Digital Learning Share Discussion Threads

[markt] 23/7/2012 15:53

"wilburylover1 19 Jul'12 - 18:51 - 394 of 399

So Markt. What happens from here."

.....no idea at all !
but.....

there is a risk of X% that it does not produce its results and puts itself in administration (being suspended is not recommended business practice !)....and shareholders get 0

or a chance that they raise some cash to keep going for longer.....
and/or new contracts at same time

or announce that sold themselves to bigger company.....with return of 0-100% for shareholders

or announce termination of some projects that were using up cash...and redundancy for those people, or the projects moved to some other company that can afford to run them....

I havent been watching closely and I am not close to the co, so my guess would not be very good....

they are involved with some big companies in the DLMarket like Pearson...who could buy them if it avoided the DLM project ending.

in all deals imo DLM are in a bad position.....no bargaining power imo...since have predicted results date and then not produced...

(high change I think that they have a possible deal..hence announced a results date...but struggling to sign it off. I assume that not producing results because if they did they would have to announce that they are not a going concern and perhaps the rules would force suspension and calling in administrato....)

I hope they keep going.....

(it is a repeating problem for listed microcap companies....if they dont quickly grow turnover and hence spread the cost of being listed over more turnover....they can consume themselves if do not make high profits to support the listing costs 1/2M - 1M pnds per year minimum I think for AIM companies when include director fees (normally much higher than for a non listed co)

Anyone else got any views ?
====

Why are there posts about Close Brothers on DLM thread ?!

[acta_topup] 21/7/2012 14:25

Close Bros weighed down by Winterflood business

LONDON (SHARECAST) - Banking, securities and asset management firm Close Brothers Group has admitted that difficult trading conditions in the Winterflood division continued to affect its overall performance during the five months ended June 30th, but said the Banking division delivered another strong performance in the period.

The Securities division continues to experience difficult market conditions and within this Winterflood has been affected by low retail investor risk appetite throughout the period.

...

[acta_topup] 21/7/2012 14:21

There is still very much a thriving business here. Just dire markets with no investor appetite for putting money into micro-cap businesses. This will change.

Meanwhile, DLM has recently been nominated as a finalist in the "Digital Business of the Year" award category in The Digital Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2012:

[acta_topup] 21/7/2012 14:19

wilburylover1 did you not read the RNS?

the board will be "revising the Company's short term strategy - to include a lower working capital requirement, and no immediate acquisitions - and expect to make further announcements to update the market"

[wilburylover1] 19/7/2012 18:51

So Markt. What happens from here.

[markt] 19/7/2012 14:43

Just seen that DLM shares are suspended...

looks disgraceful to me that they announced in June that they were about to release results....and then 2 weeks later they did the same....

but no results...

then suspension.

Lesson ?

Dont believe London company RNS news !!
----

Some of us highlighted the bad state of the numbers months ago...and that price had no support from numbers...and had little cash to keep running....
turned out to be right.....so difficult to get away from the numbers, (unless a co. can produce some news that changes the numbers)

there are often similar cases...and often people value microcap cos. too high imho, valuing hope and a listing at 2-5M when whether a co. is still in business in 6 or 12 months may be doubtful....so 2-5M may be completely wrong valuation...of course occasionally one gets a patent or big new contract and goes on to be a medium sized solid company...

[fugwit] 05/7/2012 10:32

Acta,
Would you care to expand on how and why the share price has been willfully taken down by third parties? Ta.

[acta_topup] 03/7/2012 16:32

I have sizeable investments in over 20 companies, if a few of the higher risk ones don't work out then this is to be expected. You don't need to worry about my investments - concentrate on your own.

And DLM and MBW are not "trash" as you put it. They are dependent upon funding like many start-up small cap companies and in this climate funding is extremely hard to find. You seem to have a chip on your shoulder with regard to micro-cap companies and perhaps you could save yourself a lot of time and energy by avoiding them completely yourself.

[viktormeerldrew] 03/7/2012 16:26

Acta you won't be a very successful investor if you always look for scapegoats and don't address your own deficiencies.

Let's hope you learn something from this episode and MBW and other trash you have invested in.

[acta_topup] 03/7/2012 16:20

But you are mildred lol

and just because a company has a low market cap, with a subpenny shareprice and wide spread this doesn't make it a bad company without potential to grow and develop. Higher risk obviously but perfectly reasonable for the right types of investor. You are a multiple-alias using deramper and plenty of ADVFN users can see that.

[viktormeerldrew] 03/7/2012 16:14

I am not 345654 etc whatever your paranoid little brain may be telling you.

Of course I am sure the rampers and pumpers and dumpers who inhabit advfn would like advfn just to be a criticism free zone so they could spam ramp illiquid sub-penny share, wide-spread rubbish like DLM and MBW to naive and gullible PI's

[acta_topup] 03/7/2012 16:09

MBW is an example of the difficulty of raising capital in these markets. They haven't received the CPS funding yet as you well know. So your comments are pretty stupid and pointless. Mind you that seems to be a trait with you. Interesting that you seem to follow posters from one thread to another, continuously spam the boards of all manner of companies such as MBW, CYAN and ECR, and continuously switch to new avatars Mildred, 345654 etc etc ad infinitum. Can't understand how ADVFN can stand back and condone this multiple avatar situation. ADVFN should definitely follow iii and ban people like you...

