In Cup Plus Share Discussion Threads

[coroon] 28/4/2005 17:00

Just bought 20k @8.88 a minute before the close of trading.Funds became available due to a buy out of Trio holdings,made a 25% gain so happy with that.I've been watching ICU for a couple of weeks,all seems to bode well for the future, but we could do with more news flow.

[coroon] 14/4/2005 08:37

alter ego
Do you know who the major shareholders are ?
If your broker said they were looking for investers willing to buy 1.5M or 100k pounds these must have more than 3%.
The next question is,who makes the coffee and fills the cartridges ?

[supreme mo] 13/4/2005 15:20

Plenty of buyers today.... bid went up yesterday... slowly depleting mms of stock.

[felix99] 11/4/2005 17:59

Sells - just the surplus placing stock I expect. After all if you got a load at 6.5p - banking a 1.5p profit on some might be quite nice.(20%)

Just waiting for the deals to happen . If they do then watch this rocket IMHO . In meantime its just patience

[inntolife] 10/4/2005 11:04

Morning all,
Bought 25k shares on Friday, bit of a punt really because no numbers
at the moement. Just like the idea. Looking to hold for about 18 months.
good luck to all
PSD

[siskinbird] 01/4/2005 19:19

alter ego
Thanks - that makes sense - more large sells today. I agree that this company appears to have a potentially great product. I bought on the day of admission to AIM and hold with similar expectations.

[alter ego] 01/4/2005 15:31

Siskinbird, Prior to admission to AIM, approximately 30.77m shares were placed at 6.5p each. When I spoke to the broker, they were looking for investors with at least £100k to participate. That equates to over 1.5m shares so anyone who took part in the placing and for whatever reason has decided to sell some shares has a large number at their disposal.

This looks an interesting company to me. A novel version of a familiar product which appears technically superior and cheaper than the competition. It also ties in the operator to supplies of prepackaged ingredients which is where the long term revenue is to be found.

I'm holding on to my small number of shares in the expectation that sales will blossom once they get the sales team in place. AE

[siskinbird] 31/3/2005 22:20

2 weeks without a post on this thread makes me want to ask a question, just to keep it alive................
Has anyone any thoughts about the large sells that keep going through (at least I assume they are sells). Was a lot of stock acquired pre-flotation at such low prices that it's now v profitable for some people to sell, or is stock being released onto the market to satify demand from buyers? I'd appreciate views (& sorry if this a daft question - I'm a beginner!).

[amorruso] 17/3/2005 09:08

Just a note re market cap on ICU. I am watching this over the next few weeks with a view to investing and have spoken with both Daniel Stewart & Co and also Barry Marks....seems interesting but speculative. Market cap is currently £7.6m and not £2.6m as reported in the FT.


Regards,


Amo

[baughfell] 16/3/2005 22:14

From recollection the ICU product is much more hygenic which I think is a big differentiator here - I believe that both companies offer automated stock notification via GPRS (2.5g) - this isn't complex technology anymore

[surfer2] 15/3/2005 20:27

hi im in vianet and i spotted this one in shares a few weeks ago

vianet basically offers remote monitoring therefore saving time
time = money
v open allows remote monitoring
ie. vending machine in a small town where lets say the youth market prefers red bull to coca cola. previously the maintenace guy had to count the amount of stock sold in each machine and compile the info , v open does this instantly
easy to identify which products are selling , where , at what time of day / week / year ect therefore more efficient sales
instantly forward stock levels / info on products which are popular back to co. hq or even to machine refill while in transit . this can be done via telephone , sms , gprs ect

in cup plus more about reduction in vending machine components for mixing drinks

vianet technology appplies to any product in any vending machine worldwide
ie. mars bars , drinks , ciggies , jimmy hats ects
so big market

[pm] 15/3/2005 10:19

I hold shares in both companies. Vianet is just starting to show me a small profit.
As I understand it, the difference in the technologies is that ICU has the remote reading whilst Vianet has this, plus the ability to purchase products from the machine using a mobile phone.
What about a tie up between the two companies. That would have to be good news if it happened.

[baughfell] 14/3/2005 19:16

Still watching,

Vianet (VIA) which has similar technology for automated notification when refills are needed has been on a cracking run since the start of the month.

ICU seems to have a potentially better product but a much smaller installed base (I'm no expert)

[stingray1690] 14/3/2005 17:31

Welcome onboard pm, agree great potential...

[pm] 12/3/2005 12:16

These shares were featured in the 'floats' section of Shares Magazine recently. There was a very interesting point at the end of the article and this was that the Chief Executive Barry Marks was approached two years ago by three companies trying to buy the rights to the machine. He refused.
With the market for vending machines being worth £3.2 billion pounds in 2003 I think the potential for this company is massive. I have bought in at 8 pence.

