Eurovestech Share Discussion Threads

[kemche] 19/10/2007 12:09

KSS's system is unique and proprietary Black Box solutuion masterminded by their ex founder and currently under the charge of some serious boffin types - I can't seriously see much to compete with them. They had launched too early but now seem to be getting some serious sales traction. It was a superb buy by EVT - almost a steal.

[integer] 19/10/2007 08:19

could be SAP interested in buying KSS later on?

[integer] 19/10/2007 08:18

How unique is this with SAP, is KSS the only pricing service integrated with the SAP system in this way?

[badday] 19/10/2007 07:26

Good news today too:


RNS Number:9962F
Eurovestech PLC
19 October 2007


19 October 2007



EUROVESTECH PLC
("Eurovestech" or the "Company")

KSS signs co-operation agreement with SAP.

Eurovestech's subsidiary Knowledge Support Systems Limited ("KSS") has concluded
a co-operation agreement with SAP AG ("SAP"), the world's largest business
software company, which will integrate KSS pricing technology into SAP software.

KSS will supply its RackPrice technology, which predicts and analyses wholesale
price changes, into SAP's enterprise portals. The KSS PriceNet system, which
analyses retail price movements, will be supplied to SAP's IS-Oil offering. Both
systems enable petrol retailers to optimise prices.

Eurovestech Chief Executive Richard Bernstein said "I am delighted that KSS has
concluded an agreement with one of the world's leading software companies. I
believe this has the potential to deliver a substantial increase in sales for
KSS. It follows extensive testing of the performance of KSS technology and is a
vote of confidence in the company's potential. This is a highly significant step
for KSS."

Notes:
SAP is the world's largest business software company and a pioneer of enterprise
resource planning . Founded in 1972, it serves more than 41,000 corporate
customers in more than 120 countries. In 2006 it had 39,300 employees and
revenues of Euro9.4billion (#6.4billion).
KSS is the leading supplier of pricing intelligence and price optimisation
solutions to petrol retailers. Eurovestech owns 100 per cent. of KSS.

[kenmitch] 14/10/2007 23:01

Midas article.

"Eurovestech thriving on its tech holdings

Eurovestech is an investment fund that takes stakes in fastgrowing technology businesses. It joined the Alternative Investment Market in 2000, just as the dotcom bubble burst. A number of tech stocks have collapsed since then, but Eurovestech shares have happily bucked the trend, rising from 5p to 22½p.

The company was founded by former City analyst Richard Bernstein, below, and it has seven investments, including a stake in ToLuna, a listed online market research business.

ToLuna has been a success story for Eurovestech. The fund acquired 75 per cent of the company seven years ago for £2.25m.

The company joined Aim in 2005 and this year Eurovestech sold shares worth £7.4m.

ToLuna is now valued at nearly £75m and Eurovestech still owns just over half of it. In other words, a £2.5m investment is now valued at more than £40m.

Eurovestech does not own stakes in any other listed businesses, but it has a number of interesting investments in private groups.

It recently bought 40% of Mist, a Paris- and London-based firm that can transform squeaky, scratchy music from the 60s and 70s into high-definition surround sound.

The business recently worked on the soundtrack for a film about Edith Piaf that reduced French audiences to tears and consumers will soon be able to log on to Mist's website and mix their own music.

With £5m in the bank, Eurovestech has money to spend and profits for the year to March 31 were £5.6m.

• Midas verdict: The high-tech sector is not for the nervous, but Eurovestech is one of the best performers in the industry and could go far. Investors looking for adventure and the possibility of fast growth should take a punt."

[bubface] 14/10/2007 15:29

tipped in midas mail on sunday very complimentary should see them a bit firmer early doors.

[bubface] 09/10/2007 17:45

comprehensive post kenmitch.following the results which were largely overlooked [perhaps partly because of unusual release timing]looks like the institutional roadshow the company has been on for the past few days is starting to stir some proper interest...nice volume today could well be bigger move to come.

[buffin] 09/10/2007 09:56

Another excellent summary post, Ken :)

I recognise myself in something you wrote. The price does now seem to be on the move - I have come back in and this time I hope I will have more patience!

