Huveaux Share Discussion Threads

[jonathanlabrey] 30/3/2007 13:28

Since its integration into the Huveaux Group in 2005, Epic has made a significant contribution to the continued growth of the group.

In the recently announced results for 2006, the group's turnover increased by 62% to £45m and profit before tax, amortisation of goodwill and exceptional items grew 43% to £6m. Not only has Epic continued to deliver strong financial performance in its own right, it has also used its expertise to support key digital initiatives within the group. Digital Revenues now account for 26% of group sales and the target is for this to grow to 50% by 2010, with Epic being at the heart of this growth.

2006 was a great year for winning new business at Epic with a record amount of 40 contracts secured, not only for individual projects, but long term frameworks and partnerships. Clients have seen the added value that not only Epic brings, but that of the whole of Huveaux's Learning Division in meeting the ever evolving needs.

Epic has further strengthened its sector expertise in 2006 in both the private and public sector. Within education we are particularly proud of our involvement in the Skills for Life Improvement Programme. It gives me real personal satisfaction that the organisation is contributing to the improvement of the literacy, numeracy and language skills of adults throughout England.

Epic is also proud to be showcasing its own rapid development tool at HRD 2007, Rapid Create. We believe that with over 20 years' experience and our good practice in interactive and usable design to draw upon, we've created a simple but powerful tool that our clients will now be able to use to deliver fully accessible solutions – automatically. This is complemented by our rapid capability offering that ensures that you get out of your final e-learning programme the quality that you put in. We feel this tool fills a gap in the market, and we'll continue to work with and recommend other rapid authoring tools where appropriate.

Prior to joining Huveaux, I was the Chief Executive of the outer territories of Mauritius. I have recently been offered once again the opportunity to work on an exciting project with the Government of Mauritius and I have decided that this is something I wish to pursue. This is an opportunity I previously declined in the interest of Epic. However, now that I have established a strong management team, I feel that I am able to take up this opportunity. I will therefore be leaving this great organisation which I have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of. The management team in place is highly capable and by far the best in the e-learning market and I have no doubt you will receive continual support from the team here at Epic.

Matt Gokhool
Managing Director

[jonathanlabrey] 27/3/2007 20:14

leokeo - bad call. The political division delivered £2.5m EBITDA in 2006 on a turnover of £11m. There was organic sales growth of 10% (18% in HY2 on the back of new product launches). This does not include the Westminster Briefing business which is now in the learning division.

The Political Division is also driving new business across the company - for example Epic designed Parliament's new website and Electus, the political recruitment business, provides recruitment solutions across the group.

Cash generation is high, and Huveaux now has the number one position in the UK and EU political publishing markets, a growing market due to increase in regulation and legislation, and new EU entrants.

I am surprised you should pick out the Political Divison for criticism. It is currently the part of the Group with the best growth prospects and good long term visibility and market strength.

On this basis the £15.7m paid for PCL in 2004 looks good value medium term.

[leokeo] 25/3/2007 22:55

this company will never make it cash your shares now - it's underforming and any company that paid 16.5 m for pcl needs their head examined

[broomsticks] 12/3/2007 15:36

Huveaux PLC - Huveaux PLC - Holding(s) in Company

RNS Number:7787S
Huveaux PLC
12 March 2007


Huveaux PLC
(the 'Company')

Notification of Major Interests in Shares


On Friday 9 March 2007, the Company was advised that Rensburg Sheppards
Investment Management Limited, as at 28 February 2007, held an indirect interest
in 7,193,916 ordinary shares (voting rights) representing 4.73% of the Company's
issued Ordinary share capital.

This is an initial disclosure in accordance with DTR 5.2.1.(F) of the
Transparency Directive.


This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

[elmfield] 05/3/2007 21:54

Drift with market .

[broomsticks] 05/3/2007 11:13

Yes, at first glance things do look to be progressing nicely. There is a meeting for analysts which was to begin at 11.00 a.m. so we will see what they have to say about these results.

[elmfield] 05/3/2007 07:43

Nothing wrong with the headline figures? look good at first glance.

[broomsticks] 02/3/2007 15:55

From the Trading Statement of 12 December 2006.


