Blancco Technology Share Discussion Threads

[albanyvillas] 04/1/2018 09:06

Nice buy last night after market close

[garth] 03/1/2018 15:57

Yup. Just patiently waiting next numbers. And for the crowd to catch onto the GDPR implications for the business.

G.

[opodio] 03/1/2018 15:50

anyone for Blanco

[sharesoc] 23/12/2017 14:50

There is a detailed report on Blancco's recent AGM which can be found in our members area here: and a blog post on the AGM available to all at:

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[aishah] 22/12/2017 23:00

Data erasure is big business. If this BOD can get it right we've got a good future here imo.

[eagle eye] 22/12/2017 21:08

Cerrito,
Thanks for taking the time to post. Blancco is in limboland for the moment, but might be worth revisiting in the future.

[cerrito] 22/12/2017 19:31

A rather delayed AGM report.

For me a good AGM. 8 or so private investors ie enough. The board was welcoming and the whole thing took about 75 minutes

I first bought shares this year so while nursing a loss I am more focused on the present and future than the past
The Chairman came across to me as thoughtful cautious and more diffident than I had expected. I had never heard of him-never had reason to look at STV where I see from the following he seems to have had a successful time.
hxxp://www.insider.co.uk/special-reports/insider-big-profile-blast-past-10730826.
My reading is that the Board is much stronger than your average AIM company with a marcap of £46m. Chairman recognized need to rebuild trust with stakeholders-I understand less of a problem with clients.

All resolutions easily passed. Basically 32m voted in favour; againsts were minimal and M&G the largest shareholder withheld votes on their 11m holding equal to 17.66%. 70% of votes cast- a large percentage for an AIM company and indicates shareholder engagement. The M&G position is worrisome as heaven only knows what would happen to the share price if they reduced given that a 40k share volume is a busy day- let’s hope they are waiting for the new CEO.
In the formal AGM, discussion of chasing old management team(nothing will happen but remember previous CEO left without compensation and there were no claw back provisions in his remuneration package); change of auditors-the party line is that they are leaving KPMG not because KPMG failed to check the management overrides but rather as they have been the auditor for a long time, the KPMG account managers were moving on and high balance of non audit fees, PWC are new auditors; and revenue recognition.

Other Matters covered in short statement from Herrick and in Q&A included

There was no AGM trading statement as no change since the last one a few weeks back.

Asked about whether appropriate to have £ as the reporting currency said-correctly in my view- they have other things on their mind.
I was pleased to hear Herrick coming out forcefully to say they had enough cash on the short/ medium term. I had been a bit apprehensive on this front as they had just £2.5m of undrawn facilities at the end of June and had the big July tax
payment. The only scenario where they see the need for a fund raising is if the new CEO comes up with a new strategy approved by the Board.
There are 260 people worldwide with 15 in the UK HQ in Huntington where the Central Group Finance function is. The management team assembled by Clawson and presented at the big presentation earlier in the year have largely gone. No bad thing as the structure was too big for a company of BLTG's size-for example there was a separate marketing and sales department. Some modest senior management recruitment will need to be done by new CEO. New global head of sales has been in post for about three months ex head of sales for Europe and Asia and had 18 months with the company.

No hint given on when they expect to announce the new CEO but we were told the search was going well.. Likely to be on the US given that the pool of talent is so much greater there.
Till he/she appointed Herrick's focus is keeping the show on the road and keep things stable; there will be no strategic initiatives. Herrick confirmed he was remaining until the new CEO comes and it will be then decided if he comes a permanent CFO. Woodward had no plans to leave; the body language of the Board at the meeting seemed good and no evidence of tensions. Note only one-Skelton- seems to have relevant industry experience and he is US based. I did not get the chance to speak to him. I understand no plans for more NED's.
I was not the only shareholder to be concerned as to how you can control this geographically far flung operation..I suppose the nature of the beast.
Herrick emphasized the work that had been done to ensure that the revenues as at 30.6.17 were solid; 97 % of the accounts as at 6.17 had been collected in cash by early November. Told they had one accounting system used throughout the world based in Huntingdon but did not establish if this was new.
The new CEO will need to establish priorities and establish and agree with the Board a new strategy as well as show appropriate leadership qualities and be able to scale the business. Experience of being CEO of a listed company not important.

Unanswered questions
No discussion on likely capex requirements this year and next-up from £2.4m to £3.5m last year.
Why all borrowings £ denominated.
How personnel morale is in Atlanta, Finland and India and how can they retain middle management with all the changes,
No discussion on retention and renewal rates.
Dividend restoration- although that would not have been a productive question to ask.

Conclusion
Good news is that have cash for medium term; are in a hot spot; have a good and stable board.
Not so good news is they are in a vacuum until CEO comes along and agrees with the Board a strategy and then executes it. Also unclear how the acting CEO can motivate the troops who while if not exactly marching on the spot have no direction.

The next bits of hard news will be CEO appointment and the Interims-I suppose early March.