[viktormeerldrew] 03/7/2012 15:59

Acta what about that dire little operation MBW ?

They can't even deliver anything they say in a timely manner but have got lots of funding from Duchhess Opportunity Capital and CPS funds from unknown Asian sources who just need chasing around the World apparently. But nonetheless over $6m of funding for a £0.5m Mkt Cap company.

Quite surprised as you own 15% of the the shares in MBW you couldn't come up with this as an example of an AIM basket-case still able to raise capital in current environment ? Disappointed in you. Did it slip your mind or you thought you would simply keep the information to yourself ?

Acta_topup
2 Jul'12 - 11:26 - 382 of 385

"there is plenty of capital being raised by good firms out there at the moment."

Really??? Are you serious? Perhaps you can give some examples

[fugwit] 02/7/2012 13:17

Hi Acta, Silverdell springs to mind as a recent decent raising, there are others as well.

Would you care to expand on how and why the share price has been willfully taken down by third parties?

I have no problem with the run/walk dilemma, have been there enough times myself to understand its vagaries, however before I hand my hard earned over I would like to believe that the management are capable, and now they have the opportunity to demonstrate. I agree re Asia, AH has enough mileage out there that it wouldn't surprise.

[smcl] 02/7/2012 11:34

Thanks fugwit. Hopefully soon.

sm

[fugwit] 02/7/2012 11:28

sm, Providing they are solvent and can produce a set of signed off accounts I see no reason why not. No idea regarding if or when though.

[acta_topup] 02/7/2012 11:26

"there is plenty of capital being raised by good firms out there at the moment."

Really??? Are you serious? Perhaps you can give some examples. The markets are DIRE, I mean DIRE. No one is releasing any money in this particular marketplace. The company will obviously have to focus on growing what they have, and I am in no doubt that they will be able to do this. It is majorly frustrating for shareholders, but equally frustrating for management. I have had in depth responses from Andy, and I can tell you that there is more to this than meets the eye. The shareprice has been willfully and irresponsibly taken down by third parties, and this has had a significant impact upon their current situation. It is obviously not the only factor but it is a major one.

It is true that they have tried to run before they walk but in this type of business that is key to growing rapidly and gaining a significant cutomer base. Unfortunately with the markets as they are, the air that they're trying to run through is like treacle. A new contingency plan is in order, but there should still be room for growth. Some of the deals may yet happen. I would suggest that if they haven't done so that they start looking further afield for funding, possibly from Far East Asia or the Indian subcontinent. A minimally dilutive CPS scheme could be beneficial for all parties.

[smcl] 02/7/2012 11:18

Fugwit,

Thanks for your comments. Do you see a removal of suspension soon?

Rgds

sm

[fugwit] 02/7/2012 10:26

From my pov they had a strategy and haven't been able to fund it, if they couldn't fund it then the market does not believe they can execute to their strategy (there is plenty of capital being raised by good firms out there at the moment). We know there were 4 acquisitions in the pipeline as of the master investor show, it may well be that none of them now occur. Not sure how interesting the remaining company will turn out to be, however it will be interesting to see the brakes applied, have a little time to see how management cope with their business as it is now and frankly whether they can get out there and create revenues before revisiting the original strategy.

I have outlined here already what I would want to see happening to have faith that the mgmt are capable of more than just throwing money around on acquisitions, now they have no choice but to demonstrate those capabilities over the coming months. Lets see if they can prove themselves as a sales organization and produce some organic growth, I will be encouraged if they can. Lets also see how well they cope on the working capital front. In some respects it is good that pi's have the chance to see how they cope now rather than in a year or two.

I will also be interested to see how their partners react, Pearson in particular.

At the very least I shall keep looking in on DLM as I suspect there will be a lot to learn one way or another. Maybe an investment in Pearson would be a better bet on this sector, albeit far less exciting I am sure.

Good luck all.

[saucepan] 29/6/2012 19:23

FWIW: the situation looks bleak to me (to say the least) and seems to be confirming some of my earlier expressed fears. No gloating intended; genuinely sorry for holders.

I feel some sympathy for DLM management, too - presuming them innocent until proved guilty with regard to possible incompetence (or worse) that has compounded the situation, including failure to produce accounts that the auditors will sign off. They have tried to grow an exciting sounding company at the worst possible time.

[smcl] 29/6/2012 12:10

Fugwit,

Any comments on the situation? Thanks

sm

[fugwit] 29/6/2012 09:08

29 June 2012

Digital Learning Marketplace plc
("DLM plc", or "the Company")

Statement re suspension

The directors of DLM announce that the Company is not in a position to publish its audited accounts to 31 December 2011 by 30 June 2012, and accordingly, under the AIM Rules, trading in the Company's shares has been suspended with immediate effect.

The directors had been working with the Company's brokers to raise £2 million to facilitate an acquisition programme, for investment in the new product portfolio and to provide working capital. However, because of market conditions this fundraising has not been successful.

The directors are now therefore revising the Company's short term strategy - to include a lower working capital requirement, and no immediate acquisitions - and expect to make further announcements to update the market on the revised strategy, and when the audited accounts, as referred to above, can be issued.

[smcl] 28/6/2012 09:29

When are the results to be released?

thanks

sm