Blur Group Share Discussion Threads

[hazl] 10/9/2014 07:59

This has its risks and steg may turn out to be correct, who knows, but any start up is inherently risky.
I don't have a great deal of shares here as they were running on their previous profit but I didn't sell out completely because I thought they had a chance.

I will leave the board to it for now.

[j777j] 10/9/2014 07:52

I have never "pumped" anything.

What a sad pair of spiteful warped individuals simply intent on disruption.


stegrego a self appointed Messiah that knows the future.

Furthermore, I have put my money where my mouth is and have always championed cost averaging,in order to smooth out the bumps of any highly volatile fast growing business.

[hazl] 10/9/2014 07:51

I am genuinely sorry that yumps' tech firm has done so badly but I was surprised to see him there as it has been criticised for the same attributes as here and those that he claims to detest....yet he invested there.

The main difference I see between there, compared to here is that
the finance director left with immediate effect and recently the non executive has left..
I know purely because I did a quick in and out when I was bottom fishing recently.

The fact that the director wasn't replaced quickly put me off.
My point is, it is hypocritical and he isn't the guru he maintains.
He is just human like the rest of us.
Can we concentrate on Blur please?

[stegrego] 10/9/2014 07:38

J7 has continually pumped this, particularly at 600 to 800p, a level which incidentally this will never see again.

The business model doesn't work, it's losses are growing and it's run by a megalomaniac.

People still seem astonished by the fall in price. It's the rise that was unbelievable.

[j777j] 09/9/2014 22:49

yump or chump is not worth the time of day,she reported me to advfn once so just sly and sneaky.

[stuart37] 09/9/2014 22:26

Yump, don't remember seeing any serious technical evaluation from you about Blur either. Instead you come across as someone who is out to shoot down everyone else's views if they don't agree with your own. Shame really as i like this thread and will continue to do so with you filtered............

[hazl] 09/9/2014 19:03

Its a great pity that people have such bad feeling.

I see in j7 somebody who has been loyal to a company he has had faith in,rather than a 'ramper' who may talk a company up and jump out at a high.
He has continued to hold as the company went the way of many small caps and in particular techs this year. He merely showed he had faith.
The Small caps drop...which was incidentally predicted, if you were widely read,though perhaps, it wasn't expected that they would drop quite as much as they have for many of us.
We have each of us had our disappointments perhaps, including j77.

If that has been made up for in companies that have done well then so much the better .
That is what the Stock market is about;a continual reassessment and adjustment to circumstances.
Despite being widely read, I do not write lengthy technical evaluations because it is not my style,I believe people should do their own research.
What hope have we got anyway, when even the experts get it wrong and often disagree entirely?

I wish everybody well, even you yump and trust that we can agree to disagree.

[hazl] 09/9/2014 16:52

Sorry yump but you know you haven't a leg to stand on with that comment.

We both know a company you are in that has dropped dramatically, also loss-making.

Look at your positive comments in that before it dropped, before you accuse people of

lack of integrity!

I will not spoil the thread with further remarks like this but felt that

hypocrisy ought to be addressed.

[j777j] 09/9/2014 16:15

House broker N+1 Singer said the interims showed strong growth in revenues and bookings, and continued positive momentum in its operational metrics, and were in line with expectations.

“The group expects a stronger second half of the year due to continuing growth and a proportion of revenue being recognised from earlier period bookings. As previously announced, and in line with our forecasts, the group expects to move to profitability within two years,” the broker said.

"As an example of the traction it is seeing, two High Street names have recently started using the exchange with projects to date worth a total of US$100k," the broker revealed.

In view of the strong growth in the group’s key metrics, N+1 Singer remains excited about blur’s potential to disrupt what is a significant market for business services.

[aishah] 09/9/2014 16:08

TechMarket View:

Blur – small print clearer but profits not
Anthony Miller, 08:41, 09 September 2014

It’s good to see UK-headquartered services e-commerce player Blur Group spelling out its revenue recognition policy ever more clearly (see Blur and the small print) because therein lies what I still see as the fundamental weakness in its business model. And that is the risk that Blur takes by, in effect, underwriting the success of projects that play out on its platform. Which is why I am concerned that Blur’s gross margin – currently 26.6%, nearly 3 points down yoy – is not sufficient to mitigate that risk.
Blur’s headline numbers for H1 (to 30th June) are a real case of swings and roundabouts. Revenues quadrupled to $5.7m but operating and net losses more than doubled to $4.8m. On the bright side, at least losses are no longer greater than revenues!
Blur founder and CEO Philip Letts is confident that the $21m raised earlier this year (see Blur on the cusp) will see the company ‘through to profit’. Blur burned through $5.6m cash in first half, more than for the whole of 2013. I must admit that I struggle to reconcile the numbers with the outlook.

[j777j] 09/9/2014 10:03

I guess it boils down to whether or not you believe in the business and it's potential.

The recent fundraising was a masterstroke,because they have plenty of cash($24.4 million) to see them through to profitability.

Some key points from the Rns..

Operational leverage

"As the blur model matures and grows, the expected benefits of operational leverage are now becoming visible. One aspect of this is that the acquisition of Experts is becoming increasingly viral, with several Experts now becoming customers of the Exchange for their own business."



International growth

"International growth continues although the bulk of projects still come from the UK and USA, with the UK representing the highest level of contribution to H1 2014. Projects were submitted from 70 different countries including a significant number from Asia, reinforcing the previously announced strategy to set up a satellite Asian sales office in the next year."