Key question
One thing I do not understand is if the company's technology is so good and unique in a fast growing market as they say and given that the share price has been trashed because of poor management why has it not been taken over- especially if as per above largest shareholder has doubts. Appreciate people's views on this.

[arnu gutierrez] 01/12/2017 06:22

Blancco Technology Group (BLTG) reveals findings on iOS - Android smartphones' battle

[vatpaul] 24/11/2017 09:46

Keep on trucking

[vatpaul] 23/11/2017 10:25

extra paid to sellers

[vatpaul] 23/11/2017 08:52

BLTG off to races

[cerrito] 22/11/2017 18:02

Rivaldo on the NCC site published today some FT articles on GDPR commenting on the amount of work taking place on this; I am involved with a large organization where the Chief Lawyer is driving lot of Senior Management Time on this.
Thus surprising that in the webinar the CEO appeared rather out to lunch.
Possible that they do not have products that address this issue. The AR report may throw more light on this when published; the prelims just had two passing references.

[vatpaul] 22/11/2017 16:45

Satisfactory day tomorrow we go to 90

[vatpaul] 22/11/2017 14:19

Going up. No sellers down here. Looking for 120p-140p quick imho myself

[vatpaul] 22/11/2017 10:14

Moving up nicely

[vatpaul] 22/11/2017 09:00

Yes, i think that this will increase demand for BLTG software

[mfhmfh] 22/11/2017 04:36

Should have used Blancco

[vatpaul] 21/11/2017 20:57

26k buy in today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[vatpaul] 21/11/2017 08:09

Could be a winner next year

[cerrito] 18/11/2017 18:12

Edison have come out with a report suggesting eps in 18/19 of 2.35p at the lower end of guidance...suggesting a long march ahead. This compares with the 3.15p pre Share based Payments by Equity Development.

[aishah] 14/11/2017 22:29

ED note:

Blancco is the world’s leading developer of ‘data erasure’ software, used to protect governments and corporates from ID/data theft and cyber-crime, along with being a pioneer in mobile device diagnostics (formerly known as Xcaliber). The business is roughly 7x larger than its closest competitor, and led by interim CEO/CFO Simon Herrick and Chairman Rob Woodward.

Patient shareholders are probably more than a little cheesed off, having endured a 70% slide in the stock price since March. Nevertheless, after the recent results we see reasons for optimism: after conducting an exhaustive review of customer contracts (hence results were delayed by 1 month), the slate should now be clean as evidenced by Tuesday’s ‘in-line prelims’. Now the Board are fully committed to rectify the situation, with a permanent CEO hopefully being announced in the near future.

Adjusted EBIT came in at £3.4m (vs £4.6m LY) on turnover up 31% to £27.7m (or 17% constant currency and 6% LFL) – the split being £23.5m Erasure (+3% LFL) and £4.2m diagnostics. Invoiced orders similarly jumped 30% to £29.3m (or 15% constant currency and 3% LFL), delivering a book:bill ratio of >1, with favourable forex boosting the top and bottom lines by £3m and £0.2m respectively.

Adjusted cash conversion was a creditable 80% (vs 130% LY after restatements), with 97% of revenues being collected by 30 September 2017. Going forward, we anticipate this should nudge up towards 90% by FY20 as a function of the greater SaaS mix, partly offset by higher enterprise volumes (re longer payment terms).

So, underlying demand remains strong, with FY18 LFL sales growth expected to be between 10-20% (or 6-16% reported) delivering adjusted EBIT margins (pre SBPs) of 8%-12%. Here, profitability is being temporarily impacted by investments in software and sales capability (headcount +24 to 125) to take advantage of the buoyant conditions. Ultimately, though, margins should revert back to historical norms of say 20%+ as the business scales.

In light of Blancco’s breadth of certifications, IPR, customer references and global reach , we reckon that the company possesses a wide competitive ‘moat’ and will be a chief beneficiary of multiple secular tailwinds. Our revised forecasts and 130p/share valuation are conservatively pitched, with management aiming to ‘meet if not beat’ their guidance. Plus, as global data volumes balloon and malware becomes much harder to detect/remove - then the cost of storage, guarding against theft and/or illegal hacking likewise will continue to mushroom, underpinning Blancco’s fortunes for possibly decades ahead.

[cerrito] 14/11/2017 17:49

I listened to the webinar.. I found the sound a bit difficult but good slides which I hope make their way onto a website.
I have yet to read Equity Development's note published today
hxxps://www.equitydevelopment.co.uk/edreader/?d=%3D%3DQO1MjM

Three things from the webinar.
Of the £27.7m of sales last year only £1m were one off non recurring which is good and interesting that they have £4m+(if my memory is right) of deferred income to be recognized in 17/18.

I know that Simon H has post Debenhams a reputation of putting a very positive gloss on things but I did not get that impression from the webinar. Asked about the business impact of the EU Directive he was clear saying he had no idea.

I hope they have a good head hunter for the CEO post. Asked about the key quality Simon H said a good understanding of the software business of which he knew nothing.
Indeed the only director in the software business is Skelton. They cannot afford to make a mistake here.