Ant Plc Share Discussion Threads

[chrisdgb] 02/6/2009 10:27

Looks like Arbuthnot putting some business through..

[chrisdgb] 26/5/2009 11:11

Can anybody get the Arbuthnot research?????

They have Strong Buy, 40p target..

[chrisdgb] 21/5/2009 16:43

good solid move on a difficult day..

[varies] 21/5/2009 10:49

robble george
I too am a shareholder and have been adding recently.
Looking at the commentary you posted on 14 May which was, as you say, some years out of date I see that revenues were expected to reach £12 million soon whereas the outcome for 2008 was only £3.7m.
It is sad to recall how often these companies "of the future" fall far short of expectations for their first few years after flotation.
Is there a particular reason in this case or did the brokers simply get enthused by a generous lunch ?
I think we have a couple of years to wait here before ANTP goes into profit but someone else in the business may come in with an offer before then

[chrisdgb] 21/5/2009 08:32

Yes we could do with a bit of coverage in the next few days and this will be on its way to 50p, which is where I think it should be.

[fenland_tiger] 21/5/2009 08:09

"I am pleased to report that trading has progressed well in the year to date. We
continue to see encouraging growth in our markets and since the start of the
year have signed new licence deals with major device manufacturers. Particularly
encouraging was the high level of interest shown in the Company's products at
the IPTV World Forum in March, at which we were able to announce the shipping of
our 10 millionth unit worldwide. We continue to work with some of the world's
largest television device manufacturers and operators, assisting them with their
IPTV roll-out strategies and believe the potential for our market continues to
be significant. Indicators remain positive, and we look forward to a successful
year ahead."


Looks far too cheap with these prospects, good backing of the share price with cash, low cash burn and the fact they are not far off profitability.

[chrisdgb] 15/5/2009 11:49

topped up again this morning....looking forward to the AGM...

[ddman] 15/5/2009 09:37

Market cap just 1.7m above 6m cash levels and burnt just 300k last year - bit silly for a business growing and likely to grow more from the digital age. Will be interested to see if they reiterate that they are on target for growth in the AGM statement next week.

[fenland_tiger] 14/5/2009 12:32

Chart buying? News? Looking good for a run up to 50p by next week. AGM on the 21st this month.

[robble george] 14/5/2009 12:07

Decent play at these levels given the cash. A lot of the article below written a couple of years ago still holds true but they came to the market too early, still good play for the run-in to digital right up to 2012.

Shrewd backed ANT is flying


By Joanne Wallen, Associate Editor

Shares in new AIM entrant ANT have risen 67% in the past week and have caught the attention of Citywire AAA-rated fund manager Giles Hargreave, who has invested in the stock for all four of his funds; we look at what all the fuss is about.

ANT (ANTP) provides embedded browser software for set-top boxes (STBs), and in particular for the new IP/TV boxes needed to run television over the upgraded telecoms networks that most of the major incumbent operators are developing.

The browser controls the user interface to digital television services, and enables content providers to both create content and update it without the need to change or upgrade the set-top box.

But ANT is no start-up. Its software is already being used in most of the major trials and rollouts of IP/TV across the world. Set-top box makers including Pace, Amino, Sagem, Samsung and Thomson are all using ANT's browser, and the company is working with 'all the major influencers', according to chief executive Simon Woodward, such as middleware vendors like Alcatel and the major chip vendors.

The beauty for ANT is that once a content provider creates the content to run with an ANT browser, it would need to completely re-write it to run on any other software.

The browser has been included in more than 30 roll-outs to date, and Woodward said he thinks ANT's browsers have been shipped in more IPTV set-top boxes than any other TV browser. The most significant commercial rollouts to date, including those by France Telecom, SaskTel (Canada), Chunghwa Telecom (Taiwan) and Softbank in Japan, all use ANT's technology.

ANT has a good pedigree that goes back to before IP/TV was even being talked about. The company, formed in 1993, was involved in the reference design for a device first touted by Sun Microsystems in the 1990's called the network computer. According to Woodward, the set-top box has effectively become a network computer, hence the suitability of ANT's browser.

The company has also signed a deal with Alcatel, under which every roll out of IP/TV using Alcatel's middleware, also uses ANT's browser.

In the year to December, ANT's revenues increased by 29% £2.22 million, with an operating loss of £867,000. House broker KBC Peel Hunt is looking for impressive growth this year and next. For this year it is forecasting revenues of £4.2 million with a loss of £300,000 and next year turnover of £12.1 million with pre-tax profits of £2.8 million.

ANT's is not the only embedded browser software available. One well-known competitor is Opera. However Opera's software was originally developed for the PC, and has been successfully adapted for use in PDAs and phones. Woodward believes ANT's software is better adapted to devices like the STB, which does not have a powerful central processing unit (CPU).

It is still early days for the IP/TV market, but almost all of the major telcos are looking at it and Woodward said that the cable players are also considering running IP-based TV over cable.

The company has 'not yet engaged with BT', but BT is aware of ANT and has apparently seen a demonstration using ANT's software.

Independent research suggest that the IPTV market will grow significantly over
the next few years, with the number of units shipped globally forecast to
increase from 2 million in 2004 to 26 million in 2008.

Woodward recognises that as the market grows, so will the competition. This was particularly why the company wanted to come to market, to 'strengthen our commercial position in order to defend our market share'.

