Dicom Share Discussion Threads

[networker] 29/8/2006 08:34

Encouraging results announcement this morning. Sentiment seems to be turning positive and the shares have moved up accordingly.

[jeffian] 18/8/2006 11:25

You're being a bit selective there with your facts, GM. I, too, was a fan and long-term holder but sold out on the profit warning. Besides not liking the profit setback, it also made me reconsider this as a 'high-growth' share and I decided it wasn't, and wasn't likely to be, although I expect it to be a perfectly respectable performer.

Anyway, Operating Profit did not grow from £4M-£14.7m 2002-2005, (you are comparing the post-goodwill amortisation + exceptionals figure in 2002 with the 2005 figure which excludes those). On a 'like-for-like' basis OP in the period grew from £11.262m-£14.672m pre amortisation/exceptionals or £3.976m-£9.948m post these items. More to the point, because total operating profit masks acquisitions in the period, Earnings per Share gives a better picture of what is happening. In the 4 years 2001-2005, eps grew from 33.4p/share to 50.8p/share which is compound growth of around 9% per annum - respectable but not whizzy and wouldn't warrant a 22 PER in my book.

Don't get me wrong, I like the company, but it's not quite the high-growth story it purports to be and hasn't delivered "double digit" growth......unless you use the wrong figures!

8-)

Regards, Ian

[gerdmuller] 18/8/2006 10:02

My opinion is that if anyone got this firm at or anywhere near 300p it would be a scandal. I first invested a few years ago at 71p equivalent and I have continued to invest. This company has the potential to continue to deliver returns well into double digits for the next 5 to 10 years at least. It has grown operating profit from £4m to £14.7m since 2002. At 300p the company would be on a multiple of only around 22. It may be a quick buck if it did happen but you still then have to find a better long term investment.

This company consistently generates cash so it is a relatively low risk investment for a growth story with so much potential.

[mdrans1] 18/8/2006 07:38

And another mention, Shares mag this time :-

The world of software and IT services is alive with chatter that industry
giants Oracle (ORCL:NASDAQ) and IBM (IBM:NYSE) are on the prowl.
The biggest question is – what companies are on the menu?
Several names are in the frame but it's little firm Dicom (DCM) that
could prove the best bet for investors chasing a quick quid. Dicom's
specialty is information capture after selling its non-core Samsung
agency earlier this year. It's a potential target for Oracle, which has just
confirmed it is on the hunt, and IBM – the latter still lacking information
capture expertise.
Dicom's underlying earnings growth is robust and its prospective PE
for 2006 is just over half the 28-to-30 multiples paid by US interlopers in
recent sector deals.
Savvy investors should snare some Dicom at 215.5p with a view to
catching a rich bid to the tune of up to 300p, implying a premium of 39%.
A bullish play, certainly, but one that's well worth considering.
Dresdner doubts whether a worthwhile offer will materialise. Investors
shouldn't buy the stock solely to catch a bid premium, as the immediate
risks are to the downside. They should instead look at Signet as a longerterm
play and pay attention to its bouyant sales in the US and rising UK
demand.

[mdrans1] 11/8/2006 17:36

Guardian :-

Digital target
Dicom, which specialises in digitising printed documents, is being tipped as a bid target by its house broker Bridgewell. The reasoning goes as follows: IBM has just announced it is buying a content management vendor, Filenet, and Dicom would make a good addition to that business. Such a move would mirror deals done by information storage group EMC Corporation, which bought a couple of vendors, then snapped up Captiva, a Dicom competitor. Bridgewell also reckons Oracle or Microsoft could also be interested in the sector. "Though interest in Dicom may not be immediately forthcoming, this significant push by IBM into content management surely makes this more likely than before," said Bridgewell. Dicom added 0.5p to 216.5p.
[e-mail]

[evo8] 11/8/2006 11:14

Guardian
DICOM (tipped as a bid target)

[amt] 11/8/2006 09:31

Talk of takeover speculation in the papers has done nothing for the SP, strange

[doctorbird] 08/8/2006 15:44

Yesterday morning I bought at 223 although for some reason the trade does not show on the ADVFN list. In the past I have twice been stopped out on this share. This entry is based on the prospective break-out from the six month downtrend channel.