Repeat customer growth

"While the Global Services Exchange has been used for one-off, often difficult-to-source projects, there is increasing evidence, from repeat usage (value up 170% on the same period last year), that blur is now being used strategically by customers as a platform where they will source an increasing proportion of their services buying across an increasing number of Exchange Categories."



Enterprise customers

"H1 2014 saw several new Enterprise customers including Amazon, who have used the Exchange for multiple projects requiring local expertise in different regions, Sabre, Incisive Media and Menard Inc. as well as repeat projects from longer standing Enterprise customers."




I think that each day that goes by with the company firing on all cylinders,the greater the likelihood a bid from Ebay or Amazon.


Philip Letts, blur Group Plc CEO, introduces the interim results:

"I am pleased to present these interim results. They show a business that is growing and maturing in all aspects: technology, financial, governance, sales and management. In a year, we have quadrupled our revenue, trebled our bookings, completed a successful fundraising, kept our costs and headcount controls in line with our plan, and grown customer success through a 170% value increase from repeat customers. "

"The services market shows continuing and increasing acceptance of s-commerce, offering as it does, great advantages for both buyer and supplier of speed, simplicity and security.

The moves we have made to locate our Global HQ in Exeter are paying off, with a stable team who, along with our experienced C-Suite, are delivering our planned operational leverage so we can scale without adding significant cost. We continue to grow internationally, especially in the US, and are attracting larger business customers ahead of plan.

I am confident that we have in place all the elements required to manage our current and future growth and return value to our supportive shareholders. "



ps There was also this

Surrender of share options

Share options granted to directors and employees in January 2014 at an exercise price of GBP7.92, have been surrendered. The annual cost of options issued to Philip Letts and Kara Cardinale under the Black Scholes method was more than $600,000 annually. To reduce the impact of the cost to blur's income statement and enable achievement of breakeven at an earlier point, all the options granted to employees at GBP7.92 have been surrendered in H1 2014. Philip Letts and Kara Cardinale will surrender their options as at today's date, 9(th) September 2014.

[eric76] 09/9/2014 09:58

Good to see revenue reportedly rising but a bit of a caveat in that revenue from the comparable 2013 period was reduced by nigh on 60% to achieve this..

"As a result of the updated Revenue Recognition policy, H1 2013 revenue and associated costs have been amended to reflect the revised treatment and to enable comparison. The impact on H1 2013 has been to reduce recognised revenue from $3.4m to $1.4m and EBITDA has been reduced from $(1,560)k to $(2,018)k. The changes to our policies and processes have now been fully implemented into the Groups working practices and the results will be reflected in both this and upcoming announcements."

[j777j] 09/9/2014 09:43

More press..



The stock market could be ready to fall back in love with crowd-sourcing leader blur Group (LON:BLUR) again, as the firm reported lower than expected underlying losses of US$3.99mln for the first half of 2014.

Like almost all early stage software companies, blur's game plan is to win the "land grab" phase of the market's development by establishing a strong user base, after which profitability should follow.

That plan looks on track after revenue quadrupled to US$5.70mln from US$1.41mln in the same period of 2013.

[j777j] 09/9/2014 09:29

9th September 2014 Liberum Capital blur group Buy 260p price target

[yump] 09/9/2014 09:06

Yes and well done to J777J for encouraging folk to buy when the shares were 600p.

Not that I expect much integrity here.

[bookbroker] 09/9/2014 08:41

Where is 200 DMA., lost track of these after collapse, but likely to acquire some more?

[hazl] 09/9/2014 08:38

they are good results imo

wll done for keeping the faith j7

[essential] 09/9/2014 08:16

Just bought back into these. Results look ok and technically looks primed for a move up to the 200dma. We shall see

[j777j] 09/9/2014 08:16

Proactive investors


blur Group cheers increase in repeat customers

By John Harrington

September 09 2014, 7:34am

A switch to more conservative revenue recognition policies has not stopped services-commerce (s-commerce) leader blur Group (LON:BLUR) achieving explosive top line growth.

The crowd-sourcing firm revealed revenue quadrupled to US$5.70mln in the first half of 2014 from US$1.41mln in the same period of 2013.

The group implemented conservative recognition policies in April 2014, in a move that reflected the increasing adoption of blur's Business Exchange by big companies, who tend to have larger, more complex projects with longer lead times.

Bookings during the period totalled 16,040, three times the number - 5,238 - achieved in the first half of 2013.

The total value of bookings in the first half was US$16.04mln, up from US$5.2mln, and encouragingly there was a 170% increase year-on-year in the value of projects from repeat customers.

Like almost all early stage software companies, blur's game plan is to win the "land grab" phase of the market's development by establishing a strong user base, after which profitability should follow.

The group raised US$21mln in May to take it through to profitability, and ended the reporting period with US$24.43mln in cash.

Although underlying earnings (EBITDA) remain negative, the loss of US$3.99mln (2013: US$2.02mln) was lower than expected, blur said.

Chief executive and founder Philip Letts said the move of its global headquarters to Exeter is paying off, "with a stable team who, along with our experienced C-Suite, are delivering our planned operational leverage so we can scale without adding significant cost".

"The services market shows continuing and increasing acceptance of s-commerce, offering as it does, great advantages for both buyer and supplier of speed, simplicity and security," Letts said.

"I am confident that we have in place all the elements required to manage our current and future growth and return value to our supportive shareholders," he added.

More to follow ...

[tomboyb] 09/9/2014 08:14

Morning -

results not bad - Have glanced over them so will take a proper read later.