Eg Solutions Share Discussion Threads

[simon gordon] 18/11/2013 07:08

Hopefully, the first of many:

18/11/13

eg solutions plc ("eg" or "the Company"; LSE-AIM: EGS), the global back office optimisation software company, announces that it has won an initial contract from a leading global financial institution for the eg operational intelligence® software and related services. The contract is the first won through eg's strategic partnership with Aspect Software Inc. ("Aspect").

This initial contract is for an existing Aspect customer covering 750 users in Asia Pacific with potential to roll-out across the global back office functions thereafter. Revenue from this contract will be recognised in this financial year.

John O'Connell, Chairman & Chief Executive commented:

"Since launch to their sales team in May 2013 Aspect have built a substantial pipeline of opportunities for the eg operational intelligence® software across North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific. The indications are that this will be a strong and lucrative partnership for both eg and Aspect."

[simon gordon] 23/9/2013 09:54

Fingers - 23/9/13:

[simon gordon] 19/9/2013 09:31

Panmure - 18/9/13

1/14
T/O - 5.6m
EPS - 1.3p

1/15
T/O - 6.9m
EPS - 8.9p

eg solutions has a £24m sales pipeline, its Aspect partnership is working extremely well - Aspect garnered a US$19.4m pipeline in four months - and revenue is growing sequentially. However, the banner headline for interims is the return of John O'Connell to an executive role as Elizabeth Gooch passes him the CEO baton. This move is a wake-up call for investors – software rockstar Mr O'Connell took Staffware plc from £4m sales to a £122.8m takeover and more recently sold Opta for £40m. Today, the smart money must be laying odds that he repeats the act at eg, and this starts from a very attractive 9.4x PE on next year's earnings. To err on the side of caution we have factored in extra operating costs as Mr O'Connell likely further professionalises eg's sales and delivery capabilities. We trim revenue a touch in case those large contracts bump 'to the right'. Investors should expect great things from a new organisational structure which is a very neat solution to the founders' dilemma.

We increase our target price from 111p to 122p. Buy.

[simon gordon] 18/9/2013 22:27

The new Chairman & CEO looks to have a decent track record in the world of software.

Taken from the EGS website:

John O'Connell – Executive Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

John Anthony O'Connell joined eg's Board as Non-Executive Chairman on 24 March 2013 and on 18 September took on the role as Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

John O'Connell is an active, high-profile London-based technology entrepreneur, who founded, floated and sold one of the leading software companies in the UK and is now focused on helping create other world-leading UK-based software companies.

Since 2005, John has been Chairman of a number of software companies, currently Active Navigation, Helveta, Mtivity and Opta Sports Data. Previously he was Chairman, inter alia of AIM-listed Portrait Software plc (2005 to 2010), previously having led the sale of Staffware plc in 2004.

Staffware listed on AIM in London in 1996 and then went onto the main LSE market in 2000. As Chairman and CEO he led the sale to Tibco Software Inc. for $260 million in June 2004 when Staffware had offices in more than 20 countries, employing approximately 400 staff and with more than 500 international clients having grown revenue tenfold over 8 years. The sale to Tibco was at a premium to the pre-announcement market price of 46 per cent.

A Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants, Mr O'Connell has been recognised as a 'Master of Information Technology' by the US based Trade Association, AIM International.

[simon gordon] 18/9/2013 12:01

Northland Capital - 18/9/13:

INTERIMS: EXPECT A QUANTUM SHIFT

Revenue -21.3% to £2.2m reflecting a lengthening of the sales cycle as contract sizes increase but a record pipeline of prospects developed by eg and strategic partner Aspect Software.

Gross margin fell 96bps to 45.6% with increased spend on implementation personnel and there was a negative £0.9m swing in adj. EBITDA to a loss of £0.3m.

Cash balance increased £0.1m to £0.4m reflecting the operating cashflow and the £1.25m investment by Aspect.

First contract secured in the UK Utility sector, eg's first outside Financial Services. Invested £0.5m to set up Aspect's American and Asian distribution capability and strengthen eg's direct EMEA sales and worldwide delivery capability. Invested £0.4m in R&D to enhance enterprise and international software capabilities.

Management expected a 'quantum shift' in the scale and scope of the business.