[boadicea] 09/7/2006 12:48

Very quiet here, but company appears to be progressing satisfactorily.

[wjccghcc] 09/5/2006 19:28

I suspect the opex rise is related to the acquisition of topcall?

The cashflow boost from working capital I suspect is from the winding down of the stock in the SGA business which is being closed this month and therefore not repeatable IMHO.

[schober] 09/5/2006 09:42

...............nor this

Cash flows from operating activities
Operating profit.......................................... 7,083 9,992 11,297
Depreciation and amortisation..................... 3,863 2,594 5,197
Change in working capital............................8,294 (2,094) 1,596
Other non-cash movements........................... 777 586 637

Cash generated from operations.................. 20,017 11,078 18,727

it appears "Strong operating cash flow of £20.0m (£11.1m)" is due to cahnges in working capital! presumably a one off event that may reverse?
any comments? have i lost the plot?

[schober] 09/5/2006 09:02

hmmm...... didnt like this

Revenue 158,176 133,387 179,795
Cost of sales (90,658) (77,553) (102,318)
Gross profit 67,518 55,834 77,477

Operating expenses (60,435) (45,842) (66,180)

Adjusted Operating profit: 11,518 11,236 14,653

couldnt find any explanation for the increased opex!!! all the gp gains wiped out!
any comments?

[mdrans1] 09/5/2006 08:09

Basingstoke, 9 May 2006 - DICOM Group plc ("DICOM Group"), a global leader of Information Capture and Communications (ICC) solutions, today announced financial results for the nine months to 31 March 2006. The Group is pleased to report significant organic growth in all key financial metrics in Q3 with adjusted* operating profit up 21%.

[gerdmuller] 10/4/2006 16:56

mdrans1

I do not know what these mean either. I don't know why the stock exchange is not able to clearly state in the RNS what they are talking about.

The share price seems to be going a little crazy in the past few sessions with another 7 percent fall today but if I had not looked earlier I would think it was unchanged on the close on Friday. It now seems to end each seesion with a change of about 5 percent either way but for no real reason.

I have just not seen this strange pattern in a share before.

[mdrans1] 10/4/2006 10:22

GM

Could be something to do with this :-

07/04/06 - 16:41 Second Price Monitoring Extn RNS
07/04/06 - 16:35 Price Monitoring Extension RNS

but don't ask me to explain.

[gerdmuller] 10/4/2006 09:35

I am starting to get a little confused as to the share price quoted on DCM.

Unless my eyes are deceiving me I was sure the price closed at someting like 230p - 235p on Friday. Yet today the price is down 7p but the price is 240p - 247p. The same happened Friday morning.

[mdrans1] 06/4/2006 09:57

Today's Shares Mag cover story :- "Screaming Buys" lists 43 companies with more detail on their "top 12 screamers" one of which is Dicom, hence the mark up 1st thing this morning.

[mdrans1] 29/3/2006 10:05

Networker

Positive article entitled Small beautiful and overlooked.

Referring to the recently announced closure of it's SGA division, Alistair Blair recounts when he first noticed that the company was reporting a 42 % growth in sales of it's scanning software, but hidden behind a less impressive headline growth in pre-tax profits of only 13%.

Presumably the headline figures will look a lot different without the SGA division.

