Moneysupermarket.com Share Discussion Threads

[salpara111] 25/4/2014 13:18

1 Million buy at close of play yesterday......is someone building a stake?...not that I am complaining!

[salpara111] 24/4/2014 09:16

Good to see a 500K buy at the close yesterday, clearly I am not alone in thinking that they are decent value at current share price

[salpara111] 23/4/2014 12:49

The fact that moneysavingexpert is growing at 30% and is very profitable would suggest that they still have room to improve profits in the medium term.
Travel is also growing strongly so while they are undoubtedly having to increase marketing spend, if these smaller parts of the business continue to grow at double digit rates they should have little problem improving the top line.
In addition, I like the fact that they are agressively writing down the goodwill from the Moneysavingexpert acquisition so am happy for them to show EBITDA
The final point is that the business throws off cash and pays a divi that is very generous for a FTSE250 company.

[isis] 23/4/2014 12:46

Travelsupermarket reports good first quarter despite 'headwinds'
By Travolution By Travolution

April 23, 2014 09:42 AM GMT
0 Comments

Travelsupermarket revenues were 41% ahead in the first quarter of the 2014 on visitor volumes that increased by 19%.

Trading in package holidays, car hire and hotels continued to improve, supported by improvements to the products offered together with increased offline media spend, parent company Moneysupermarket.com reported ahead of the price comparison company's annual general meeting today.

Offline marketing costs were in the region of 20% ahead of the same period last year supporting new Moneysupermarket and Travelsupermarket advertising campaigns.

The group said its financial performance in the first quarter was in line with expectations.

Group revenues and EBITDA for the first quarter were 8% and 5% ahead of the same period last year respectively.

Chief executive Peter Plumb said: "Helped by our increasingly diversified business, this was a good first quarter given the headwinds we've faced since last year.

"Our investment programme is on track, including the delivery later this year of the best shopping experience for insurance customers, on mobile or desktop. The investment we are making in technology for the Money business is beginning to work well.

"I look forward to making it even easier for our customers to save more money, thanks to the £14 million we're spending on our capital investment programme this year."

- See more at:

[fugwit] 23/4/2014 12:07

I agree a bit of a mixed bag, big increase in offline marketing spend and slim increases in topline revenue which obviously has not translated into profit over the period with only 5% EBITDA growth, and if they are using the most flatering of profit methods you know the real converted EPS could well be some way lower than 5%......essentially anemic and Q2 has been flat so far. All this confirms that margins are being compressed and if they carry on like this full year margins will be a fair bit lower. I can't see where the expected big jump in net profit is going to come from with decreasing margins in 2014.

[isis] 23/4/2014 10:25

Travel and Home were well up.

I find it incredible that the new IPO tech stocks are being floated on P/E's of 100+ when we have good stocks like this languishing around.

[salpara111] 23/4/2014 10:12

trading update a bit of a mixed bag.
The mature bits of the business trading sideways but the newer bits doing really well ie Moneysavingexpert, travel etc.
They see the move to mobile apps hence the purchase recently so overall I feel comfortable about holding.

[wirralowl] 22/4/2014 20:05

Not sure, but it was tipped as Play of the Week in Shares Mag just before Easter...

[adelwire2] 22/4/2014 19:49

why the 5% jump today?

[salpara111] 14/4/2014 16:47

Well I guess the only good thing to come out of the share price slump is that Nixon will not want to dump more given that he is now getting a 4.5% yield.
I take things at their simplest and ask myself....is the company producing more revenue and profit than this time last year and the answer is yes so I expect the share price to be higher. I appreciate that Nixon has upset the apple cart by dumping epic amounts of stock into the market so I guess I will just hold for the moment.

[fugwit] 10/4/2014 19:50

Salpara111, There isn't much growth on expected EPS growth rate for 2014 to 2015 at sub 10%. Not surprising given the uplift in overheads ahead of mony. In conjunction with all those Nixon shares sloshing around it isn't too surprising to see the current price action. If the weekly 100 moving average doesn't hold then we could well see 160 and even 140 again from here.

[salpara111] 10/4/2014 18:32

Rather disappointing to see us back down at 170 again I am fully invested so wont take any more but now it is priced as a divi stock not a growth one which it still is.

