Ncc Share Discussion Threads

[rivaldo] 07/7/2016 12:12

Comment from the respected Techmarketview - NCC are in "rude health":



Most interesting comments imo are:

"An indication of how far the security line has progressed is that NCC says it is able to lead bids and does not have to look for support from larger parties as its capability runs from research, through response and to preventative protection and threat intelligence (using machines learning techniques)."

"Cotton said the business is in a sweet spot as organisations increase their understanding of risk, including around SaaS, and take the learning through to in-house applications, which helps drive the escrow business."

[masurenguy] 07/7/2016 11:21

Final dividend increased by 17.5% to 3.15p making it 4.65p for the year (up 16.8%).

[tmfmayn] 07/7/2016 10:58

Hi Masurenguy -- no, I am not a shareholder. Just an observer.

[masurenguy] 07/7/2016 10:26

Hi Mayn - are you a shareholder here? The adjusted NCC shareprice has more than doubled since the ACM shares were converted in May last year.

[rivaldo] 07/7/2016 10:18

Peel Hunt say Buy today with a 325p target:

[tmfmayn] 07/7/2016 09:53

From the results:

"Audit committees do not always have the necessary skill, gravitas, capability or mandate to deal with what is a daily threat. It is also unclear what cyber expertise and know-how a non-executive accountant would bring."

NCC has four non-exec accountants on its board. Presumably they are not adding much cyber expertise to this business.

[dan_the_epic] 07/7/2016 09:48

I've gone short here at 292. The cash flows are really not all the great, and the balance sheet leaves a lot to be desired.

TP a hell of a lot lower.

[jovi1] 07/7/2016 09:48

Very low volume strange

[masurenguy] 07/7/2016 09:14

Fourth largest gainer (behind PSPI, TSG & SPD) on the LSE so far this morning! :-)

[igoe104] 07/7/2016 09:07

Yes gents, I couldn`t it better myself.

Manchester evening news take.

[rivaldo] 07/7/2016 07:47

Cracking results indeed - adjusted PBT is ahead of expectations at £37m compared to forecasts, whilst EPS is bang on expectations.

In addition to the outlook in the above post, NCC say "Across the Group, the current financial year has started well", and rightly highlight the high recurring income.

Shame about the Domain Services withdrawal, but that's historic now and the business is clean going forward.

Most importantly, "The Group's total renewals and order books now stand at £104.6m (2015: £62.7m), and "The outlook for NCC Group remains very positive".

[masurenguy] 07/7/2016 07:20

Cracking set of results ! "Group's forecast contracted recurring revenue and current order book up 67% to £104.6m (2015: £62.7m). Group contracted recurring revenues are £48.5m"

RNS Number : 4755D
NCC Group PLC
07 July 2016
Final Results

Continued rapid growth of international cyber security drives profits up 48%

NCC Group plc (LSE: NCC or "the Group"), the independent global cyber security and risk mitigation expert, has reported its full year results for the 12 months to 31 May 2016.

Highlights

§ Group revenue up 56% to £209.1m (2015: £133.7m), organic growth 19%

§ Group EBITDA* up 48% to £43.7m (2015: £29.5m) before £18.9m exceptional charge

§ Group adjusted operating profit* up 46% to £38.4m (2015: £26.4m)
o Assurance operating profit up 52% to £25.8m (2015: £17.0m)
o Escrow operating profit up 6% to £20.1m (2015: £18.9m)

§ Group adjusted profit before tax* up 45% (2015: 1%) to £37.0m (2015: £25.5m)

$ Adjusted fully diluted earnings per share up 19% to 11.2p (2015: 9.4p)

§ Total dividend up 17% to 4.65p (2015: 3.98p) - since July 2004 flotation, dividend increased from 0.42p to 4.65p, CAGR of 25%

Operational

§ Fox-IT integration on track - global roll out of services expected to start during current financial year

§ Accumuli fully integrated - focus on substantial cyber security market opportunities

§ Strongest Escrow revenue growth in 10 years

§ Withdrawal from Domain Services but domain security capability retained
o Open Registry to be realised and other assets written down
o Exceptional charge of £13.7m, including £0.9m cash cost
§ Employees increased by 40% to 1,857 worldwide (2015: 1,388)

§ First PLC to form Cyber Security Committee - on a par with Audit and Remuneration Committees

Outlook for 2016/2017

§ Group's forecast contracted recurring revenue and current order book up 67% to £104.6m (2015: £62.7m). Group contracted recurring revenues are £48.5m

* All Group adjusted figures exclude the amortisation of acquired intangibles, exceptional charges, share-based charges and unwinding of discount on deferred consideration.

Rob Cotton, Group Chief Executive, comments: "This has been a year of notable progress for the business. We fully integrated Accumuli, considerably expanded our capabilities with the acquisition of Fox-IT and delivered a significant increase in earnings, up 19% - and increased dividends by 17%, a 12 year CAGR of 25%. The threat intelligence capabilities that Fox-IT brings to the Group are proving to be a key point of differentiation. We look forward with increasing confidence as we roll out its services to customers across the Group. The threat of being hacked or having valuable data stolen continues to grow at a seemingly unstoppable pace. With our global reach and increased product range, we remain tightly focused on exploiting the opportunities to deliver sustained long term growth.

The cybercrime arms race is the single biggest threat to corporates and individuals globally particularly as cybercrime is not bound by national borders or political and trade treaties. Regardless of when or how the various negotiations develop with the EU, if the UK wants to trade with the EU on equal terms, UK data protection standards will have to be equivalent to the EU's General Data Protection Regulations ("GDPR"). For the UK to do business with the EU, or any other country for that matter, it is vital that data protection standards and legislation is of the highest order.