[jeffian] 28/3/2006 23:45

Hi Networker,

I bought these at the equivalent of 91.25p in October 2001 and sold them on the profit warning last year. When I bought them, they were on a PER (or prospective PER, I don't remember) around 10 and were clearly cheap for what was perceived to be a 'growth' share. When I sold, I kept an eye on the results hoping to buy back in once things had settled down and resume the upward trend. I didn't. The trouble is that it never fulfilled its promise as an out-and-out growth share - a nice pedestrian forward momentum, more like! - and its recent troubles have screwed this year's figures with recovery seeming modest rather than dramatic, so on a current PER of 23 based on historic eps which looks as if it will be lower this year, they look pretty fully-priced to me. So that's my line - nice company; too expensive at the moment.

Regards, ian

[networker] 28/3/2006 23:02

mdtrans1
Was the article bullish, bearish or neutral?

A quick look at the chart tells me that others have a better picture of what is really happening short-term than I, and the IC, do. Around the 220p level may offer a degree of chart support, but if those with superior knowledge are trading ( ie selling ), let the rest of us beware until stability is established.

[mdrans1] 17/3/2006 21:56

So it's gust me then.

There is a nice mention, quite a long piece actually, in the IC. Alistair Blair, Back Page, No Free Lunch.

[mdrans1] 09/3/2006 08:11

Press Release 9 March

DICOM Group's Kofax Named 2005 "ISV Partner of the Year" By Fujitsu Imaging Products Group for Ascent Capture and VRS 4.0 Plus

Basingstoke, 09 March 2006 - DICOM Group plc ("DICOM Group"), today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Kofax was named Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Partner of the Year for 2005 by Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc., a market leader in document imaging scanners and services. The Fujitsu Annual Channel Awards recognise top-performing resellers, distributors and integrators, specifically acknowledging companies who exemplify a true commitment to innovation that results in the highest sales and world-class business performance.

Kofax received the prestigious ISV Partner of the Year award from Fujitsu for its overall attach rate of Fujitsu scanners to their Ascent Capture solution sales. Kofax was presented with the award during a private ceremony at the 4th Annual One Capture Alliance Premier Partner Conference, held February 8-10 in Las Vegas.

[mdrans1] 23/2/2006 10:41

today's Shares mag cover story "100 greatest growth stocks"

At number 44

"DICOM (DCM)
Sector: Software & Computer Services
Price: 261p
Market cap: £236 million PE: 17.4
1-mth rel. strength: 15.6%
12-mth rel. strength: -4.5%
2006 EPS growth: 14%
Has fixed its underperforming Capture Services
division. Focus on small and medium enterprises
for the information capture and management"
market should reap rich rewards.

[networker] 10/2/2006 11:48

Shares are moving into new all-time high territory. Encouraging to see Fidelity increasing their holding. Momentum looks set to continue as the return of the growth story becomes more recognised after the profit warning saga last year.It will be interesting to see if brokers upgrade on the recent statement.

[mdrans1] 09/2/2006 09:29

received 07:49 today

Press Release

DICOM Group plc: Ascent Platform Selected by the Australian State of Queensland as Information Capture Standard

Five-Year Deal Involves Ascent Technology Being Installed Across More Than 30 Government Entities to Process Millions of Pages Each Month

Basingstoke,09 February 2006 - DICOM Group plc ("DICOM Group"), a global leader of Information Capture and Communication solutions, today announced a five-year agreement with the Queensland State Government and DICOM Australia to implement the Kofax Ascent platform as the standard application for information capture across more than 30 government departments and agencies. The Ascent platform will support the Queensland State Government's electronic Document and Records Management System (eDRMS) strategy to standardise business processes and improve the consistency of information management through the "whole of government". The eDRMS strategy is a component of the Government's Shared Service Initiative.

Ascent accelerates business processes by collecting paper documents, forms and e-documents; transforming them into accurate, retrievable information; and delivering the content into an organisation's business applications and databases.

For this implementation, Ascent offers an information capture solution for Queensland's government departments and centralised support functions, including finance, human resources, technology and property and facilities management.

LogicaCMG in Australia, an expert in government projects for fully compliant document and records management technologies, will provide the services for deploying the new information capture system.