[kenmitch] 05/10/2007 19:48

Interesting to see a lot more trades in Eurovestech today. Maybe Institutions and ordinary investors beginning to wake up to the huge potential, including in exciting new investment MIST Technologies.

I posted the following on Mike Walters subscription site earlier this week, and the one or two others who still check this one out might find it interesting.

Apologies for any bits that are only relevant to Mike's subscribers, but with so few now posting here it doesn't seem worth going through it to clear those bits out.

Some of the following might well explain the interest and gain in the EVT share price today.........

"This post is aimed at existing Eurovestech fans/shareholders here, and for newcomers to EVT. Apologies. It's a long post, but it seems a good time to put a fuller picture than normal.

fwiw I continue to believe that EVT remains a wonderful long term investment with the possibility (probability?) that investors will cotton on to the continued big progress in their 3 biggest existing investments, Toluna, KSS and Magenta, and wake up to their two potential very big new investments, MIST and Lognet, before too much longer.

Before explaining that progress and potential, some information/discussion on the share price, for those who have been invested only over the last 18 moths or so and are very disappointed with the performance of the shares so far.

Although the shares have been a big success story for those who got in 5 years ago when the price was under 2p compared with 18p now, that has not been the case for those who got in 18 months ago when the share price was about the same as now.

It's a real shame that those here who bought around 2p seemed nearly all to have sold again around 3p OR only bought after the big rise to 15p or more and have seen their investment as dead money so far. That applies even to the odd one or two like me who have been in the shares for years. Great investment and success story that EVT has been can't hide the fact that investment wise for the last 18 months it has been a sleeper.

But in those 18 months while the share price has done nothing EVT has made enormous progress - explanation shortly. Meantime just to put the share price performance into perspective. In their latest report and accounts to March 2007 EVT compare their share price performance over the last 5 years with the TechMark index and two similar investment outfits, Prelude Trust and New Media Spark. In that time while the TechMark has gone up about 160% the EVT share price is up over 1100%, and has outperformed New Media Spark and Prelude Trust fivefold.

So although the share price stagnation over the last 18 months is frustrating for EVT investors and the Company, this does put it into perspective. In all probability just a too lengthy pause until investors again wake up to the very positive newsflow.

Even so EVT seem sufficiently concerned about the low level of the share price relative both to their assets and the prospects for their investee Companies, to have decided to seek shareholder approval for share buybacks. I really hope they will only do that as a last resort and then only when the shares are crazily cheap. Then there is a case. Otherwise a few £million spent trying to get the share price up a few % would imo be much better spent on seeking out more spectacular multi baggers like Toluna. No way can a share buyback do that and so often Companies that have sought the buyback solution to a low share price have seen the buyback fail to make any difference.

Indeed I emailed Luminar when I held their warrants about the lunacy imo of their buying back shares at their all time high around £8. Thye disagreed of course, but now the shares have fallen to around £6. Point proved. EVT are too astute to make that mistake - and it's one also made by many of our largest Comnpanies where buybacks at record highs haven't, despite the theory, prevented the share price subsequently tumbling. So fingers crossed that if EVT buybacks are approved, then it will only be as a last resort when the discount to NAV is extreme.

EVT issued their final results last Friday and they were impressive -details here



Profits of over £5 million compared with a small loss previously.They also have cash of over £5 million. For any newcomers, Eurovestech is a pan European Development Fund and with such Funds NAV is a key way of measuring progress and value.

Now for the STORY.

EVT has gone for a small top quality portfolio. Although they have small stakes in a number of successful companies I ignore those as even if very successful the EVT stakes are too small for that success to have much influence on the share price. Instead I concentrate on the main 3 (now growing to 5) investments, where their stakes are large.

So here are details of the big 5. Make your mind up and decide whether you agree that all 5 have either already proved to be wonderful investments or are on the verge of doing so.

