Billing Services Share Discussion Threads

[dave4545] 19/11/2019 19:07

I wonder if CT is the seller now davy

Another 1 million worked. Could understand if anybody has got bored and wanted to reduce or sell their holding like Ct has.

[davydoo] 19/11/2019 14:10

Thought i'd give this one another try

Nothing scientific here, but I've always felt this one has been a trade off between the price, and its discount to the net cash, against how long you have to wait for it all to play out.

Whenever that is, we must be nearer than we were, and the price is attractive enough to start waiting again

[dave4545] 14/11/2019 21:26

Some lumpy trades today.

2 x 500k and 1 mil at 1.75p, although they look like sales it would be impossible to sell that kind of size inside the spread so perhaps 50/50

[cjohn] 09/10/2019 09:52

Ok, smackeraim. Good luck to you too.

PS If you are time-constrained, you may be better off reading one of the many modern summaries of Ben Graham's ideas.

The pertinent part of his vast ouevre is that dealing with so called "net-nets": ie companies trading at a (1/3rd) discount to net current assets minus long-term liabilities.

[smackeraim] 08/10/2019 14:48

Cjohn I am not interested in BILL. Just fascinated that people think it's worth looking at. Good luck buddy, hope it pays off for you, even though I am sceptical. I will try take some time to read your book rev.

[dave4545] 07/10/2019 09:59

Another 250k buy somebody has been nibbling of late

[cjohn] 07/10/2019 09:45

Yes, indeed.

The business itself - apart from the assets - is worth a couple of million, at least.

[castleford tiger] 05/10/2019 18:08

I think we will get another 6 p minimum here that's 3x current price
tiger

[cjohn] 04/10/2019 19:20

Samckeraim 3 Oct '19 - 19:14 - 3780 of 3780
0 0 0
Somehow I don't think the intelligent investor was targeted at micro cap companies that nobody is interested in, and have nothing to offer investors except decline.




Could I suggest you actually get a copy of Intelligent Investor and read it?

"micro cap companies that nobody is interested in."

You, for one, clearly are interested. I'm another. Several other posters are interested too. There are probably a good score of investors in the company. Don't fool yourself with rhetoric.

I have made a very decent living for many years in small and micro caps with deep value characteristics. That's my job. It gives me freedom and money.

Deep value investing is not something that appeals to the vast majority of investors. But you, personally, could do some reading and widen your investment horizons.

[smackeraim] 03/10/2019 19:14

Somehow I don't think the intelligent investor was targeted at micro cap companies that nobody is interested in, and have nothing to offer investors except decline.

Regards the "other business".. well..

"Combined revenues from these two business lines compare favorably to last year, but in an amount insufficient to offset the revenue decline in our legacy business line."

One is in terminal decline and the others cannot offset that decline. Not much value moving forward there then.

I expect this will be at 1 or 1.5p when the "dividend" gets paid. A complete false economy to those who bought in.

[cjohn] 03/10/2019 10:11

The fixed line business is in terminal decline. The rest of the business isn't.

The value of net cash alone is higher than the current market cap. This includes zero value for other company assets or indeed for the parts of the business that are growing and making money.

Most investors here stand in the tradition of Ben Graham's deep value investing.


You could have a read of "The Intelligent Investor". You might find it persuasive. There are also numerous modern summaries, if you are not a great reader.

[smackeraim] 02/10/2019 23:34

Hope the dividend is worth it since the price looks like it could slide another 20 or 30% more. Seems like a risky and false economy to me, especially when the business is in terminal decline

[cjohn] 23/9/2019 09:08

smackeraim
20 Sep '19 - 13:45 - 3775 of 3776
0 0 0
Oh well. Just got to wait another 6 months for a piece of news here. Good luck.




I personally don't consider the frequency of a company's news output when I make investment decisions. Apart from anything else, I have other sources of entertainment in my life.

[this_is_me] 20/9/2019 16:40

That will be about the big dividend in April.

[smackeraim] 20/9/2019 13:45

Oh well. Just got to wait another 6 months for a piece of news here. Good luck.

[eezymunny] 20/9/2019 13:11

"In light of the potentially significant changes in the business, we will not provide guidance on projected future financial performance"

About the most useless statement I've ever seen!

[cjohn] 20/9/2019 12:33

Hi Dave,

Knowledge and research are keys to outperformance.

The fact that this sort of value stock is perennially unpopular with the vast majority of private and institutional investors gives great opportunities for the small minority of value investors.

I look on my screen and discover that on average I'm down 10% on my various buys here. But they paid a hefty 0.6p dividend recently. Worth almost 30% of my original buy price.

A really good bargain, even taking into account the poor prospects of the fixed-line business.

[dave4545] 20/9/2019 10:22

Nicely put.

I also do not want to encourage people to buy then sell 2 hours later because it's not moved up.

The market is saturated with people like that.

I was expecting a big loss so I too was pleased with those results, but anybody looking in without knowing their recent history might see those results as not that great or exciting.

Volatile online this morning but that 250k buy has done some damage. Just 50,000 offered online now at 2.1p

[cjohn] 20/9/2019 10:08

smackeraim
20 Sep '19 - 09:38 - 3769 of 3770
0 0 0
I wouldn't bother.. He summed it up himself. There are much better prospects out there.




Nobody is invested here because of the blue sky prospects. It's the utter cheapness of the stock that discounts any residual value. But a wind up scenario would return cash in excess of the current market cap to shareholders.

What's more the company is breaking even.

[cjohn] 20/9/2019 10:04

These were good results; somewhat better than I expected.

The company broke even, in spite of the expected revenue declines from the fixed-line business. This is a considerable achievement. The wireless and other utility businesses increased turnover. And gross margins are very healthy.

The decline in working capital from $6.6m to $5.4m reflects not only the $1.3m dividend paid, but also movements in payables and receivables that may well reverse in the upcoming period.

So with a market cap of 3.3m sterling (2.05p) as I write, these are trading at a marked discount to current assets and net cash of about 5.8m sterling.


They have ample cash for further returns to shareholders and the business is breaking even.

The main risk is that remaining local exchange carriers (LECs) exit third-party billing. This would reduce revenues more precipitately in the fixed-line business and push the company back into loss.


However, the cheapness of the stock gives a wide margin of safety to investors.

[smackeraim] 20/9/2019 09:38

I wouldn't bother.. He summed it up himself. There are much better prospects out there.

"Everybody wants a fast moving stock with tight spreads. Bill 99% of the year is not that."

[shanur90] 20/9/2019 09:37

GL hope it does. Market is tough atm so not obvious of they will. I'll research it deeper and keep on the watchlist for now.

[dave4545] 20/9/2019 09:27

It's a slow burner, nobody wants them in this market. Everybody wants a fast moving stock with tight spreads. Bill 99% of the year is not that.

I'm pretty sure in a few weeks time they will pay another dividend..I hope so.

[smackeraim] 20/9/2019 09:24

The negative sentiment is strong in this one.

"Combined revenues from these two business lines compare favorably to last year, but in an amount insufficient to offset the revenue decline in our legacy business line."