Maxima Holdings Share Discussion Threads

[orangerabbit] 28/1/2011 10:10

..... if they are able to move the business forward (without the non-core / legacy business dragging down revenues too sharply) they stand a very good chance of attracting a much higher valuation. Based on K3 they look cheap, plus MXM are further ahead with regards to services on reoccurring revenues. Other industry players may also become interested in acquiring the stable managed-service client base

[envirovision] 28/1/2011 09:44

looks like we are heading for 1.60 i wonder how soon it will be. I bought in yesterday.

[puku] 23/1/2011 11:00

they have been focussing on core products - revenue down but eps much better. !Many benefits still to be realised. Lots of new customers. Enquiries, pipeline and orders improved. share price strong, looking forward to Interim.

[orangerabbit] 07/1/2011 10:06

Can't disagree that it appears a low pe but I dont like the "these positive developments have been offset by revenue declines in areas where we have chosen to scale back our presence. " this could go lower on poor results IMO

[puku] 21/12/2010 14:49

yes - they made 13.4 adj eps last year so say at least 15p this year the forward pe is only 6 - much too low. I missed KBT rise but see similar action here.

[tech] 17/12/2010 09:11

Good trading update today

[marben100] 13/10/2010 20:09

Hi GHF,

I can see no cause either. Just v thin volume meaning any trades move the price, I suspect.

Cheers,

Mark

[glasshalfull] 13/10/2010 10:42

Seems to be a shortage of stock....up further 6.3%. Only 3k buys and I see a 3k sale (at premium to bid).

Still way short of 130p target price but haven't seen any news or any fresh "buy" recommendations recently which have acted as catalyst. Anyone....?

Regards,
GHF

[glasshalfull] 11/10/2010 19:28

Just shows you how illiquid this stock is.
Up 10.64% on 15k worth of buys on LSE and 1,389 shares on PLUS ( 2 x buys of 1,000 and 389 respectively :-)

Can we now assume that there is little stock around?

Regards,
GHF

[tole] 08/10/2010 10:23

Anglian Building Products selects MAXcel ERP solution from Maxima
30th September 2010

Specialist provider of insulation solutions targeting significantly reduced time-to-paybacks

Maxima, the leading IT business systems and managed services company, has announced a further sales success for its Business Solutions operation, with a contract from Anglian Building Products Ltd to develop and implement an ERP solution based on the company's next generation MAXcel software suite. The solution will combine Maxima's MAXcel apps expertise with the agility and flexibility of the Microsoft® Dynamics® AX platform.

According to Craig Lyon, IT Development Director at Anglian Building Products Ltd: "We'll be using MAXcel to help manage our business process from planning, procurement and delivery through to final installation and after-sales support. We're expecting the focus and agility of our new MAXcel solution to significantly reduce time-to-payback for Anglian Business Products."

Maxima Chief Executive Officer Graham Kingsmill added: "We're delighted to see our Business Solutions operation gaining momentum and winning important contracts in Microsoft Dynamics AX activities - one of our key target areas."

Maxima's MAXcel suite of integrated business apps integrates the scalability and flexibility of the Microsoft Dynamics product line with Maxima's proven industry expertise to provide organisations with a powerful suite of sector-specific business applications at a significantly lower cost of ownership than more generic enterprise alternatives. In addition to core Microsoft Dynamics AX functionality, MAXcel offers specific apps for contract sales, contract management, contract manufacturing, asset/plant hire, service and maintenance and subcontractor management.

About Anglian Building Products:
Anglian Building Products was first established over 30 years ago and is a specialist in the provision of insulation solutions to both the business-to-business and public sector throughout England, Scotland and Wales. It is a division of Anglian Windows Limited, which has an annual turnover of approximately £224 million and employs some 2,500 people throughout the UK. For more information, please visit www.anglian-building.co.uk.

[tole] 08/10/2010 09:41

A few small buys here today - and coming in at a 1p premium above the offer bodes well.

[marben100] 27/9/2010 11:28

Hi GHF,

I tend to agree that the share price well reflects the current economic outlook, which is why I remain invested.

Sorry that I can't recall a discussion about the debt - but I note that operating cashflow is strongly positive and a substantial amount of debt was repaid last year. The only point I do recollect was that David Memory did indicate that there may have been some one-off gains from tightening credit control - so cashflow might be slightly less strong this year.

The London competency centre has been delayed, for two reasons AIUI. Firstly, negotiations with a prospective landlord broke down, as an acceptable rental couldn't be agreed. Secondly, as I indicated, Maxima are finding that the location of the Centre at Reading is convenient for Maxima's London-based clients, so may be adequate. No discussion regarding the fourth CC.

Cheers,

Mark

[glasshalfull] 27/9/2010 00:21

Thanks Mark.

Firstly I am delighted to here your snippet about AiW. I'm sure a considerable number of investors such as myself have sent him good wishes, so pleasing to hear that he's bearing up.

Interesting notes which indicate that the market is fairly difficult given the economic backdrop. But I believe this is more than taken into account with recent shareprice while a number of their small cap peers have been moving north of late.
The RNS announcement confirmed in-line trading and therefore consensus forecasts suggest £5m PTP and 13.9p EPS for the year.