1. KSS. Knowledge Support Systems.

KSS is a global provider of pricing analystics, price management, rules based pricing and optimisation technology and services to the oil and gas, convenience store, grocery and chain drug sectors. Might not sound a must have technology, but fact is that Companies who use it find it helps them make huge savings. It seems to be a must have offering and the main difficulty -as with some other must have products - Companies only realise that once they are using the technology.

Proof of the pudding is in the quality of the Companies that are clients of KSS. BP, STATOIL and WAL-MART for starters. They don't come bigger than that - and for a small British Company to win contracts in the notoriously difficult to succeed in US market and when they win to get the likes of WAL-MART sums it up imo.

btw KSS originally paid just £1 million for now profitable KSS with latest revenues of over £6 million, and at the time of that £1 million purchase they also got the then KSS £6 million cash pile.

Recently the two parts of KSS - Fuel and retail - have been demerged to allow for even greater visibility and to create further shareholder value. Also presumably the two could now be sold off as separate entities. EVT now record KSS as having a carrying value of just £4.2 million! And EVT Directors report that they believe that KSS is now in a period of EXCEPTIONALLY RAPID DEVELOPMENT. EVT owns 100% of KSS.

2. TOLUNA. EVT OWNS 50%.

So much has been posted here on this stunningly successful online research Company. The shares have been quoted on AIM for a couple of years with the price rising from 70p then to just over £2 now. As with the EVT share price though, Toluna shares too have done nothing this year and are down from their peak of £2.60. But progress has been every bit as good, or even better than forecast. Revenue and profit growth is very rapid and that looks almost certain to continue - even in difficult markets imo as the cost savings and speed of online surveys compared with the old fashioned methods might even tempt yet more Companies to switch to the likes of TOL if times get harder. Latest results last month showed revenues up another 67% and profits up another 53% with an increased dividend too.

The online research market is expanding very fast but still accounts for only a small percentage of all surveys. Rapid growth in the sector where TOL, along with YouGov, is the leader seems assured.

Again the TOL client list is top quality with many major Companies using their services. It's a French based Company and many of their major clients are big European Companies like Avensis. Clients here include Barclays.

And btw Toluna has again retained 100% of their customers for their Automate Survery offering as well as a very high rate of customer renewals for other offerings. Their online panel has increased to 1.6 million in 26 Countries!

i.e the second huge EVT investment success story. EVT originally paid just £2 million for their stake in Toluna. They have already sold £7.4 million worth of shares. And their current 50% stake in Toluna is worth around £37 million. ie a multi bagger.

3. MAGENTA. EVT has a 44% stake.

Magenta is another world leader. This time in Commercial Multi agent systems. As explained before I don't understand these, but apparently Magenta's software enables Companies to react quickly to unplanned and unforseen events beyond their control, and react intelligently to these events as they happen.The Magenta solutions then provide savings that would not otherwise happen. How? Goodness knows. And for a while lack of contracts made me wonder whether anyone else knew either! But now Magenta is winning contracts thick and fast with a number of major Companies signing up for major long term development contracts. This includes their first £1 million contract with Tankers International and another with Addison Lee. i.e as with KSS and TOL big name clients too. What's more Magenta is now profitable and prospects look very exciting.

So that is an outline of their big 3 investments and an indication of how good progress in all 3 has been while the EVT share price has been sitting still.

Now we get to the really exciting bit - their two promising new investments.

4. MIST-TECHNOLOGIES. EVT hold 41%.

This one looks so promising that it is almost unbelievable!

MIST - a Paris and London based Company has a unique patented sound separation technology that enables mono and stereo sound/film/music files to be re-mastered into high definition, cinema quality surround sound.

Think about it. The prospects are senstional. Elvis in high definition quality sound, or Edith Piav - or anyone or anything. The prospects for this in cinema, TV, the home and music on the internet are mind boggling. Already the technology has been used in the film La Vie en Rose. Following that MIST is now in discussions with some of the World's leading music and film distribution companies with a view to updating existing catalogues using MIST's sound conversion technology.

Already clients include Studio Canal, French TV station TF1 and Pathe. No doubt there will be many more and soon.

Further details in this article in French newspaper Les Echos. Translation - discovered this after ploughing through the French one! - underneath.



