Attraqt Share Discussion Threads

[william_quinn] 28/7/2018 11:20

Thank you very much p1nkfish, very helpful. Here is your answer:


Tuesday 24 April, 2018
ATTRAQT Group PLC
Holding(s) in Company
RNS Number : 9770L
ATTRAQT Group PLC
24 April 2018


24 April 2018

ATTRAQT Group plc



("ATTRAQT", the "Group" or the "Company")



Holdings in Company



ATTRAQT Group plc (AIM: ATQT), a leading provider of online merchandising, onsite search and eCommerce personalisation, announces that Andre Brown, former Chief Executive Officer of the Group, no longer holds a notifiable interest in the Company.



For further information, please contact:



ATTRAQT Group plc


via Alma PR

Nick Habgood, Interim Executive Chairman

Eric Dodd, CFO



Gemma Williams (née Owen-Smith), Head of Marketing and Communications







N+1 Singer


Tel: [phone]

Shaun Dobson, Lauren Kettle







Alma PR


Tel: [phone]

Rebecca Sanders-Hewett, Susie Hudson







About ATTRAQT



ATTRAQT Group plc specialises in onsite search, online merchandising and eCommerce personalisation with two product offerings: Freestyle Merchandising and Fredhopper. The Group's customer base is made up of over 230 client logos ranging from SMEs to global, blue-chip businesses. ATTRAQT has a strong base in the UK and western Europe, with a presence in North America, eastern Europe and ANZ. For more information, please visit: www.attraqt.com.











This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END


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[p1nkfish] 28/7/2018 11:10

The new hires do look very useful and tried and tested by 2 major shareholders in the past - a good sign. They are not unknowns and stand a good chance of putting growth into this vehicle.

[p1nkfish] 28/7/2018 11:01

Nick Habgood is via Azini partners (still involved with Azini) and Azini are an investor in OB10. A CEO of OB10 was the new Atqt CEO.

So there are new CEO & CFO both with strong links via previous employment with Azini and Kestrel. Old guard all swapped out and Bright Station out. I think that is a sign there are catalysts for real change in play.

Kestrel 19.6%
Lombard Odier 18.2%
Azini 16.2%
Hargreave Hale 8.3%
Herald Investment Trust 7.6%
Killik & Co LLP 5.6%
Artemis Investment Management LLP 4.7%
André Brown 3.1%

What will Andre Brown do with his 3%, now Wagner and Bright Station are out?

[p1nkfish] 28/7/2018 10:33

VP North America has gone after 8 months. May 17 - Jan 18.

My suspicion is that he was picked by old ATQT management and a new brush sweeps clean. A thorough house clean has been going on.

Often that is no bad thing and likely to be under the behest of major shareholders. Hence Wagner, CEO and Wagner's VC arm all out of having influence with new CFO and CEO.

Now would like to see sells mopped up by one of the existing 3%+ brigade and a holding RNS as soon as appropriate.

We all make mistakes but the share register looks reasonable and they will have all done due diligence and many in at a higher price.

[p1nkfish] 27/7/2018 21:52

CFO, Eric Dowd, appears rock solid and Kestrel have experience of him.
If anything, his involvement gives me confidence.

He's a very good hire.

If there's anything dodgy he will find it, would probably have done already, hence the Oct 2017 announcement that set the share price falling. No news since, is good news.

He joined KBC April 2015, subsequently acquired.

"KBC Advanced Technologies plc is pleased to announce that Mr Eric Dodd is to be appointed as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the KBC Group.  Eric will join KBC on 1 May 2015 and will take over from the Interim Chief Financial Officer, Andrew Hebb, who will assist with an orderly handover.  Eric will serve as a member of KBC's Executive Committee and will be appointed as a Director to the KBC Board in due course.

Eric, aged 45, joins KBC from Stanmore Implants, a venture capital backed medical technology company.  Prior to Stanmore Eric served on the boards of two listed companies:  as Chief Financial Officer of Antisoma plc and as Group Finance Director of Morse plc.  Eric qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte, has an MBA from London Business School and a BEng from Loughborough University.  He is also a non-executive director at Cambridge Cognition, an AIM listed company."

[p1nkfish] 27/7/2018 17:03

Wagner, CEO change etc. Brighthouse off the register too. A long story. A house cleaning type of process some might call it.