[isis] 07/4/2014 19:58

Moneysupermarket.com buys finance app Ontrees
7 April 2014 4:23 pm | By Michael Glenister


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Price comparison website Moneysupermarket.com has bought website and mobile app Ontrees for an undisclosed sum.

The app has been bought from Associated Newspapers. The service, which launched in 2012, aggregates consumer bank account and credit card information and aims to simplify personal finance spending, budgeting and transaction monitoring.



Ontrees was the top ranking finance application in Apple's Appstore in February and May last year.

Finance & Technology Research Centre director Ian Mckenna says: "This is a very significant development as it gives Moneysupermarket the potential to harness aggregation tools that can help consumers take far more control of their day to day finances. We believe such services are likely to be the cornerstone of next generation advice propositions, as they make it easy to build a detailed picture of a consumer's finances.

"Organisations like Lorica and True Potential, who are building reputations for significant innovation in the area of digital advice have already made such services a key element of their proposition. This acquisition puts Moneysupermarket in a very strong position to drive further disturbance in the personal finance market. Most UK financial institutions have yet to grasp the potential of these services, this move by Moneysupermarket means they may learn the hard way."

MoneySupermarket acquired Martin Lewis' MoneySavingExpert.com in June 2012 for £87m.

[isis] 03/4/2014 12:48

Shocked. Shocked!
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Why is Wall Street acting so surprised about high-frequency trading?

By Zachary Karabell
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange after the ringing the Opening Bell on April 1, 2014 in New York City.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange after the ringing the opening bell on April 1, 2014, in New York City.
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The publication this week of Michael Lewis' new book Flash Boys has led to a heated debate about the role of high-frequency trading in today's global financial markets. The most contentious spark was Lewis' claim on 60 Minutes that the prevalence of such trading means that our markets are "rigged," an accusation that touched a nerve and set off a furious series of discussions in the past few days.

Zachary Karabell
ZACHARY KARABELL
Zachary Karabell is an author, money manager, and commentator. His most recent book is The Leading Indicators: A Short History of the Numbers That Rule Our World.

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The release of the book also coincided with news that the FBI has been investigating hedge funds that utilize high-frequency trading for possible violations of the law, including market manipulation. The FBI is not alone in its investigations. For at least two years, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have also been looking into the practices of these funds along with the preferential relationships that they have established with exchanges. For instance, many funds pay the exchanges substantial sums for "direct access" to the data feeds of the exchange and the pricing of stocks, which no individual investor could obtain.

The debate about whether these practices are benign or harmful to markets is entirely necessary. Personally, I think that the advantages enjoyed by some high-frequency traders are incompatible with fair and open markets and should be curtailed substantially-perhaps entirely.

But there is another danger here that is getting only minimal attention: that regulators, who once again are accused of being slow to respond and insufficiently vigilant, will go to the other extreme and attempt retroactively to criminalize behavior that it was fully aware of and did nothing to prevent until public opinion shifted.

As longtime market watcher Barry Ritholtz points out, none of the flurry of revelations has cast light on any dark secrets. The cozy and financially satisfying relationship between funds dedicated to high-frequency transaction and electronic exchanges that can execute trades in milliseconds has been going on for at least the past five years.

Lewis documents one company called Spread Networks that reportedly spent $300 million to lay an 825-mile cable between its servers in New Jersey and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in order to obtain data feeds more quickly. There are also numerous examples of certain funds being allowed to locate their servers in the same space as the Nasdaq exchange, among others.

Yet as surprising as these revelations are to many, market participants have been aware of them from the get-go. None of what is currently being discussed was a secret to anyone on Wall Street. The reactions are thus tantamount to a cry of being shocked, shocked, that there is gambling in Casablanca. And while the mainstream media can perhaps be excused for making as much of these sensational facts as possible, the same cannot be said of regulators who have had years to address these issues but have not.

Prosecutors react as barometers of public opinion, oscillating between complacency and zealotry.
Over the past decade-plus, a disturbing pattern has emerged. Financial regulators-starting with the SEC but extending to state attorneys general, the Federal Reserve, and a host of other agencies tasked with oversight-monitor activities and then are accused of complacency when problems erupt. Then, to compensate, they begin to investigate aggressively and bring charges, usually against lower-level employees who make easier targets. The prosecution of Fabrice Tourre, a junior Goldman Sachs executive who was complicit in the packaging of questionable mortgage-backed securities in the lead up to the near-collapse of the financial system in 2008–2009, is a perfect example.

