Bright Things Share Discussion Threads

[the analyst] 02/9/2009 17:07

I guess not, sirmark!

Big placing at 1.25p - not ideal, but let's hope it's the last one that we see. My guess is that they will be in profit well before this cash runs out

It is perhaps a little disappointing to see such a low placing price but 100% as expected - I think what we have here is an example of the Directors thinking they are onto a real winner and topping up at as low a price as possible. I had previously expected up to 400m shares to be in issue before profitability was reached, but I am now lowering that to only 320m, based on Directors and staff taking up options and warrants at 1.25p-5p next year.

It looks like we will now see six months of marketing to get the numbers up before they concentrate on getting the company into cash-flow positive trading...

Interesting that the socialgo staff took part in the placing - this is very unusual for staff to take part in an AIM placing. To me, it indicates that they see huge value in the company at 1.25p and that Dominic allowed them in on the placing for that very reason. I am 100% happy with that type of incentive for staff in this type of business

Very are being very tight-lipped on the current figures and refuse to even discuss the number of networks or the current number of paying users. This could be read by some as a sign that they are not doing well, but I really doubt that (seen as Dom has just put in another £400k). I actually think they want to keep the figures out of the public domain for as long as possible, so that 1) they can increase their stakes and 2) so that competitors don't see the model and its success before they reach critical mass.

Not so sure Carl will be too happy with the placing price....

[sirmark] 02/9/2009 16:53

No body watching for the results then !!!!!!!!!


TIDMBGT

RNS Number : 4186Y
Bright Things plc
02 September 2009

?
Bright Things plc
("Bright Things" or the "Company")


PRELIMINARY RESULTS for the year ended 31st March 2009


Bright Things today announces today announces its full year results for the year
ended 31 March 2009.


Financial Highlights:


* Revenues fell to GBP30,000 (2007: GBP257,000). The results reflecting the fact
that the historic business of developing iDVD games was beginning to wind down
and with the main focus being on the completion of development and launch of
SocialGO. The Company saw the first income from SocialGO following the February
2009 launch.
* Gross Loss for the year was GBP18,000 (2007: GBP163,000 Profit)
* Loss per share fell to 1.8p (2007: 2.5p)

Operational Highlights:


* Completed development and launched the first version of SocialGO in February
2009
* Following the February 2009 launch of SocialGO, month on month revenues have
grown as we build our subscription income from premium customers.
* There has been a continued investment in Research & Development costs into the
development and improvement of SocialGO.
* Exhibited SocialGO at the BETT2009 show
* Exhibited SocialGO at the Social Networking World Forum in March 2009
* Completed an additional fundraising of GBP784,500 (before expenses) in October
2008, in which 62,760,000 new ordinary shares were allotted at a price of 1.25p.

Placing


The Company has raised GBP940,000 before expenses by way of a placing of
75,200,000 new ordinary shares of 1 penny each ("Placing Shares") at a price of
1.25 pence per share ("the Placing"). The Placing Shares will, when issued and
fully paid, rank pari passu in all respects with the existing ordinary shares.
The Placing is conditional upon admission of the Placing Shares to trading on
AIM and application has been made for them to be admitted to trading on AIM with
effect from 4 September 2009 ("Admission"). The proceeds of the Placing will be
used to market SocialGO and for general working capital purposes.


Dominic Wheatley, Chief Executive, and Ian Livingstone, Chairman, are both
participating in the Placing and as a result their interests in the Company will
increase to 69,005,102 ordinary shares (25.5 per cent.) and 11,998,880 ordinary
shares (4.4 per cent.) respectively. The balance of the Placing Shares have been
placed with institutional investors by the Company's broker, Astaire Securities
Plc, and with SocialGO staff members.


Following Admission, the Company will have 270,916,328 ordinary shares of 1
penny each in issue.

Annual Report and Accounts


The Annual Report and Accounts will be despatched to Shareholders on Monday
7 September and will be available on the Company's website:
www.brightthings.com


For further information please contact:


Bright Things PLC0845 299 7289
Dominic Wheatley, CEO
Edward Levey, Finance Director


Astaire Securities Plc 020 7448 4400
William Vandyk

[the analyst] 01/9/2009 21:50

Good review for SocialGO, albeit with an affiliate link attached

[carl79] 30/8/2009 14:18

chip - there is a lot of detail on Ning's numbers on the other thread...

