Eurovestech Share Discussion Threads

[kenmitch] 15/5/2005 15:02

Thanks rambutan 2.

Agree re. KSS valuation. Stumped by thet French bio business though. Have you any more info? EVT hold a tiny stake in D Pharm.

Yes. I've followed the Prelude comment here. I'm hoping (but have no idea whether it will) it ends up with EVT succeeding there too - with both PDT and EVT shareholders benefitting as a result. Worse case scenario from the EVT point of view is that they are lumbered with their low risk PDT stake?

Worth pointing out that Prelude raised £20 million odd at £2 a share in 2000. Now look at the dismal PDT share price and asset value compared with that. All right Alphamosaic was a big winner for them - but the far smaller EVT portflio has performed far better.

And EVT floated at 5p in 2000 - around the peak of the Tech bubble - and the shares have now more than doubled to over 11p.How many tech Companies have seen their share prices more than double (or even go up at all) since 2000? Another EVT feather in the cap.Compare that with the dismal PDT share price performance too. Time PDT was shaken up - but as happened with the failed attempt by PIGIT to take over the badly performing STS, shaking up this sector is easier said than done. But EVT has a record of success.........

[rambutan2] 15/5/2005 14:45

your comments v welcome kenmitch.
i would bet on the kss business being worth more than the estimate.
main interest on this board is the stake evt have taken in pdt - a trust which has a big following.
also, im sure i saw something re the french bio business in which we hold a small percentage being floated.

[kenmitch] 14/5/2005 21:17

This is superb news. Guess the reasons why the shares haven't risen strongly on the news is partly because EVT has not YET got the recognition they deserve, and also the present state of the markets where good news doesn't lift shares prices but bad news sees them crash.

1. The IPO values ToLuna at £25 million and the EVT stake in Toluna at just under £16 million. That's an EIGHTFOLD increase on the EVT carrying cost. What's more that £16 million is more than double the Teather and Greenwood estimate in their EVT buy note last October. And some thought that T and G note was over egging the pudding. In the event quite the reverse. By the way T and G valued KSS, another EVT coup that is doing brilliantly at £21 million. Assume that too is not too conservative and it makes KSS and Toluna alone worth more than the current EVT market cap of around £35 million, with £5 million cash and the likes of Magenta and much more on top!

2. Re ToLuna. We know the business is already profitable. Reported profits of £80,000 for the first two months of 2005. Since then ToLuna has reported very strong growth rates so profits are sure to increase substantially and quickly. And that is before expansion following the IPO and the opening of an office in London next month. They already have a raft of big name clients - e.g Aventis, Dior, Ikea, KPMG, Citroen, Peugeot, Mercedes, AOL, France Telecom, to name some. On line data research - the main ToLuna business - is expanding rapidly and already transforming research in the travel, auction, publishing and gaming industries. Hence the incredible growth rates. Not that there is anything unique about what ToLuna does - but they are one of the biggest in the business. And with on-line market research in Europe apparently around 5% compared with over 30% in the USA there is plenty of room for expansion. Even so it is good to know that ToLuna is a market leader.

Obviously a big advantage of on-line research rather than telephone is the much lower costs involved. Huge savings on staff costs for example. And another huge advantage is speed where the whole thing can be done and invoice sent off ( and hopefully paid nearly as quickly!) in a couple of days. Gross margins are high, and and costs largely fixed, so any increase in revenues feeds straight through to profits.

So no wonder the ToLuna IPO is for £25 million. And if ToLuna is going places so is EVT and - in time - the EVT share price. And there must be a chance that in time ToLuna might attract a bidder.

As for the Institutions backing this, my guess is that they will again prove supportive - i.e as they have with their investments in EVT they will be in for the long term and not a fast buck. So that should provide support for the ToLuna share price come May 25th and beyond. Also of course in the past Institutions supporting EVT, including 2 placings at a PREMIUM to the then share price are some of the most respected names in Fund Management.

Of course the EVT share price has done little for the last year or so. But during that time there has been some superb newsflow - including big contracts for KSS (what a purchase that was - EVT paying £1 million and getting the business and the KSS cash pile of around £6 million and then turning the loss making business around within a year.) Also confirmation now that KSS is trading profitably. And then in the background is Magenta - another potentially very exciting Company. So in time, surely, the share price is going to respond to all this.

BTW in case anyone is wondering how/where I've come out of the woodwork, I usually post only on Mike Walters excellent paysite - so much so that I rarely have the time or inclination to post elsewhere.I've been going on about EVT there since the shares were trading at under 2p. Despite that there is surprisingly little interest in EVT on that site. More interest - and posts on EVT elsewhere might help to give the share price a lift sooner rather than later. Also there is an excellent EVT thread here - and posts might get some response - I'll take the risk of that response being a lot of critical comment, and/or advice to return to where I've come from!

Ken.

[lord orphan] 13/5/2005 11:25

Why aren't the shares up 20%

[bitterlemontart] 13/5/2005 08:05

Very good news, eh ?

[bitterlemontart] 13/5/2005 08:03

: Near eightfold increase against Eurovestech's cost of
investment

Eurovestech is pleased to announce that ToLuna plc ("ToLuna"), the new holding
company for Cjudge Limited, a company in which Eurovestech currently holds a
79.4 per cent. interest, has completed an institutional placing of new ordinary
shares at 70p per share to raise ?5 million before expenses, conditional upon
admission of its shares to trading on AIM. At the placing price ToLuna will be
valued at ?25.04 million on admission. Following the placing, Eurovestech will
own 63.5 per cent. of ToLuna's issued share capital , which values
Eurovestech's shareholding in ToLuna at ?15.9 million; the present carrying
value in Eurovestech's accounts is ?2 million.