The Company intends to announce its Preliminary Results for 2006 on 5 March
2007.


For further information, please contact:


Huveaux PLC
John van Kuffeler
Chairman 020 7245 0270


Finsbury
James Leviton 020 7251 3801


Note to Editors:


Huveaux was formed in 2001 with the objective of building a substantial,
high-quality publishing and media group.


The Group consists of three Divisions each of which has strong brands and market
leading positions:


Political Division comprises Dod's Parliamentary Companion, The House Magazine,
Epolitix.com and numerous other political magazine titles, monitoring products
and revenue-generating websites. It is the market leader in Political
business-to-business publishing in the UK and the EU.


Learning Division comprises Epic, the UK market leader in e-learning, The
Training Journal magazine and the highly acclaimed Westminster Explained
conferences and seminars business. It also comprises Lonsdale, Letts Educational
and Leckie & Leckie, the leading providers of study aids and revision guides in
England and Scotland.


Healthcare Division, based in France, comprises Panorama du Medecin, a leading
weekly magazine for French doctors, Le Concours Medical and La Revue du
Praticien, both market-leading Continuing Medical Education magazines, Egora.fr,
the leading medical information website, and a number of other magazines and a
medical conference business.


Huveaux has now completed 12 successful acquisitions over the past five years
and employs more than 500 staff in London, Paris, Brussels, Edinburgh and four
other UK regional offices.


Further information about Huveaux can be found at www.huveauxplc.com


The name Huveaux is a trademark of Huveaux PLC. All other trademarks mentioned
herein are the property of Huveaux's respective subsidiary companies. All rights
reserved.


This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

[elmfield] 23/2/2007 15:34

Very tempted to add,

[elmfield] 21/2/2007 19:57

YES, I so nearly topped up, see first thing tomorrow what is on offer, hope 53p is still possible,

[broomsticks] 21/2/2007 19:11

Looks like a buy of 350,000 shares @ 53p at 16.33.52.

Interesting!

[elmfield] 21/2/2007 13:39

THAT IS another larger trade at 53 after ones yesterday, hmm

[broomsticks] 20/2/2007 13:09

A Training Press Release



Epic pledges more support for early adopters as e-learning reaches 3-4% of training provision
Epic | Brighton


16-Feb-2007 » Training Press Releases » Epic, the UK's leading e-learning company, will shift the focus of the resources it offers through its well-regarded Thought Leadership Programme in response to greater maturity in the use of e-learning. According to a recent analysis of the market commissoned by Epic, e-learning now represents 3-4% of of private sector training provision in the UK, a statistic which confirms, in Epic's view, that e-learning is past the stage of 'Innovators' on the adoption bell curve and into 'Early Adopters'.


Beginning with the launch of The Epic Blog at featuring contributions from clients, partners and associates as well as inhouse experts, Epic's research and resource effort will adopt a more collaborative style.

'Many organisations are growing more mature in their use of learning technologies,' says Matt Gokhool, CEO of Epic, 'and our research and resource operation must change accordingly. We will continue to support those getting started in e-learning, but there will also be more focus on supporting the advocates of e-learning within organisations.'

In addition to the Epic Blog, launched this week, Epic has plans in the coming months for an e-learning wiki, as well as new-style events. The company is also planning to make its historical resources, including its extensive range of white papers, more readily available.

'We call on the champions of the new learning technologies to join us in this community of practice,' says Matt Gokhool, 'contributing, debating; helping to push forward the use of new technologies and practices that are bringing real dynamism to the business of improving organisational performance.


Epic Performance Improvement, part of Huveaux learning, is the UK market leader in the use of new learning technologies and methodologies to improve organisational performance. Using e-learning alongside traditional means, we help people know more, learn faster and perform better, bringing benefits to both organisation and individual.

For over 20 years Epic has been a consistent leader and innovator, producing ground-breaking and award-winning work. Services range from consultancy through content production and technology solutions (both bespoke and generic) to testing and localisation.

Epic has extensive experience across both private and public sectors, with particular expertise in Government, Finance, Defence, Education, Travel and Retail sectors.