Revenue is something they keep close to their chest but it can be deduced that they get $660,000 per month from premium sign ups... we do not know (I do not know - someone may actually have an idea??) how much they get from advertising revenue etc...They are valued at $750M

I am off to Italy tomorrow - if history is any indication of future activity, we may see some action while I am away! ;-)

C

[chipss] 30/8/2009 12:01

how big is Ning in the USA in terms of turnover?

[the analyst] 29/8/2009 22:29

Very interesting:

[the analyst] 25/8/2009 22:42

Post today on the socialgo blog, promoting the widget store:



"Add Great Features Instantly with SocialGO Widgets!"

[carl79] 25/8/2009 19:26

My guess is that news is expected and it is thought to be positive??

[wywcu1] 25/8/2009 12:20

I think that we may be about to see lift-off

[the analyst] 25/8/2009 11:11

This upcoming release looks like it should be a good one.

Looking forward, I think the way the product has developed of late bodes well for really ramping-up the sales for the six month period September 2009 - March 2010

Patience is key, though, as we will have to wait until next June for the results for that period to come through...

[the analyst] 25/8/2009 11:08

Just for those that don't follow the SocialGO blog:



"SocialGO's Next Release
Published by: Alex H on Thursday 20th August 2009 03:08pm
We are readying a major release of SocialGO due out very soon. This features a number of major under-the-hood improvements and 3 great new widgets.

Notifications will be updated to give you alerts when there is activity on your profile, in your groups and in your events. This includes those groups and events which you have joined rather than just those which you have created. No more activity in groups which you don't find out about for weeks!

Some areas of SocialGO have not always been the snappiest and we are addressing this with faster widgets, photo, video and profile browsing and also messaging.

We are releasing three widgets at the same time, including the previously announced GOCart, a Profile Designer allowing your members to design their pages and also a Twitter Connect widget allowing your members to login to your network using their twitter credentials.

Other developers are busy readying new themes and a bunch of other undisclosed widgets which will be announced only when they are in our hands....

Finally the second part of the Member Billing overhaul will be complete allowing you to match up Member Levels (announced last week) and Billing Plans so you can charge for access to the best parts of your network. This will support free trials and multiple billing providers.

We are very excited about the next couple of months here at SocialGO and can't wait to share these great new toys with you and your members.

Thanks for all your support :) "

[the analyst] 25/8/2009 11:07

"TA you got me looking into FBT now....:-"

Well, imo, FBT need a deal with one of the big US media companies to justify a decent sized market cap. That's a long-shot, imo, so tread carefully...

[bobbyn23] 25/8/2009 07:16

Added some more last fri...Happy to do it when tiny amounts from top slicing elsewhere and @ 1.4p
The news does look more promisiing and each day they are developing...However normally when you go this quickly cash conversion cycle wont be quite as strong....So expect poss a little buffer equity raise. They issue is it NEEDS to be at premium backed by solid news.

TA you got me looking into FBT now....:-

[carl79] 25/8/2009 06:23

I know WL is going to start doing some network games - it must be that...

[the analyst] 24/8/2009 21:27

Yeah, mini games in the form of instant-play, java (or flash etc) games, that can be placed into a network quickly and easily, I would think.

Keeps visitors on the site and also keeps them coming back again and again

This sort of thing? (but perhaps more arcade-style, rather than casino-style)

From an SEO perspective, I've been through google patents and see that google are aiming to give higher rankings to sites with longer length of visit, higher page views per visit and repeat visit rates and low bounce rates

So, integrating games into a network, could, in the long-term, help them climb higher up the rankings, and become more profitable...

[carl79] 24/8/2009 21:00

TA :-) . . . Ok bar that article we have not heard much from them

games? Hmmm...As in for a network (like a mini game)? Will be interesting to see how that pans out...

I wonder what Dom classes as "large"? We already have a large number of Premium customers, growing every day.

[the analyst] 24/8/2009 18:32

Well, well, well, "opening a games store soon", what a surprise!