The company raised £11.2 million through a placing of 8 million shares at 126p. Hargreave bought 60,000 shares at flotation for his Keydata AIM VCT, and told Citywire that he had also invested in ANT for his other three funds, the Marlborough UK Special Situations, UK Microcap and UK Leading Companies funds.

So he has done staggeringly well so far. Shares are currently up 13p at 210.5p, valuing the business at £51 million.

Citywire Verdict:
As Peel Hunt's forecasts show, ANT could be in for explosive growth in the next few years. Unfortunately the private investor is unlikely to have the opportunity to buy in at 126p again.

At this price it may be time to let the froth settle, but ANT should certainly fly in the next few years.

[ddman] 14/5/2009 11:42

RTS is another - bid talks and has doubled from its trading at cash levels price.
Good way of getting a hand on cash for many companies given the problems in raising funds.

[ddman] 14/5/2009 11:27

The small caps trading at cash levels have been doing well. This one has a lot more legs as still trading at little more than cash with low cash burn.

Inditherm tripled for example from 4p. I can see ANT trading at 60p plus short-term based on cash and the fact that sales are growing. They gave a positive statement and anticipated further growth this year in their last results. Transfer to digital means that not only is the share price supported by cash but in for almost free is a growing business in a sector that should grow regardless of recession.

[yangou] 14/5/2009 11:02

This ones been stagnant for some time . But its my best riser this morning in these bearish markets. Whoopee!

[yangou] 13/5/2009 09:16

Buying a few this morning. Would have bought more but BLNX is having lift off

[chrisdgb] 12/5/2009 10:55

Just bought some more, business I reckon must be flying. AGM soon...

[yangou] 10/5/2009 16:26

Thought about buying these back some weeks ago but never did. Must take a look to see what i can sell as i still like these. Did you see the tech programme on tv called click the other morning? Was all about the changing scene in televisions with what could be connected and specialy adapted for viewing web tv programmes etc. So ANT has certainely got a good future so at least one for the long term.

[chrisdgb] 08/5/2009 10:26

With the net cash/business prospects/relationships it cannot be long before this company is bid for???

Anyone else looking..?

[l.parker] 17/4/2009 15:31

Oh my god! someones gone & woke them up. When are we going to see hard drives
in mass production TV sets?,perhaps someone who is a responsible for this Co.
someone who really wants to keep the shareholders in the loop,someone who is
concerned at the lack of forward movement of this shower, will feel concered.
I know people will say I'm moaner & if you buy shares it's a gamble,therefore
I have to put up with the results, but that dosn't mean you can't ask for
reasons for little progress.

[l.parker] 26/1/2009 09:55

At last some movement with this sleepy old tart, my god! however did I talk myself into investing my hard earned lolly in this lot, I'll never learn!!!

[wjccghcc] 07/11/2008 09:31

They'd probably say that it's not material to the results (at least for this year and next) but agree it tends to happen quite often here.

[l.parker] 07/11/2008 08:55

How come Directors are able to buy shares in their Co. 7 days before
the info re Daewoo is available to shareholders, surely thats not right,is it?

[mjcrockett] 29/9/2008 19:01

Ant gets a mention in the October edition of Aimzine - - you have to register but it is free. Ant is mentioned in the article on 'Bucking the Trend'.

MJ

[masurenguy] 14/9/2008 12:55

Growth Company Investor
11/09/2008

Restructured digital media software and services group ANT, brought to AIM at 126p in 2005, has scurried into 2008 on a high.

Guided by chief executive Simon Woodward, ANT's technology enables broadcasters, telco operators and cable companies to deliver digital content to their consumers. Used in set-top boxes, TVs and other digital devices, customers for the technology include Orange, Samsung and Cisco, as well as China's biggest set-top box maker, Coship, which recently licensed the group's 'Galio' browser for use in its latest IPTV set-top boxes.

Positive trends experienced towards the end of a transitional 2007 carried over into the first half of 2008 at ANT. Interim results to June revealed a 61% increase in sales to £1.6m, while the loss before tax was pared back by 50% to just over £1m. Gross margin expansion to 82% (2007: 77%) reflected growth in licence and royalty revenue, while ANT enjoyed a 90% surge in unit shipments to 1.51m, equating to 75% of the total units shipped in 2007, with ANT seeing a step change in new licences.

Woodward insists that the IPTV market is now experiencing meaningful growth, commenting that 'we are seeing a major increase in demand for digital products based on our technologies, driven by a growing demand within the IPTV and broader digital media markets'. Moving towards profitability, ANT reported half-time cash of £5.9m, or 24p per share. Significantly, cash alone constitutes 65% of the company's lowly market valuation, meaning that all the IP and growth within the business is going cheap. On that basis, ANT shares are worthy of a speculation.

[wjccghcc] 20/6/2008 16:27

Financial details are probably business sensitive.

I don't think there's any doubt they'll survive with shipments probably up 40%+, the advanced royalty allowances being used up so royalty cash beginning to increase significantly and 6.2mm net cash on the balance sheet. I suppose the only question is whether they'll survive as an independent entity.

[damanko] 20/6/2008 12:48

All recent posts seem (to me) relevant, & correct in what they're pointing out. As we know, it isn't rocket science to point out that cash - more so now than in less recent times - is king.

If cash is coming in as a result of this deal, if cashflow itself over the business is good, then ANT may survive. If not, it won't.

The company does itself no favours by not disclosing financial details.