The problem is the public need for scalps combined with the retroactive interpretation of law. Yes, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who has launched his own probe of high-speed trading, cautions that some of the behavior may not be strictly illegal even if it should be stopped. But that only underscores that much of what creates public outrage in the financial world is legal. The issue is not that a few rogue individuals break the law, though that of course happens; it's that prosecutors react as barometers of public opinion. They oscillate between complacency and zealotry in a way that may satisfy public bloodlust but does little to make our financial system fairer or to level the playing field.

In the case of high-frequency trading, there have been repeated calls on various agencies to take a harder look at the privileges enjoyed by some firms and to issue regulations that prevent the egregious front-running and assorted other techniques that allow a few firms to profit in ways that no individual-or even most institutional investors-can hope to compete with. In fairness, this system evolved only in the past decade, facilitated by the evolution of computerized, information technology–driven trading. The world often changes more rapidly than our regulatory framework, and high-frequency trading is a prime example.

We should welcome the current debate and the negative spotlight cast on high-frequency trading. But that doesn't mean that behavior that was previously deemed acceptable should be suddenly criminalized just because the pendulum shifts. The behavior can be unacceptable and be curtailed without the attendant use of state power to prosecute, fine, and potentially incarcerate. Let's end this system of high-frequency trading that makes it possible for a few firms to profit unfairly and at times distort markets, but let's do it in a way that avoids the bread-and-circuses spectacle of hunting for villains.

Our regulatory framework in general, whether in finance or any other aspect of life, has become too focused on punishment, often at the expense of meaningful societal reform. Since change and reform are what benefits us all, that is where our energies should go. Trials and scalps may garner media attention and act as proxies for reform, but they are a pallid alternative to the structural changes we actually need.

[isis] 20/3/2014 15:27

Nice to see a Director buying - I would buy too if I had the spare.

[isis] 20/3/2014 13:57

Well it looks like the HFT/Shorters are back.

Nixons stock was soon taken up and even increased the amount of the placing. Unfortunately alot of it probably went to US firms who then lend it out to Hedge Funds to short.

I would like to see a bid on this and knock them out!

Nearly every trade is AT.

[salpara111] 19/3/2014 18:16

Clearly I should not have waited for the 5.2p divi!
Holding this is starting to become tiresome and if we get a bit of a rally at some point from here then I will sell.
I am uneasy that Nixon seems to be in something of a hurry to dump his stock.

[adelwire2] 18/3/2014 21:47

I'm saddened by his keenness to constantly sell. He cant have spent all his profit from previous sales can he? Brokers, city fans generally say positive things about this share and surely Nixon would make even more by offering more stability. Don't get me wrong, never wrong to take profit..just

[isis] 18/3/2014 11:07

Billy - that's the Stockmarket for you. All Companies give share options if they meet targets.

Nixon has very little to do with the running of the Company these days - I think these would make a great bid target and that is more likely to happen without Nixon's stake.

The Divs are still good here.

[billy_liar] 18/3/2014 10:02

2 million shares handed out to 5 directors earlier this month gratis.

For ease of maths lets say worth £2 per share = MONY is handing over £4M as a bonus on top of basic salary.

Pigs at the trough springs to mind.

[salpara111] 18/3/2014 09:14

Exactly....he can sell again in 6 months if he so chooses to do so and that expectation in the market will keep a damper on the share price
This is my largest holding and showing a decent profit so I am not deramping just being realistic.

[isis] 18/3/2014 08:41

No, he has a 180 day Lock-in period now - so can't sell anymore until then.

[salpara111] 18/3/2014 08:35

Well, given the drop today and the divi on its way I think I will just hold for the next few days at least.
Having said that, anytime the share price gets close to 200p he is likely to off load so there is no point in holding over a 1 year period as he is effectively creating a large overhang on the stock.

[isis] 18/3/2014 08:30

Sold 12.9% leaving Nixon with 16.6%

Always a possible takeover here.

[dandadandan] 18/3/2014 08:28

Should have said South and going down.

GLA