"We also sell apps (think iPhone App Store) and themes and we'll be opening a games store too."

[the analyst] 24/8/2009 18:21

It's not ALL boring, publicly, Carl ;)



This interview is exactly the sort of thing I have been talking about when I say I would like to see Dom building on product (and company) awareness

Great stuff, Dom!

(and can we have more of the same, please...)

[carl79] 24/8/2009 17:31

Lets hope for a similar shaped graph sometime soon!

Things are getting slightly boring "publicly" although it does seem as though behind closed doors they are making / have made significant progress

[the analyst] 24/8/2009 12:41

Dom might do well to have a chat with his old Eidos co-owner, Stephen Streater

Stephen, made his fortune with Eidos too and runs Forbidden Technologies (FBT) - Ever since floatation, stephen has refused to dilute shareholders, whilst building the company's Java-based professional video-editing and post-production software

Interestingly, when FBT needed money, Stephen himself simply loaned it to the company. Other Directors would have had a distressed placing or maybe taken the company private, or into administration and bought the assets back for nothing. Not stephen, who has been loyal to his shareholders since day 1. The share price is still well above floatation price, even though it floated at the peak of the dotcom boom.

More recently, FBT have started to get their product recognized worldwide, made some good contract wins, and have decided to step up the financial side of things - this is a very similar position to where BGT find themselves now.

So, what did FBT do?

Firstly, Stephen took a huge amount of time and effort to raise the PR of the company, tirelessly touring and presenting in Silicon Valley (paying for his own flights, I have been told, but not had confirmed)

Then, they placed shares at a PREMIUM TO THEIR ONE YEAR HIGH

This seemed reasonable for all involved - bringing in new shareholders, raising some cash and also in being fair and loyal to the investors that have supported the company over the years. As you can see, the share price responded well - PIs know when they have a good board of Directors that they can trust. It's that trust that makes investors continue to invest and move the company in the right direction




All theoretical, as Carl says, we may not even need more money. Or, if we do, it might not be much that is needed.

But, what would Dom do if we needed more funds?

Would he respect the shareholder base, and get a fair deal for all? At the least, you would want to see him making a huge effort - I think we will be seeing this from him in the future...

[carl79] 24/8/2009 07:50

I agree TA - it would be a bit of a shock if despite the numbers and the recent market valuations of companies in this industry that BGT failed to raise money at a premium to the current share price .. All of this said, it is not a foregone conclusion that they actually need money! For all we know they are turning over £150k per month and in no need of more money! :-) £150k per month is about 7000k paying sites in my book - pipe dream? hmm

[the analyst] 23/8/2009 17:23

"given that they now have a proven business model and are generating customers hand over fist there is no excuse for a distressed placing imo - if one occurs I will look to take my investment elsewhere"

If they do raise funds at distressed levels, then I'll be feeling the same way, Carl

As a minimum, your 3p level sounds about right. Any less than that and many holders will feel that Dom will have failed them (for now), given the latest figures and the recent ning fundraising

Like I say, that shouldn't happen, so let's wait and see what we get when they release the next set of results. I'm hoping for great things over the next couple of years and I'm expecting our Board to show they are dedicating themselves to build value for ALL shareholders.

There are loads of us giving Dom and the guys our full support (and our hard earned money to be part-owners of the company), as well as valuable PR for SocialGO in recommending them to hundreds of customers over the last year, so it's time to take the company to the next level...

[carl79] 23/8/2009 11:28

Well they have hired support staff as opposed to development staff so i think they are going to provide an upbeat set of numbers and prospects...as previous, my only concern is the likelihood of dilution and at what level they look to pitch it...I'd like to see them raise funds at 3p as opposed to 1p...Yes the share price does not currently justify a 3p target but from what I see, the numbers do - especially considering the rate of growth and recent valuation placed on Ning. Any investment now can be based on facts depicting the rate of growth over a number of months as opposed to 6 months ago when we were unsure what would happen during beta and beyond...2 different "pitches" and as you say TA this is where Dom needs to earn his pay and pull in funds under better conditions for existing holders...given that they now have a proven business model and are generating customers hand over fist there is no excuse for a distressed placing imo - if one occurs I will look to take my investment elsewhere