If I may enquire, was the net debt figure discussed or company's expectations for year end net debt position? The final results mentioned the fact that they had reduced net debt ahead of market expectations and I'm not aware of forecasts for net debt at the end of the current financial year.

I also found your last note interesting re. any MBO. If Maxima are continue their strong cash generation then I would thought that the current valuation may be attracting some interest. For a small cap I'm been impressed with the number of influential institutional holders....Artemis Alpha, Octopus, Herald, Malborough Special Situations, etc. I'm sure they also wouldn't let it go at a knockdown price.

I presume that the other 2 competency centres are on track as the company previously advised? End of calendar year from memory?

Anyway, greatly appreciate your post.

Kind regards,
GHF

[marben100] 25/9/2010 18:40

Hi GHF et al,

I was pleased to unexpectedly bump into AliceInWonder1 at the AGM. He seems to be bearing up well, I'm glad to say.

Here are my notes from the Q&A and chat:

MARKET CONDITIONS

- Impact of the loss of the QAD relationship on like-for-like revenues: -5% year-on-year.
- Client confidence is mixed, some reporting good market conditions (eg a flooring specilaist), others weaker.
- Not much direct exposure to the public sector but construction industry clients may be affected by cutbacks.

CLOUD COMPUTING

- Maxima feels it has a competitive advantage in offering "cloud computing" solutions because of its skills base/mix, with network hardware & software solutions being a core skill. Competitors with a more software focussed skill set may struggle more.
- CAPEX to provide cloud computing infrastructure is incremental, with hardware being "plug and play" to upgrade capacity. Maxima rent data-centre space, as necessary. Where up-front CAPEX is needed, this will be funded from straightforward cashflow/debt, not lease finance.
- The reality, however, is that cloud computing still in its infancy and there is a lot of hype.

STAFF, SERVICE & COSTS

- There are now 20-25 staff at Cheltenham. The lease runs until 2018. There have been some enquires from prospective tenants but safest to assume the premises aren't relet (as reflected in accounting provisions). Maxima have vacated a significant part, ready for reletting.
- The current year analyst assumption is for a further £0.75m charge for redundancy & reorganisation costs, as organisation change is not yet complete.
- Clients have expressed satisfaction with the provision of out-of-hours support from Hyderabad (and with the cost savings it brings).
- Part-time & flexible working are both appreciated by UK-based staff and allow Maxima to match staff costs to demand.
- Much of the accounting function (some 12-15 staff) remain based in Glasgow, which keeps costs down
- Customer visits to the new "competency centres" are running ahead of plan. They offer an informal environment for clients to view and discuss applicable technologies & services. The AGM was held in part of the Thames Valley competency centre, which was very close to the M4/J12. Customers find this convenient & those based in central London tend to welcome some quieter time outside the capital.

FINANCIAL & CORPORATE

- The bank covenant specifies a maximum net debt:EBITA of 2.7x, reducing to 2.5x in one year
- Kelvin is taking more of a back seat now, happy to leave the day-to-day operations in the hands of Graham & David
- Kelvin, personally, would not want to participate in an MBO & would have to be bought out in the event that management wish to proceed down this avenue. IMO this affords some protection to other shareholders against a "Touchstone style" outcome. ;0)

Cheers,

Mark

[glasshalfull] 23/9/2010 23:48

HB Comment.....with nice price target.

Maxima (MXM, 72p, £18.19m)

Maxima (MXM, 72p, £18.19m) AGM trading update has confirmed Q1 is in-line with expectations. It also announced a contract win with Addison Lee for its SAP Business Objects EDGE Business Intelligence Solution. The group is winning significant business and that encourages us to reiterate the BUY with a 114p price target. (Julian Tolley)


Regards,
GHF

[glasshalfull] 23/9/2010 07:24

marben - Would greatly appreciate any update from the AGM either on or off board.

Kind regards,
GHF

[glasshalfull] 23/9/2010 07:24

Welcome steg.

AGM statement out



and news of decent contract win



In line trading while CEO comments;

"I am pleased to report on the company's progress towards delivering on the plans we presented to shareholders a year ago. As outlined at the time, we are investing in our people, intellectual property and infrastructure capabilities. Additionally, our plan to concentrate the Maxima business around the provision of Business Solutions and Support Enablement Services is gaining momentum following these investments."

Sounds okay to me and belies the current shareprice fall if they are on target to achieve c.14p EPS for the coming year, or £5m PBT on a market cap of £17.5m.
Yes, net debt was £11m but the strong cashflow reduced that by £4m last year and I would expect a similar reduction this year.

BLASH

Regards,
GHF

[stegrego] 21/9/2010 17:53

Poked a toe in here today at 72.

[marben100] 17/9/2010 17:29

Hi GHF et al,

FYI I am planning to attend the AGM.

Whilst, like you, I think Maxima has a strong lineup, my reservation is that they may be swimming against the tide in a very tricky UK economy. Most of my investments have more exposure to the Far East and emerging markets.

