory. This appears to be a tool for use both by contractors and suppliers to put themselves in the shop window to users of Asites tender solutions and other users and for Architects etc to create potential lists of contractors for inclusion into tender lists.

There appears to be a subscription paid for entry to the list and you can upgrade to a higher level of membership to get/give additional information. The subscription appears to be yearly.

Now the interesting bit that I would like someone else to double check because the figures seemed overly high.

Step 1 goto the following page and press click here and then highlight the product for subscription info.



Step 2

Go to this page to search all of the entries. Leave all boxes blank and press search to get all entries up. It will list them all and give a total number of entries at the top.



Does this mean that the cost you found at step 1 x the number of entries at step 2 is the yearly income Asite are getting from this one product with I would guess minimal costs???????????

GT

[goonertone] 02/11/2006 11:18

L2 Looking very strong at the moment.

2 offer @ 3 v 1 bid @ 3.25
both of the other bids are 4.00

Haven't checked online quotes.

GT

[goonertone] 02/11/2006 08:27

Cheers long term, all info is welcome in my book.

I've tried to read up on all the threads etc but feel free to point out any pertinent facts etc that I have missed out or assumed incorrectly so that I can correct my figures/assumptions if need be.

GT

[longterminvestor2] 01/11/2006 21:58

Asite used to be a reseller of the BIW software few years back

[goonertone] 01/11/2006 14:33

Interesting link the author has obviously got a thing about Asite by the sound of it.

I have no illusions that Asite will suddenly become a defacto standard or become the market leader. However I do believe that with Laing, stanhope, Trechguiz etc as shareholders it is in their interests to use Asite wherever possible. In the Welsh case it was included at tender stage, I would guess at least 2 years ago when started, and was part and parcel of a major project submission so their has to be some kind of acceptance.

As I said its a numbers game and it would seem to me that the numbers are now begining to stack up, however until this feeds through into £'s then I have no proof of this.

GT

[gresty] 01/11/2006 13:51

Some wise words last night, GT.

I've been monitoring Asite and talking to friends about it for a long time. Looking at its UK competitors, Asite appears to be lagging behind.

The websites of, say, BIW or BuildOnline, have regular news releases – sometimes almost monthly - about new projects and corporate deals.

BIW also gives stats about its users, etc – at the end of 2005 it had 52,000 users in over 5,400 organisations compared to Asite's 17,000 users in 2,700 organisations at the same date. Moreover, BIW turnover in year ending 30 September 2005 was £4m – more than double Asite's last year.

BuildOnline has a base in India, and was claiming to be profitable in November 2002.

I am not sure that adoption of Asite by Laing-O'R will make a big difference. My construction friends tell me that while firms may have a preferred solution, if the client insists on using, say, BIW, then the contractor has little choice but to accept (in the Welsh Health Estates case, HBG has a corporate deal with Causeway Technologies to use its collaboration system, but HBG staff will have to use Asite on the WHE projects). Staff in many contractors and consultants therefore may be using 3 or 4 different systems at any one time.

(I was also told that growing number of users may have little impact on the bottom line, as systems can be licensed per project, regardless of the number of users or usage – we need to know how Asite charges for its services).

I have found interesting material about Asite on the www.extranetevolution.com blog before - today's entry ( seems relevant.

[goonertone] 01/11/2006 13:25

Well another tick up sees a 3p bid which hasn't been seen for a while.Wins immediately took a sell at 3p but EVO still there.

Intersting to see the trades later on but if only a few people are attracted by the price action of the last 3 days then the shortage of stock, if there is indeed one, could be interesting.

GT

[flc] 01/11/2006 09:03

Looks good - can't see any reason why your price target cannot be achieved medium term.

[goonertone] 01/11/2006 08:51

Thanks FLC

Movement again this morning.

1 MM left on 3.25 then its 3.75.

GT

[flc] 01/11/2006 07:53

Nice post GT.

[goonertone] 31/10/2006 23:17

I did promise some thoughts earlier as to my reasons for buying in today. This is a strange one for me as the lack of visibility, turnover and story going forward isn't really my cup of tea.

However I come from a construction background and hence why I first noticed this and why I have continued to look in on it. This was either going to be a nice idea that faded away or one that went on to get industry acceptance, with the latest deal although probably only worth £100 to £200k per year over 4 years I think the probability has finally fallen into the latter camp.

The company is far from helpful in its reporting by continually swapping around the statistics it uses eg the pipeline figures are missing from the interims and the monthly users and registered business has morphed into a users per six months figure.