For further information about this story, please contact:

Contact name: Ericka Newton
Contact e-mail: [e-mail]
Contact telephone: [phone]
Web site:

[elmfield] 19/2/2007 16:14

The team running HVX have an ambitious streak so don't count on them not doing deals, imhv.

[cerrito] 18/2/2007 17:53

Posts 358 and 360 make somewhat nervous...ok HVX has done well with its acquisitions in the last couple of years and have done something to strengthen management and they are probably ready to do another acquisition and perhaps Nelson Thornes would be the right size but I do not see them as having a FTSE100 boardroom and would be uneasy if they went after anything big.
I continue to hold, quite a bit of inertia... thought about selling when we had the small price increase after the press comment of a couple of weekends back

[jonathanlabrey] 18/2/2007 17:39

These articles and interviews are very interesting. Now, what are the implications for Huveaux? Is there any scope for Huveaux to acquire any of, or part of, the education business presently on the market? Or could Huveaux form a joint venture with a private equity player to leverage significant capital in which Huveaux would have a significant stake in the enlarged business?

With Lonsdale, Letts and Leckie we have content, and with Epic there is the digital capability - but we don't have scale or global reach. I hope the management is considering the options here because it seems there is a real opportunity to be part of something very rewarding.

What is clear from the Reed Elsevier (Harcourt) decision is that it is taking education publishers longer to migrate content on to digital platforms. However, as you say Broomsticks, Huveaux has Epic to help accelerate this part of the strategy. So additional content and scale are what we need.

Lack of digital reach is also the reason why Wolters Kluwer and Thomson Publishing have announced the sale of their education arms:-




The UK arm of Wolters Kluwer, Nelson Thornes, interests me particularly. Could there be a tie up with Huveaux? I ask because Epic (through Epicentre) have worked with Nelson Thornes for many years - see attached:-



I guess we may hear more of Huveaux's strategy at on 5 March when the results are announced. What we do know is that we have an £80m company and a FTSE 100 boardroom with an appetite for bold deals - and a multi £billion opportunity in this global market for education publishing.

What do other shareholders think?

[pujababy] 15/2/2007 22:25

from The Times--

[broomsticks] 15/2/2007 19:17

jlabrey,

Thanks for that I noticed earlier that Reed Elsevier has put its education division up for sale. I haven't looked at the whole sector but see that Huveaux's share price appears to have suffered as a result. It is probably to Reed Elsevier's advantage to sell off its education division, it will certainly have a leaner image after the disposal.

It gives a bad impression of the whole educational sector when companies appear unable to successfully incorporate an educational division within their boundaries of expertise. For me that is where Huveaux differs in that it is able to fully utilise its education division through the astute use of Epic's expertise and flexibility within the fields of blended and e-learning.

If anyone is interested and has some time to listen to Donald Clark the former CEO of Epic Group Plc I have placed some links below. For information Donald Clark has been associated with e-learning for more than 20 years. The following podcasts are interviews of him by Steven Walsh of Kineo. They give some clues to the legacy that Donald Clark has given to Epic and consequently the ethos in which Huveaux operates.








Donald Clark gives his views on the educational value of blogging and why he personally blogs as a means of communication.



aimo,dyor

[jlabrey] 15/2/2007 17:08

This business was today put up for sale by Reed Elsevier:-

[jonathanlabrey] 11/2/2007 10:03

Interestingly, when BPP sold Letts Educational to Granada Media in 2000, Granada bought the business for £28.5 million (see extract from BPP's 2000 annual report below). Huveaux bought Letts and Leckie for £12 million last year.

Disposal of Letts Educational
In early September we concluded the sale of Letts
Educational to Granada Media - a transaction reflecting
the increasingly important role now being played by large
media interests in the world of consumer publishing. The
consideration was £28.5m, giving rise to an exceptional
profit of £18.8m.

[jonathanlabrey] 11/2/2007 09:51

This is a very significant article from today's Sunday Times about the changing nature of education publishing. When Huveaux bought Letts and Leckie they set the ambition of moving content onto digital platforms. There are also several education publishing businesses for sale at the moment, which may offer acquisition opportunities for Huveaux.

[jonathanlabrey] 08/2/2007 18:24

Tipped again in this week's Shares magazine as one of AIM's Top Ten.