Nevertheless, good to see Maxima focussing on improving its clients' operational efficiency & cost saving. That's the best sales message in this climate.

Cheers,

Mark

[glasshalfull] 17/9/2010 17:09

Should also post link to further recent contract wins ;-)



Contract successes and major new MAXcel applications launch for Maxima

Maxima Holdings plc (AIM: MXM), the IT business systems and managed services company, announces that it has been awarded major contracts by Hill & Smith Ltd and SPI npower.

Posted via Industry Today. Are you into it? Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday

Maxima Holdings plc (AIM: MXM), the IT business systems and managed services company, announces that it has been awarded major contracts by Hill & Smith Ltd and SPI npower. Both contracts are to develop and implement next generation business management systems based on Maxima's MAXcel business applications suite. Maxima has also introduced a next generation of its MAXcel software suite that leverages the power of the Microsoft Dynamics® AX platform to help take the cost, complexity and risk out of major enterprise software projects.

Production and planning support for Hill & Smith Ltd
Hill & Smith will move from their existing ERP system to Maxima's next generation MAXcel solution -powered by Microsoft Dynamics AX. This will deliver support for Hill & Smith's specific construction supply chain and contract manufacturing requirements. Maxima's clearly structured implementation approach will fast track Hill & Smith's time to benefit and project payback.

SPI npower selects MAXcel for financial reporting and contract management support
The SPI npower energy services business has also selected Maxima's MAXcel as its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution of choice. Maxima's 25 years of industry expertise in delivering world-class systems and services to construction and service maintenance clients, along with its Microsoft Gold Partner status, were key factors behind SPI npower's decision. MAXcel was also able to deliver on measurable efficiency indicators.

Launch of next generation MAXcel applications
With the launch of its next generation suite of MAXcel business applications, the company has integrated the scalability and flexibility of the Microsoft Dynamics product line with Maxima's proven industry expertise to provide customers with a powerful suite of sector-specific business applications at a significantly lower cost of ownership than more generic enterprise alternatives.

Maxima Chief Executive Officer Graham Kingsmill commented: "Aligning Maxima with the largest and most influential technology partners - such as Microsoft - is a key strategy for the company. The announcement of these two contracts - and the launch of the next generation of our MAXcel business applications suite - shows that this is proving a winning strategy for Maxima. MAXcel's flexibility and its rapid time to payback are already proving particularly attractive for organisations in our key contract management, service management and manufacturing sectors."

Maxima (AIM:MXM) www.maxima.co.uk is a leading IT business systems and managed services company, providing Business Solutions and Support Enablement Services to over 1,400 organisations across the UK, Ireland and the USA. The company's core service offerings include virtualisation, unified infrastructure and communications, business intelligence and comprehensive Microsoft Dynamics AX/CRM solutions for key sectors including construction, manufacturing and services.

Regards,
GHF

[glasshalfull] 17/9/2010 17:07

Hi marben,

Good to see that you still see value in MXM.

I've noticed a few peers perk up of late with the likes of KBT coming in with decent figures.

We should get an AGM statement on current trading next week, 23rd from memory.

Worth posting the all important outlook from recent results:-

"In recent months we have noticed signs of improved confidence, which have enabled us to start benefiting from the changes and investments that we have made in Maxima. As a result of a pick-up in sales during the second half of the year, we have entered the new financial year with a strong order book. Trading in the first quarter of the new financial year has been encouraging and we look forward to 2011 with confidence that this year of investment has positioned the Company for future growth."

I've picked up a few more at or around mid 70's. Reckon this is a very strong management line up and will prove to be a a cracking price when looking back in 12/18 months.

BLASH

Regards,
GHF

[marben100] 10/9/2010 20:44

Great minds think alike. ;0) Me too, today. Cheap enough at this price.

[glasshalfull] 09/9/2010 07:44

Over a month since there was a post on this thread.

I also thought the results fairly decent, with management teams strategy beginning to gain traction. The shareprice has continued to slide and I've picked up a few in the low/mid 70s

Pleasing announcement of contract wins this morning and CEOs comments noting the "gaining of momentum".

Regards
GHF

[marben100] 04/8/2010 16:11

Yup, considering general conditions, perfectly decent results & I feel that the business is doing the right things. Most significant for me, is cash generation of £6.1m from operations, resulting in net debt reduction from £15.5m to £11.8m.

However, I am very nervous about the outlook for the UK generally, so am cautious.

Cheers,

Mark

[campbed] 04/8/2010 11:59

IMO these results aren't great but they aren't horrible like Dnfa says. They are in line with broker forecast made after end of year trading update released on 17 June.

Adjusted EPS of 13.4p puts MXM on trailing PER of 6 at share price of 80p. Broker forecast is for ca. 10% improvement but hopefully MXM will do better. Very many microcaps are now on similar lowly PER's but beginning to see recovery. Think I'd rather have at least most of my capital invested on an earnings yield of at least 16% (inverse of PER) and dividend yield of 3.75% rather sitting in bank at ca. 1%.