EVT looks to have done very well getting into this one at minimal cost. Carrying value just £0.3 million. Another Toluna or better in the making?

5. LOGNET INFORMATION SYSTEMS. EVT holds 25%.

This looks another likely very big EVT winning investment. Lognet is a provider of e-billing and customer self-service solutions. Lognet is currently focussing on the telecommunications market. Among several big name clients already are ORANGE,CELLCOM and UNITEL. Carrying value for this investment is £2 million. Maybe suggesting this is another potential blockbuster is getting carried away, but the potential looks very large.

That's it. EVT have 5 main investments. 3 are proven successes. The two new ones could prove even bigger successes and the prospects for MIST look huge, and probably fairly short term too.

And nobody new seems to notice. Old hands do. e.g Main EVT shareholders are top fund Manager Neil Woodford/Amvescap with a 21% stake. Another proven quality Fund Manager Colin McClean with 20% and Chief Ex Richard Bernstein with 13%. A couple of other Institutions, one French, hold 4% and 3%. Oh and I've topped up my holding recently at 18p!

Otherwise hardly a mention in any newspaper or bb. Except this little article a couple of weeks ago.



So if deciding to buy, when to? If worried that the shares might stay stuck for a good while longer then wait for the price to start moving or act on more positive news and or positive articles about EVT if/when they appear. Or buy now and be prepared to wait. That way you don't miss the boat if the shares do suddenly rise -which they could on sudden big newspaper publicity about the sensational MIST technology.

The shares have not reacted at all to big market moves in recent months staying not so merrily stuck around 17 or 18p. Guess that until there is more good news that that will continue.

No negatives posted here. But for every share there is a bull and bear case. For TOL EVT identify the main risks as repeat business - best solved as now by offering top quality service and offerings. The other main risk is a fall of in panellists. So far there has been a steady increase.

For KSS the main risks come from being in a competitive market. Despite that their offering is so good that they are winning contracts in the US where some of their biggest competitors also operate. And even WAL-MART has chosen KSS.

For Magenta I'm not sure what the negatives are as their offering looks unique. For MIST the risk must be of someone coming up with a similar technology, but they have patented their technology and anyway have much more than a head start on anyone else.

Here's an investment that should really reward in time -even for those who've held EVT for a while and are very frustrated with the share price over the last 18 months. EVT is a quality Company with a superb record of discovering hidden gems. They are also good at spotting undervalued quoted shares and buying stakes in those too - e.g Arc International - stake sold on at a big profits within weeks, and this year another big profit when undervalued Pixology was bid for. So it is always interesting as an EVT shareholder looking out for newsof their next new investment.

Loads more, including details of all their investee Companies on the Eurovestech website

www.eurovestech.co.uk

DYOR of course. But fwiw it would be a major surprise if EVT gave investors sleepless nights, and the chance of EVT proving a very rewarding investment is high imo.

EDIT. One final point. EVT has now gifted nearly 8 million shares to genuine charities - hospices,childrens' charities, blind, cancer etc etc. 68 charities in all, listed in their latest Report and Accounts. I know Kentan disagrees, but this seems a brilliant way of giving to charity. Value of these gifted shares is now over £1.3 million. EVT hope other Companies will consider doing the same."

[kenmitch] 24/9/2007 14:36

azalea.

You're checking out a very interesting Company. See this bb for why.

Final results are due any time now. Probably this week. Last year the interims were in December. Until you pointed it out I had noticed the 3 month/9month spacing and have no idea why. Haven't checked further back to see if this is the norm.

[kenmitch] 03/8/2007 10:06

Good to learn of another contract win for the fuels division of KSS, for Price Net.



It's with quite a well known Company too!

The icing on the cake would be if the next contract news could be for the retail division - the more so if it too could be with another well known Company. Or even with the same one.....

[kenmitch] 02/8/2007 09:57

Thanks Buffin.

I don't know. On second thoughts he hasn't been misquoted. The writer of that piece just seems to have made an error in interpreting the figures, and anyone reading it should spot that mistake at once imo.

