Minds + Machines Share Discussion Threads

[simonsaid1] 31/1/2017 16:30

USA investor

Thanks, that was a lot easier to read! Interesting about possible institutional sell-offs.

It's obviously impossible to know what are buys and what are sells, but small numbers of large sell orders (which is what I've seen (assuming they were sells), and I track every trade of MMX) don't actually concern me too much - that can just be an institutional investor moving out for their own reasons. Either they don't like the company anymore, desperately need to recover invested funds, or are undergoing 'strategic realignment' for any number of internal reasons. It doesn't mean they have some sort of insider info or are acting as a bellweather for broader sentiment.

I would be a lot more concerned if we were seeing an avalanche of smaller sells that indicated a serious collapse in confidence. But for the most part, as far as I can tell sentiment remains positive (the main feeling is incredulity at the SP), and we know for a fact that the company is both profitable and growing, and for all the talk about 'priced in growth' the premium to book value is still pretty low for a company of this type. Simon Thompson at the IC leads a huge herd of private investors, and he has this as a buy with a 20p target price (he's updating on MMX this week which will give some uplift).

[hjb1] 31/1/2017 16:15

ha ha ! I see it's your first post here, you might have a bit of credibility if you at least read the latest RNS,s and got a few facts right...lmao!!

[simonsaid1] 31/1/2017 15:48

Please ease up a little, 'usa investor domain' - no need to post 3 times and all in block capitals. The strength of your negative sentiment is a little peculiar to me too - you're either extremely angry and worried, or you paid too much for your MMX shares, are seeking a cheap top-up, or you have a short position open.

All analysts that I can find are bullish on MMX, as are the majority of posters on ADVFN and LSE BBs. Sales appear to be doing well, renewals are forecasted to comfortably cover all OpEx going forward, so new sales are all profit, and plenty of domains have not yet been released (Toby Hall has said the plan is to sell in a planned, strategic way, not dump everything onto the market at once).

The only mystery is the stagnant stock price, which some of us now believe is behaving oddly due to some very large and aggressively priced orders through the market maker. The artificial lowering has caused fear and negative sentiment which have compounded the effect and created an organic lowering. It won't take too much positive sentiment to repair this, assuming the market makers have finished messing about and the huge buyer is out of the market.

[grupo guitarlumber] 25/1/2017 22:32

Minds + Machines Doubles Billings In 2016 And Will Swing To Earnings
Wed, 25th Jan 2017 08:39


LONDON (Alliance News) - Minds + Machines Group Ltd on Wednesday said billings doubled in 2016 after a strong first-half performance continued into the latter part of the year, and it said it will generate positive earnings rather than a loss.

The Internet domain owner and operator said total billings in 2016 amounted to USD15.8 million versus only USD7.9 million in 2015. Net of partner payments, billings for the year more than doubled to USD13.9 million, the result of the improved contribution from the group's wholly-owned top-level domains, it said.

Renewal billings in 2016 also more than doubled to USD3.8 million from USD1.8 million, with standard name renewals accounting for 57% of all renewal billings in 2016. This year, in 2017, renewal billings are expected to continue growing, with the contribution from standard names increasing in both "quantum and percentage terms".

Operating expenditures were 40% lower year-on-year at USD6.8 million versus USD12.2 million in 2015.

"In 2017 management will focus on further reducing the cost income ratio, with the goal of achieving a key cross-over point in the next 18 months where the renewal billing run-rate will be greater than that of the Group's operating expenditures. This will effectively mean that new sales, net of cost of goods, can immediately drop to the bottom-line," said Minds + Machines.

"It should be noted that billings from new registration sales grew to just under USD12million in 2016 from USD3.7million in 2015. Management believes there is significant continued scope for further substantial top-line growth given over 80% of the group's premium inventory remains unsold and there is effectively an unlimited stock of standard name inventory across Mind + Machines' portfolio," the company added.

The company expects to deliver full-year earnings before interest, tax, deprecation, amortisation and restructuring costs of USD3.5 million in 2016, swinging from the USD12.1 million loss in 2016.

"The management team is also pleased to report that the one-time restructuring of the company has been completed on time and on budget. Similarly, burdensome contract obligations entered into by previous management have now been addressed. Whilst reported figures will be impacted by one-off costs associated with these items, the business has now been restructured to deliver ongoing profitable growth," said Minds + Machines.

Minds + Machines shares were up 1.3% to 9.50 pence on Wednesday.

By Joshua Warner; [e-mail]; @JoshAlliance

[ftangftang] 25/1/2017 10:58

Minds + Machines Group boss encouraged by optimism in top-level domain space
Share
09:35 25 Jan 2017
Toby Hall, chief executive of top level domains (TLDs) seller Minds + Machines Group, tells Proactive he is very pleased with trading in 2016.
Speaking from an industry event in Las Vegas, he said there was real optimism in the GTLD space and added: "We're delighted to be able to give first real insight to our shareholders of the operational progress over the last 10 months."
He added: "For the ongoing business we have a profitable ongoing EBITDA of US$3.5mln versus what was a loss last year of US$12.2mln."