[p1nkfish] 27/7/2018 13:46

Allocating direct costs to the appropriate cost centre is critical and basic.
Good to see this addressed to add clarity for the future.
A lot now depends on the ability of the management and new CEO to.drive this forward.
They have the tools, No doubt some further rough edges to address, but a decent sized market to go for.

Watch ROW and Europe sales numbers going forward. ROW looks ipe for growth at £410K.
They have done exactly half revenue in ROW compared to all FY17. Too low. Expect surprise to the upside imho unless they don't bother getting out of bed in a morning.

"ATTRAQT recognises that there is a sizeable, long-term opportunity for the Group to expand in both North America and Continental Europe and we remain committed to expanding our client base in both territories."


Dyor and GLA.
 

[p1nkfish] 27/7/2018 13:19

There looks like a chance of.margin expansion if they so choose and it's still early days for the full Fredhopper integration and cross-sell to show through.

[p1nkfish] 27/7/2018 13:17

The new CEO does have his work cut out to sell but they look geared for growth.
The results didn't shock me greatly.

Goodwill is nearly always a concern post acquisitions and the move of some admin expense to COS is no big deal imho.

Cut some fat on expenses with some growth and this has a good chance of gaining momentum.

Major shareholders look well spread and reasonably sized and haven't seen a big exodus. Indeed someone might be mopping-up a few sales now.

[dplewis1] 27/7/2018 12:12

GB I agree. They don't break down their cost of sales but the incremental gross margin isn't good. I don't know the accounting principles of subscription revenue but could we see upfront costs in H1 and fewer direct costs in H2? I'd like to find out why revenue of SaaS went up by 42% when direct costs went up by 91% - as you say the 18 new heads so that could well be it. No ROI on those new hires yet if they are revenue generating roles. Seems to be like the new CEO has a few things to address..

[gb904150] 27/7/2018 11:47

Despite the great GM's all that GP is swallowed up by administrative expenses (£6.1m)

Annual reports last year showed approx £750k director pay.

FTE's last year was 122. Interims say +18 hired this year.

So with the £3m H1 YoY increase in revenues came £2m increase in COS and £1m increase in admin expenses.

[rivaldo] 27/7/2018 11:46

Agreed Mattjos. I had a small holding here given the attractiveness of the Fredhopper acquisition and the potential at a not-too-ridiculous valuation, thinking I would top up as the potential materialised. It hasn't. I've sold at a very small loss for most of the reasons you've outlined - don't like the cash burn, the high customer attrition rates etc etc.

The only comfort for shareholders is that sales appear to be being mopped up, suggesting there's a buyer out there. But a £37m m/cap seems high for a company like ATQT in its present position.

[dplewis1] 27/7/2018 08:25

Yes I concur. And if you could email the CFO with the same points that would be much appreciated also..!

[william_quinn] 27/7/2018 08:23

Mattjos, more please.

[dplewis1] 26/7/2018 21:42

Shh, I don't think you're supposed to look at the balance sheet of growth stocks. They do clever things with websites and have lots of institutions on their share register..

[mattjos] 26/7/2018 21:06

With Revs of £8.4m and a Gross Profit Margin of 59%, how the hell can this report a loss?I have not dug into the figures but, below the line costs seem out of control! Is it Directors salaries?

[dplewis1] 26/7/2018 07:56

Yes I find it very odd they don't even do an RNS-R when they sign a new logo. Just makes the wait between news too long for the average PI. I'm hoping Luke's sales and marketing background might be the catalyst for a bit more investor interaction..

[keifer derrin] 26/7/2018 07:33

dpelwis - I agree with the shock that the company is still alive....I wished they would put themselves out there a bit more...aka letting people know when new contract wins happen....

also agree with decent results...

lets hope we see a rise.....

[dplewis1] 26/7/2018 07:06

Oh good the company is still alive.. Results look pretty decent, good to have the largest customer renew for another 2 years.

[dplewis1] 22/6/2018 09:59

It's nothing news based, just impatience I think. Profits and margins look healthy from the finals reported in March. New CEO has been in the seat a month so will need a bit of time to settle in and make his mark. Good chance of a decent turnaround story here..