[stingray1690] 11/3/2005 11:25

Small snippet from the FT recently,

In Cup Plus also enjoyed a buoyant flotation as the vending machine maker placed 30.7m shares at 6.5p via Daniel Stewart to raise £2m for working capital, hiring staff and final testing of a new vending machine which can order its own ingredients when they run low. Barry Marks, chief executive, sold 1.54m shares as part of the placing for £100,000. The shares closed at 7p, a 21 per cent premium to the issue price, giving In Cup Plus a market value of £2.6m.

[stingray1690] 11/3/2005 09:30

Thanks Siskinbird I'll add the link to the header. Good luck. S

[siskinbird] 11/3/2005 09:28

Hi folks
You can find the prospectus in the "New Issues" section of the Daniel Stewart website . The float was mentioned as one to watch in the weekly "Small companies" feature in last Monday's Independent. I'm in at 8p - I'm reasonably convinced that this is a genuinely innovative product. Let's hope they have the skills to sell it!

[stingray1690] 10/3/2005 13:12

Thanks Wole, found this recent article...

The funds raised will be used to drive sales and marketing of the company's vending systems which remove the need for high cost service and cleaning contracts, whilst offering the largest range of drink combinations and a fresh, hygienic, delicious hot or cold beverage.

Traditional drinks vending machines, originally designed in the 1950's, make up the majority of the UK 2 billion market.(source key note) Vendors rely on liquids passing through numerous soiled plastic components with ingredient containers that are open to the atmosphere and hand filled by mobile operatives.

The intrinsic complicated design of traditional vending means service contracts must be in place for the provision of an operative to service machines every day. Multi national ingredient manufacturers have endeavoured to alleviate the inherent hygiene problems associated with traditional machines by using individually packed "in cup" drinks. This approach significantly increases production costs while lowering the capacity in the machine, and thus restricting the choice for the user.

The heart of the In Cup Plus system is an intelligent robotic arm that moves freely inside the machine. The cycle begins by dispensing a fresh cup into the arm, which is then conveyed through the machine collecting ingredients as it goes. Ingredients are dispensed directly from the In Cup Plus cartridge into the cup, thereby eliminating the unhygienic mixers; dispense tubes and spouts found in all other machines around the world.

Key to the In Cup Plus system are the factory sealed patented ingredient cartridges that can be installed or removed from the machine with no possibility of contamination to the product inside. Utilising wireless technology the cartridges are able to communicate with the machine when nearly empty and re-order stock or report engineering faults via an in-built telemetry system. Replenishing the machine is as easy as exchanging a printer cartridge, a simple operation that be executed by the customer in seconds.

The Company, which is currently in discussions with a leading international food group regarding world wide distribution of the In Cup Plus system, is looking to use funds from the IPO to increase its sales and marketing operation. The In Cup Plus vending system offers customers a unique opportunity to alleviate the typical expense of long-term service contracts whilst gaining the advantage of a product that sets new standards of hygiene and consumer choice for its customers.

[wole] 09/3/2005 17:16

This looks fine to me.
All the best!
Wole

[stingray1690] 09/3/2005 17:03

Wole, thanks for starting the other thread....but i thought your header was a bit to long so i tried to summarise the key points in this header and narrow it down a bit, if iam missing anything let me know.......definately one to watch

Regards S

[stingray1690] 09/3/2005 16:56

• The group has devised the first significant advance in drink vending machine technology for fifty years
• Existing machines increasingly being viewed as unhygienic (one recent Government study concluded that up to '23 per cent of the nozzles of automatic vending machines [tested] were contaminated with E coli')
• As a result of their being fewer components involved and reduced need for servicing, In Cup can charge less for its machines than competitors whilst still generating higher margins
• It raised a further £500,000 of pre-IPO finance in October
• It had originally hoped to raise £1.3m of new money but such has been the demand for its shares, the figure is likely to be closer to £2m.
• Daniel Stewart is forecasting pre-tax profits of £576,000 in 2006, doubling to £1.1 million in 2007
• The market for vending machines was worth £3.2 billion in 2003 and has the advantage of being reasonably transparent
• Vending machines have a typical life span of around 5 years, so there is a clear replacement cycle in which around 20% of the market comes up for grabs every 5 years
• Recently signed a contract with BA for a machine trial at Heathrow Airport and is currently in discussions with a major international food group
• The group has already booked one-third of their 2005 forecast orders by January




The prospectus can be found at by clicking on 'new issues'