[...]

cheers
ft ft

[ftangftang] 25/1/2017 10:58

www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/stocktube/6789/minds-machines-group-boss-encouraged-by-optimism-in-top-level-domain-space-6789.html

[hjb1] 25/1/2017 07:49

Fantastic RNS! expenditure already below $6m,

[ftangftang] 25/1/2017 07:34

Trading update



Minds + Machines Group Limited (AIM:MMX), the publicly quoted owner and operator of Internet top-level domains ("TLDs"), is pleased to report topline billings growth of 100% for the year ended 31st December 2016. Total billings of $15.8million were achieved for FY 2016 compared to $7.9million for FY 2015, with the strong performance of H1 2016 continuing into H2 where billings were up 30% at $7.7million compared to the same period last year.



Net of partner payments, billings for the year increased over 115% to $13.9million as a result of the improved contribution from the Group's wholly-owned TLDs in 2016.



Importantly, renewal billings increased year-on-year by 116% to $3.8million (2015: $1.75million) with standard name renewals accounting for 57% of the renewal billings in 2016. In 2017, the Directors anticipate the renewal billings continuing to grow with the contribution from standard names increasing in both quantum and percentage terms.



2016 has also seen MMX significantly reduce the costs for the Group's ongoing operations with operating expenditures cut by over 40% to approximately $6.8million in 2016 (2015: $12.2million). Encouragingly, the figure for 2016 includes approximately $1.0million of non re-occurring costs so the Group's ongoing operating expenditures for 2017 are already below the $6.0million run-rate previously set for the year. The Directors are also pleased to report that cost of goods ("COG") in 2016 were contained to $2.5million (2015: $1.3million) in spite of a near threefold increase of domains under management to 821,136 at 31 December 2016 from 288,831 twelve months earlier.



In 2017 management will focus on further reducing the cost income ratio, with the goal of achieving a key cross-over point in the next 18 months where the renewal billing run-rate will be greater than that of the Group's operating expenditures. This will effectively mean that new sales, net of COGs, can immediately drop to the bottom-line.



It should be noted that billings from new registration sales grew to just under $12million in 2016 from $3.7million in 2015. Management believes there is significant continued scope for further substantial topline growth given over 80% of the Group's premium inventory remains unsold and there is effectively an unlimited stock of standard name inventory across MMX's portfolio.



As a result of the topline growth, operating EBITDA, before restructuring costs, as defined in the Interims, is expected to be over $3.5million for the full year ended 31 December 2016, compared to a $12.1million loss in 2015 (2015: gross profit of $101,000 less $12.2million of operating expenses).



Ongoing profitable growth

The management team is also pleased to report that the one-time restructuring of the Company has been completed on time and on budget. Similarly, burdensome contract obligations entered into by previous management have now been addressed. Whilst reported figures will be impacted by one-off costs associated with these items, the business has now been restructured to deliver ongoing profitable growth.



Toby Hall, CEO of MMX, commented:

"We now have an organisational structure in place that will allow the Group to continue growing profitably. This is particularly exciting given the phenomenal growth we are seeing in what is still effectively a nascent industry - a nascent industry that saw a net growth of over 16million registrations during 2016 - broadly in line with that of .com and all the country codes combined. As we look forward into 2017, our focus will be to continue monetising our portfolio both in terms of new registrations and renewals across our three main regions of focus - Asia, particularly China, Europe and the US, with a natural emphasis towards those markets showing greatest growth."



Geographic split

In 2016, MMX successfully penetrated the China market through the highly successful launch of .vip in May which was followed by the domain receiving government MIIT approval in December. As a result, the split of gross TLD billings across three regions of focus in 2016 was approximately: China 59%, US 24%, Europe 17%. During the year, year-on-year billings for the Group's US facing TLDs grew by approximately 22%, greatly helped by billings growth in .law and certain vertical strings such as .fit and .wedding as well as the generics .work and .casa. It is worth noting that a year-on-year drop in top-line registration numbers in a domain, as reported by sites such as ntldstats.org, does not necessarily signify a decline in billings. For example, in 2016 .work generated $392,000 off 81,000 registrations compared to $206,000 off 102,000 registrations in 2015 reflecting the use of a promotional initiative to drive registrations that year. In 2017, MMX's focus will be to continue developing gross billings, as well as domains under management, from each of the regions through its growing network of registrar and distribution partners.



Premium sales

In May 2016, MMX's management team piloted a new premium pricing policy during the launch of .vip which it believes has contributed greatly to the domain's initial success. As of January 6, 2017, a similar premium pricing policy has been introduced across all of MMX's wholly owned domains, a six month notice period having to be given to the channel to effect this change. This marks the first step in a broader business development drive which is being supported by the hiring of new staff to support this initiative. MMX's management team will be closely monitoring the progress of this activity.