Although cyber threats are now an everyday occurrence for businesses and individuals alike, there needs to be a cultural shift as it is clear that the required behavioural change at all levels is severely lagging. A recent government cyber survey of FTSE 350 companies indicated that only 33% of boards understood their appetite for cyber risk - 67% do not! All listed companies should have a Board-led Cyber Security Committee. As such, we are creating a Cyber Security Committee to sit alongside our Audit and Remuneration Committees."

[rivaldo] 04/7/2016 11:50

Further to the above news re NCC and Darktrace, I just read this nice piece about the latter:



"The arrival of AI

The third, and potentially most interesting technology-related theme of the show was the notable increase in AI and machine learning technology within cyber defence solutions. And the vendor that stood out for us was Cambridge-based Darktrace, backed of course by the inimitable Dr Mike Lynch, through his VC fund Invoke Capital and, more recently, Summit Partners. Darktrace utilises Bayesian technologies in its Enterprise Immune System technology to detect threats that, it claims, cannot be detected by traditional defences, by analysing patterns of behaviours in the network. Already something of a darling of the sector, it definitely feels like one to watch."

[jovi1] 22/6/2016 17:25

let hope for the remain vote that should help or at least don't damage opportunity

[rivaldo] 09/6/2016 11:27

Cheers igoe104 - that's very good news as Darktrace is pretty well respected as a market leader AFAICS.

[igoe104] 09/6/2016 09:34

cyber criminals targeted by Darktrace and NCC alliance.

[igoe104] 31/5/2016 21:03

By Edward Sheldon - Tuesday, 31 May, 2016 | More on: ARMNCC

While London is slowly becoming recognised as a global technology hub, when it comes to investing, it’s fair to say that there’s not an abundance of high quality tech companies listed in the UK.

Having said that, here are two strong performing UK-based tech stocks with plenty of future growth potential.

Smartphone technology

It’s almost impossible to mention UK technology stocks and not mention ARM Holdings (LSE: ARM). ARM develops the microprocessor technology at the heart of many digital electronic devices including smartphones, tablets, sensors and servers.

There’s every chance you’ll use ARM technology today without even knowing it.

ARM is a big player in the smartphone market and concerns about future smartphone growth have seen the company’s share price stutter recently.

And while smartphone growth may indeed stall, you can be sure that ARM won’t be standing still. The company has a strong focus on R&D, and this should help propel the tech giant’s revenues going forward. In 2015, ARM invested £217m in R&D to broaden the product portfolio, and another £74m was invested in acquisitions to accelerate product development and create new revenue streams.

One area I’m particularly excited about in relation to ARM is the Internet of Things (IoT). In layman’s terms, this basically means devices talking to each other. It’s an enormous growth market and one that ARM has large aspirations to be part of.

As one of the most popular tech stocks in the world, ARM has often traded on eye-watering multiples. And with the company’s strong record of revenue and earnings growth, combined with high cash flow generation and very little debt, it’s not hard to understand why ARM has been such a popular stock for growth investors.

After a recent share price correction, ARM’s P/E ratio now stands at around 28 times next year’s earnings. Although this seems a little high at face value, given that ARM has grown its revenues at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19% over the last five years, this P/E ratio is probably justified.

ARM Holdings is a high quality company, and while its share price may have plateaued for now, I’m confident the growth story isn’t over here.

Cyber security specialist

In terms of hot sectors, it doesn’t come much hotter than cyber security right now. High on the agenda for any business leader, cyber security is a huge growth area and one company well positioned to capitalise on this theme is £800m market cap NCC Group (LSE: NCC).

Based in Manchester, NCC Group has plans to become the leading player in the expanding global cyber security market, as advanced threats continue to drive security spending.

A rapid acquisition spree in recent years has seen revenues grow from £47.6m in 2010 to £133.7m in 2015, a CAGR of almost 23%, and shareholders have done very well in this time, with the share price rising from around 100p five years ago to almost 300p today.

A trading update in late April revealed strong momentum across the group, with revenue in the 10 months to the end of March growing at an impressive 60% year-on-year.

On a P/E ratio of 27 times next year’s earnings, NCC Group isn’t trading cheaply, but this is an exciting company with potential for plenty of growth on the horizon.



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[gswredland] 23/5/2016 17:43

Hi guys

Do you know if he is tipping HCM after the fall please?

[rivaldo] 23/5/2016 10:36

NCC's Typofinder can be used to defeat web site copycats and scammers:

[nfs] 12/5/2016 13:30

Agreed rivaldo

[rivaldo] 12/5/2016 13:14

NCC going well now after the trading update.

OT : nfs, indeed he did :o)) FDP is a great company, but too expensive now imo, though HCM is more interesting after the fall.

[nfs] 11/5/2016 16:38

Thanks rivaldoMark slater always speaks wellI assume he mentioned HCM and FDP too ?

[rivaldo] 11/5/2016 11:58

I forgot to mention - I went to the UK Investor show the week before last, and Mark Slater specifically tipped NCC in his speech/presentation as one of his stocks for the coming year.

Which was nice.

[rivaldo] 09/5/2016 09:43

Statistics to make every company wince - and to take up NCC's services:



"Two Thirds Of Big U.K. Businesses Suffer a Cyber Attack
May 8, 2016

Two-thirds of big businesses in the United Kingdom have experienced a cyber attack in the last year, according to the government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey, the BBC reported. The attacks mostly came from malware, viruses or spyware. A quarter of the big companies suffered a cyber breach once a month at minimum.

Ed Vaizey, the Digital Economy Minister, said it was critical for businesses to be able to protect data. The Internet-linked attacks have cost millions of pounds in some cases.

Talk Talk Attack Raises Awareness

The government released the results of the survey along with the Cyber Governance Health Check, which launched after the October Talk Talk cyber attack.

etc"