NORTHLAND UK VIEW: The strategic partnership with Aspect Software Inc, a global provider of customer contact and enterprise workforce optimisation software, in February was the stand out feature of H1. It not only provided some much needed cash but also a global route to market for its back office optimisation software. With the new funds on board and the partnership in place, eg has been able to invest further in the product but also its sales and delivery capability. Long sales cycles remain a feature but potential customers will draw comfort from the Aspect partnership. We have consistently argued that eg's software has a strong return on investment case and a positive customer base. After a year of investment in FY14, the rating of 7.3x FY15 consensus earnings' is undemanding.

[simon gordon] 18/9/2013 11:35

Tweet by George O'Connor at Panmure:

following results mgmt team briefs the City lots of interest in that awesome £24m pipeline

===

Market Cap £13.4m

Panmure forecast - 22/7/13:

1/14
T/O - 5.94m
EPS - 3.36p

1/15
T/O - 8m
EPS - 11.5p

Some snippets from today's Interims:

In February 2013 we announced the exclusive Strategic Distribution Partnership agreement for the Americas and Asia with Aspect, and its equity investment of £1.25 million for a 10.69 per cent shareholding in the Group.

Therefore, a priority for the period has been to invest in the resources required to support eg's relationship with Aspect as well as to build our own international sales and project delivery capability. In total, approximately £0.6 million was invested in these areas including:

~building a global training team to support the growth of both Aspect and eg;

~the appointment of Head of Delivery with responsibility for recruiting and training people for sales and delivery for eg and to support Aspect, as well as for eg's graduate programme; and

~the appointment of Head of Software Support to enhance Maintenance & Support services, including the 24/7 needs of both Aspect and our own global customers.

Already, this investment has generated significant new opportunities, with the eg and Aspect Sales Pipelines growing to a record level, currently valued at approximately £24 million, including a number of three year hosted contracts.

The relationship with Aspect is developing well, the operational integration has proceeded according to plan and the new business opportunities being generated, both by Aspect and the core eg business, demonstrate the continuing emergence of the Back Office Optimisation market and growing demand for eg's market leading products and solutions.

Current Trading and Outlook

Our financial results for this period reflect the investment we have made in the exclusive Strategic Distribution Partnership with Aspect in the Americas and Asia, as well as in our own direct sales channel in EMEA, whilst continuing to enhance our market leading products. The sales opportunities that have resulted from this investment underpin our confidence in making a quantum shift in the scale and scope of our business. I am looking forward to helping the Group achieve this goal in my new role.

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BoD has been cleaned up:

Board appointments, responsibilities and remuneration

In addition to the appointments already announced some further important Board changes are being made with immediate effect. Firstly, having completed six months since handing over to me as Chairman, Rodney Baker-Bates has decided to retire from the Board. Secondly, in line with her recommendation to the board, the Board responsibility of Elizabeth Gooch will be to now focus predominantly on ensuring the Aspect partnership is mutually successful and on product development. Elizabeth's title will be Founder & President. As a consequence I have accepted the offer to become Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

As Chairman Rodney Baker-Bates led the Board through some challenging phases to a point where eg is now poised for significant growth. On behalf of the Board and shareholders I would like to express our most sincere appreciation for his unwavering and steadfast support for Elizabeth Gooch and her team, as well as to me since I joined the Board. I am delighted that Rodney, as a significant shareholder, has indicated his continuing confidence in the Group's future.

In July Rob Glenn was appointed Chief Operating Officer with responsibility for EMEA and driving the direct sales effort. At the same time, Spence Mallder, Senior Vice President, General Manager Workforce Optimisation and Chief Technology Officer of Aspect, joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director in accordance with the partnership agreement between Aspect and the Group. We will seek to appoint an additional Non- Executive Director to replace Rodney at the earliest opportunity, but at an Executive level we now have a Board capable of taking eg to the next stage in its development.

During the period PricewaterhouseCoopers completed a review of the Group's executive rewards in order to align the remuneration and incentives received by all Board directors and senior executives with the interests of shareholders. The Board has accepted the recommendations of PricewaterhouseCoopers in full and the reward schemes proposed are now being implemented.