New gTLD launches and geographic expansion

In 2016 the Company deliberately focused on launching one top-level domain well rather than following the approach of the previous year where multiple TLDs were introduced many of which with little business development support. During 2017, the MMX management team will follow the same approach as 2016 looking to launch no more than two domains onto the market in the year, one of which will be .boston.



The Company will also continue to explore the opportunities to introduce TLDs from one geographic region into another.



Michael Salazar, COO of MMX, commented:

"After a transformational twelve months in terms of building revenues and cutting costs, we are now beginning to see the real benefits of being a portfolio player as we start to leverage the experiences and insights gained across the portfolio."



The Company expects to publish its audited results for the year ended 31 December 2016 in April.

cheers
ft ft

[boysie72] 25/1/2017 07:24

This looks like really solid growth, and it would be a natural step to define a businesses domain at a much more granular level. The momentum is starting, so in a year or two, 9p will look silly. Unless they're taken over of course.

[hjb1] 24/1/2017 17:02

Simon, it will be out via an rns.. lse and advfn will have it on their sites and of course the website under the investor news column.

[simonsaid1] 24/1/2017 16:32

Procedural question, chaps - any idea which part of the MMX website to look at for the trading update this week? There are the RNS and the Annual/Interim Reports sections, presumably it's one of those. Anyone know for sure?

[ftangftang] 24/1/2017 08:32

mmx announces premium domain program for 2017

January 23, 2017 10:09 pm
Total elimination of premium renewal prices for all names sold from January 2017

Hello from Las Vegas, where the MMX team is a key participant in the annual NamesCon conference. With more than 1,000 domain industry players from around the world, we’re making the most of meeting our many partners, and welcoming many more into new MMX-Partner orbits.

Today we announced our new 2017 Premium Domain Program, which clicked into operation on January 6, and has been in planning and limited roll-out since mid 2016. We’ve been delighted to see that the domain industry media has widely covered our news. A selection of stories appears below:



cheers
ft ft

[ftangftang] 23/1/2017 18:07

MMX drops expensive renewals on premium domain names
BY ANDREW ALLEMANN — JANUARY 23, 2017 DOMAIN SALES 1 COMMENT

Domain names will only have a premium for the first year.

New top level domain name company MMX has dropped premium renewals on its inventory of wholly-owned top level domain names.

Previously, its premium domain names came with a higher-than-usual first-year registration price as well as high annual renewal prices. Now, buyers will only have to pay a premium for the first year. Registrants will pay standard renewal prices for subsequent years. Renewal prices vary depending on the top level domain name.

The move comes after MMX brought in a new CEO, Toby Hall, early last year to re-evaluate the business.

“MMX is committed to delivering the most domain-investor-friendly premium name programs in the industry,” Hall said. “We started the process of rebooting our strategy in July last year, when we alerted our many registrar partners that 100% of our premium names sold after January 6th 2017 would have standard, GA renewal prices. As an added incentive to strengthening our existing partnerships and building new ones, we are likewise revisiting the price tiering of all our premium inventory across the portfolio. The upshot of our new Premium Program is that all registrants will ultimately have access to much more affordable purchase opportunities with sharply reduced carrying costs.”

One of the chief complaints of the domain investor community has been that it’s difficult to invest in new top level domain names because they have to pay steep renewal prices each year to hold onto domains. It can often take several years (or more) to sell a domain to an end user, so the renewal costs add up. Also, it’s difficult to buy a domain name in a new TLD because of the need to verify if it comes with expensive renewal fees.

Rightside, another new top level domain name company, recently announced that it was lowering renewal prices on so-called Platinum Names which cost $25,000 or more to register. MMX’s price change takes this a large step further, applying to all newly-registered premium domain names.

“The ultimate goal of the Program and the wider initiatives MMX is putting in place is simple: we want to demonstrate we are great partners to have in your corner,” Solomon Amoako, VP of Channel Management for MMX, said. “If you’re a domain investor, a registrar, an aftermarket platform, a broker, or an affiliate, we’re here to structure deals that can provide excellent profit potential both for yourselves and your end-customers.”



cheers
ft ft

[ftangftang] 23/1/2017 00:09

Solomon Amoako has joined new top level domain company MMX (formerly known as Minds + Machines) as VP of Channel Management. Amoako will be responsible for sales in the Americas and Europe.

He’s a familiar face in the domain name industry, having held roles at Tucows, eNom and Sedo. Most recently, he was Chief Sales Officer and SVP at Sedo for the Americas.
Amoako will be working with the registrar channel as well as cultivating relationships with domain name investors.



MMX is now a pure-play new top level domain registry, offering domain names such as .VIP, .Law and .Miami.

cheers
ft ft

[simonsaid1] 22/1/2017 21:46

Any positive sentiment from an upbeat results call should help. There was a huge buyer this last few weeks suppressing the share price, and I highly doubt the timing was coincidental. Somebody was getting ready for something.

[hjb1] 22/1/2017 21:31

it seems some think the full year figures are out this week, it's only an update folks so don't be disappointed..some interesting news recently