Good to know that there are still a a couple more still holding or watching EVT.

And that there are now two more potential significant winners in addition to TOL, KSS and Magenta.

Short term the shares look becalmed and don't even respond to the big market dips and/or changes in the TOL share price. I thought one or other might give a better buying/top up opportunity.

An aside...

... interesting to see Top Fund Manager Neil Woodford continuing to get rave reviews. e.g in The Daily Mail yesterday. "Fund Manager Neil Woodford stands head and shoulders above almost all fund managers for his consistent outperformance and highly impressive returns for his income and high income funds. He buys companies for the long term and his average holding period for a stock is close to five years."

e.g "In my opinion Neil Woodford is one of the best fund managers of the past decade. His performance numbers speak for themselves. He has outperformed in bear and bull markets and is the kind of fund manager every investor should consider for their portfolio." Comment by Darius McDermott at Chelsea Financial Services.

e.g "Neil Woodford is probably the pre-eminent manager of his generation...." Ben Yearsley of Hargreaves Lansdown.

e.g "Neil Woodford is very highly regarded for his stock picking skills...." Helen Richardson at Pantheon.

What's that got to do with Eurovestech? Neil Woodford has held a large stake in EVT for years and bought a load at less than 2p, when another fund manager from Dresdner decided to dump their entire stake at that price! He also bought into Toluna from the start and has added since, doing very well with that large stake too. And he still holds the entire stake in both. Good that such a successful fund manager still seems to see further potential both in EVT and TOL.

[buffin] 01/8/2007 15:43

Excellent, Ken, thanks. With the sort of potential you quote, it's pretty immaterial whether RB was misquoted or not - though if he was, you'd think he'd insist on it being corrected.

Watching.

[integer] 01/8/2007 08:32

same here Ken, still watching and holding.

[rambutan2] 01/8/2007 00:25

ken, thanks for the post.

[mjcrockett] 11/7/2007 11:43

KSS seems to be back on track again after last year's loss. Perhaps the split of the business may be early preparation for the eventual flotation of these 2 divisions. EVT shares now look particularly cheap, but the market does not seem to be interested today.

MJ

[kenmitch] 20/6/2007 09:33

Eurovestech share price drifting lower now. That's a rarity for this Company in recent years.

Guess a reason is just lack of news. Disappointing not to see more contract news from KSS.

Also shares in the online research sector are all taking a rare breather too. Possibly not for much longer.

EVT remains a cheap way into TOL - the more so if the EVT share price goes any lower and TOL starts rising again.

[mangal] 06/6/2007 17:21

I have been a holder of these & have done very well - six bagger since I bought some six years back. Still holding for the long term & expect the share price to continue in the same vein- over 35% annualised is not a bad return at all !

[kenmitch] 06/6/2007 15:31

Good news from Magenta - at last - today. Mention of several contracts although I can't see any information on them on their website.

Hope the good news today is a sign of things to come from Magenta.

Now more news of contracts for KSS would be welcome after the extra investment in KSS. More from KSS before much longer and more contracts for Magenta and EVT will be firing on all 3 cylinders.

Seems I'm the only one left here. Long term Institutional investors seem as supportive as ever.

PS News also today of a small purchase of TOL shares by Richard Bernstein.

[kenmitch] 30/4/2007 12:25

Seems everybody else has moved on with no posts in nearly two months, and that was from me!

Pixology was another good EVT small company find. They will/have made a good profit on their PIX stake following the bid well above their buying price. Increases - a bit - the size of their war chest.

The only negative and maybe why some have moved on is that the three EVT "big uns" seem to be firing on only two cylinders. KSS winning contracts, TOL - superb....

... but what about Magenta? EVT upped their stake in this one and there has seemed promise of great things for ages. Yet if their website is anything to go by only one bit of news since last October. Maybe there is a lot going on behind the scenes but time now surely for that promise to start to be realised with contracts and news of any other progress?

[kenmitch] 04/3/2007 19:45

Good to see Eurovestech gifting shares to charity, something they've been doing for some time and encouraging other Companies to do, getting some deserved publicity.

More details here.