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Hargreave Hale nearly doubled their position in the stock - 23/7/13:



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On the Monthly cloud it looks fairly healthy with solid support (stop loss) sub 60p:



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If some of the £24m pipeline comes through in H2 and the forecast to 1/15 is doable then the share should crack a quid.

[beeks of arabia] 21/8/2013 22:41

Hope Finmac is still with us. Maybe he could head down to Gibralta with his flags and scare the locals!

;)

[markt] 13/4/2013 14:58

wow
...has anyone read the report/article from Investors Champion....
very damning about the MD (also controlling owner)
...excessive remuneration & pension payments....& perhaps illegally exceeding the 150k limit stated in the IPO doc.

millions over last 5 years to the MD....while shareholders have only rx'd a divi in 2 years...

worth a read

www.investorschampion.com

and perhaps bit by bit the pressure to have some regulation of companies listed in London may be possible.....till then...the game and fraud continues

[oregano] 08/3/2013 09:45

I sold as well. the panmure note was interesting. a good analyst generally, and given his recent significant note, i got the impression he was surprised with their performance. Easy to sell though, someone is buying.

[keyhole] 04/3/2013 15:27

I note that Energis Plc is listed on the Negligable Value list dated 31/1/2013 issued by the HMRC Shares and Assets Valuation dept. (Castle Rd, Nottingham)

Anyone think that any value there might be used as a tax credit? I think that it's worth a 1st Class stamp to find out....

[boll] 20/2/2013 22:16

Sold out of these now having made about 45 percent gain over 3 months

[oregano] 08/2/2013 10:46

the reality is Davidosh, if you own over 50% of a company you can do what you want.

they are quite well bid in the market which surprises me. impossible to buy on line.

[davidosh] 07/2/2013 18:44

So if the CEO owns a significant stake you feel they can take what they want and investors who provide the vital capital for the business can just lump it ?

Surely the remuneration committee should have been involved rather more closely in this situation and are responsible if there has been excessive pay

[oregano] 07/2/2013 12:05

they make a fair point. she does take a fat salary out of the business. normally i find this very off putting if directors don't own a respectable share in the company. the CEO owns over 50%, so has a vested interest in the equity value. The Aspect deal should take this a step closer to takeout, which is the eventual outcome for EGS.

[beethoven3] 07/2/2013 12:04

Article in Shares gives an alternative (positive) view

[orb1] 07/2/2013 11:43

Blimey, Investors Champion haven't half given EG a battering in that piece...

[energeticbacker] 07/2/2013 08:53

EG Solutions illustrates the deep rooted problems on AIM
Admission Document proves worthless, unchecked excessive levels of Directors remuneration etc
New hard hitting commentary from Investors Champion

[oregano] 05/2/2013 17:33

for anyone interersted in EGS, you should devote 7 minutes of your time to listening to that interview. a good find SS.

[sammy_smith] 05/2/2013 09:40

Interview with Elizabeth Gooch, CEO discusses under the Agreement Aspect will have exclusive distribution rights for the eg operational intelligence® software suite in Asia Pacific and the Americas and the rest of the world (other than Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Click the link below to listen;

[beethoven3] 05/2/2013 08:10

eg has fallen after profit warning but Aspect deal and investment looks interesting. Anyone got ideas?

[davidosh] 05/2/2013 00:06

Not quite sure why the directors were presenting at the Innovators and Investors Forum last week if they were sitting on a placing announcement and trading update. Some folks had clearly buying last week after the event as the price went from 92p to £1.08 but they will not be happy now.

It would have been better to get the trading update out first then build with the other news and by meeting shareholders and potential investors from a lower base. That could have been closer to the 73p placing price but at least it would be fairer to all parties.

[loverat] 04/2/2013 20:29

Anyone seen Lord Butterstock?

[geraldus] 04/2/2013 20:26

Well still running to form unfortunately.Stopped out today so took profits.Might have a look if it gets near the 73p pricing. Good luck to all holders. - G.Spotts

[oregano] 04/2/2013 12:06

that is a bitter sweet announcement. More bitter than sweet. opportunities shunted to the right.

[eagle eye] 01/2/2013 10:08

Very few posters on this BB, despite the shares up 50%+ over the past six months and breakout to 12 month high(103-109p).
Happy days.