However saying that things can be gleaned from the reports, news and website that can give an idea of what the company is about and therefore what the prospects are likely to be.

The company has turned from a reseller of software solutions to a provider of a suite of solutions for the life cycle of a construction project. At the heart of this is the philosophy of partnering and the sharing of information between partners and the supply chain. All information is held online and shared thus cutting down the cost and time taken to advise of new information and issue new documentation, place orders etc.

This is now a subscription and usage model and therefore has become a numbers game. The costs of developing the product has now been completed and the remaining costs of updating, refining and supporting the product have been cut significantly by outsourcing to India. Margins are now close to 80% against a fairly fixed administration charge therefore any increases in turnover should see profit increase at a very leveraged rate as and when the tipping point has been reached.

With companies like Stanhope and Laing O'Rourke a decision has to be made once a product has been trialled on whether to ditch it or keep it. if it is kept it tends to be spread company wide to ensure that all of the company is using the same software. The latest contract says to me that Laing have now accepted the system fully.

All of the signs from the stats available are that the users and usage of the system is ramping up still and this will eventually feed through to the bottom line due to the margins and the relatively stable admin costs.

Bear in mind that the biggest project announced prior to the new Welsh one was Bracknell which, as far as I can tell, hasn't started yet and hasn't yet contributed to the figures.

Valuing the company is another matter. firstly ADVFN's figure of 800k is way off but do you includes Tchenguiz's b shares? The difference is a company currently valued at £3mill or £5 mill. Its a hefty valuation but if you can see turnover doubling then you get a company that will be making £2.4 million on £3 million turnover and net profit of £1 million.(so many losses to use up they wont pay tax for years)

Anyway thats my thinking and in Tchenguiz you have someone who is prepared to back the company until it reaches profitability therefore unlike a lot of companys on aim in this position there is a backstop of sorts.

This isn't going to be everyones cup of tea but its purely a numbers game in my book now. If all these companies have subscribed and set up and integrated there systems then they will use it to the maximum to make the most of there investment. Therefore the numbers should now start to ramp up exponentially.

As usual DYOR but I have a price target after the next accounts, if no new contracts announced, of 11.5p.

GT

PS I forgot fairly tightly held and in the short term the MM's are short of stock.

[flc] 31/10/2006 16:34

Would be interested to find out how much this contract is worth to them. We may see some further movement at the end of the week when they launch the new collaborative BIM product in the States.

[goonertone] 31/10/2006 16:00

Have been a long time watcher of this stock and finally brought in today. Not huge amounts but there doesnt appear to be much stock about which is strange for a stock that has just dwindled down to recent levels.

Tried to get a last bit but online quote to buy was a maximum of 10000 or just £300.

Hope this works out for all you longtermers. Will try to do a write up tonight on my thoughts to why I bought in.

GT

[flc] 31/10/2006 15:22

Nice to see Asite on leader board. Hopefully, we'll at last start to see a flow of news. Long overdue.

[future earner] 05/10/2006 19:25

When I first bought these back in 2001I thought they really were going places, but 5 years on turnover down yet again, no profits to speak of I now believe it's reality time. In certain statements I've read how the systems have saved companies millions, but asite has never reaped these benefits either financely or by increased take up. So is it just set up for the benefit of the majority shareholders.......very dissapointed, no genuine leadership, no future blueprint, possibly no hope........

[flc] 28/9/2006 18:08

Looking better - moving away from re-seller agreements to direct sales could be the key to breakeven. Quite a few techs are taking the same approach and it appears to be working.

[gresty] 28/9/2006 17:23

Interim results out. Turnover down yet again. Losses stemmed a bit though.

[flc] 17/8/2006 10:29

Large buy yesterday and tick up today. Finally, could we be on track?

[future earner] 07/8/2006 21:38

Can anyone tell me who the major shareholders are, & what percentage of the company they hold?
Thanks in anticapation.

[future earner] 28/7/2006 21:54

Its refreshing to hear your views......I hold with the assumption that the outcome is zero but the opportunitys are massive.....B ;lucky

[havenpoint] 28/7/2006 17:15

I agree it is insignificant. When new Director bought sizeable holding earlier this month, there was a temporary "slight" increase in price which was short lived. If any of you folks have any influence with senior company personell,it would be worthwhile to convey a suggestion to instigate some good PR and more frequent news bulletins from the company which, if positive, could well stimulate interest.

[flc] 28/7/2006 16:57

Not much movement on your 50k Haven lets see what transpires next week.

I may try for another 25k in early trading Monday.