ToLuna has issued a ten day notice to AIM of its intention to seek admission of
its shares to trading on AIM and dealings in ToLuna's shares are expected to
commence on 25 May 2005.

Commenting on the proposed admission to AIM, Richard Bernstein, Chief Executive
of Eurovestech, commented: `We are delighted with both the level and quality of
institutional support in ToLuna. We believe that this will allow ToLuna to
accelerate its development and profitability in the rapidly growing European
online data collection market. We are also pleased that the placing price is
equivalent to a near eightfold increase against our cost of investment over the
last five years.'

ToLuna's core pan-European business is the creation of online survey access
panels and hosted technology solutions for market research professionals.
Internet survey solutions are widely regarded as being more cost-effective,
efficient and quicker than traditional market research methods.

Further enquiries:

Eurovestech Plc

Richard Bernstein

Chief Executive Tel: [phone]

John East & Partners Limited

John East/David Worlidge Tel: [phone]

[flyinghog] 13/5/2005 07:31

I hope they are also making progress with their investment in Prelude investment trust. There is a board that needs to be given a kick up the @rs€.

[kenmitch] 12/5/2005 19:29

Thanks Lord Orphan.

Yes. I was looking for CJudge, so no wonder I couldn't find it. This is excellent news for EVT.

[lord orphan] 12/5/2005 11:26

See AIM announcement below. Its renamed ToLuna. Perhaps you were looking for Cjudge.

AIM
10 May 2005


ANNOUNCEMENT TO BE MADE BY THE AIM APPLICANT PRIOR TO ADMISSION IN ACCORDANCE WITH AIM RULE 2

ALL APPLICANTS MUST COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING:

COMPANY NAME:
ToLuna plc

COMPANY ADDRESS:
29 Curzon Street, London

COMPANY POSTCODE:
W1J 7TL

COUNTRY OF INCORPORATION:
England and Wales

COMPANY BUSINESS:
Provision of online access panels and hosted technology services to market research professionals

DETAILS OF SECURITIES TO BE ADMITTED (i.e. where known, number of shares, nominal value and issue price to which it
seeks admission and the number and type to be held as treasury shares):
To be advised

CAPITAL TO BE RAISED ON ADMISSION:
To be advised

FULL NAMES AND FUNCTIONS OF DIRECTORS AND PROPOSED DIRECTORS:
George Alexander Bryson Kynoch (Non-executive Chairman)

Frederic-Charles Petit (Chief Executive)

Richard Philip Bernstein (Non-executive Director)

Peregrine Kenneth Oughton Crosthwaite (Non-executive Director)

PERSON(S) INTERESTED IN 3% OR MORE OF THE ISSUER'S CAPITAL, EXPRESSED AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE ISSUED SHARE CAPITAL
STATING WHETHER BEFORE OR AFTER ADMISSION:
Percentage of issued share capital Percentage of issued share capital
before admission after admission
Frederic-Charles Petit 20.6 To be advised
Eurovestech plc 79.4 To be advised

NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF ALL PERSONS TO BE DISCLOSED IN ACCORDANCE WITH SCHEDULE 2, PARAGRAPH (G) OF THE AIM RULES:
None

ANTICIPATED ACCOUNTING REFERENCE DATE:
31st December

EXPECTED ADMISSION DATE:
25th May, 2005

NAME AND ADDRESS OF NOMINATED ADVISER:
John East & Partners Limited

Crystal Gate

28-30 Worship Street

London EC2A 2AH


NAME AND ADDRESS OF BROKER:
Cenkos Securities Limited

6.7.8 Tokenhouse Yard

London EC2R 7AS

DETAILS OF WHERE (POSTAL OR INTERNET ADDRESS) THE ADMISSION DOCUMENT WILL BE AVAILABLE FROM, WITH A STATEMENT THAT THIS
WILL CONTAIN FULL DETAILS ABOUT THE APPLICANT AND THE ADMISSION OF ITS SECURITIES:
John East & Partners Limited

Crystal Gate

28-30 Worship Street

London EC2A 2AH

DATE OF NOTIFICATION:
10th May, 2005

[kenmitch] 11/5/2005 19:36

Very interesting Lord Orphan, but where did you find this information? No RNS and I can't find it on the EVT website.

Thanks.

[rambutan2] 10/5/2005 11:01

good spot lo.

[lord orphan] 10/5/2005 10:47

Cjudge IPO set to value EVT's stake at £15m compared to £7.5m in last financing round. This should add 2.5p to Teather's adjusted NAV of 11.5p. Expect a share price move up to 14p.

[lyceeuk] 18/4/2005 07:03

18th April, 2005

Eurovestech Plc ("Eurovestech")

Knowledge Support Systems Limited ("KSS") secures order from major US
corporation

Eurovestech is pleased to announce that KSS, a leading provider of pricing
solutions to the convenience, retail, grocery and petroleum industries has
secured an initial $168,000 order from a major US corporation, as part of a
license and services agreement, for its retail fuels pricing solution,
PriceNet. The Directors believe this order is part of a planned national
rollout of PriceNet by the US corporation over the next 18 months that is
estimated by KSS to have a total contract value of in excess of $3 million.

Eurovestech owns the entire issued share capital of KSS.

Richard Bernstein, Chief Executive of Eurovestech commented: "This order
acknowledges KSS' proven track record in servicing and supporting the pricing
requirements of petroleum retailing organisations. KSS continues to view the US
as a key market for both fuels and merchandise pricing solutions and is pleased
to be able to focus its efforts and investment in continuing to develop its
market position."

Further enquiries:

Eurovestech Plc

Richard Bernstein

Chief Executive Tel: [phone]



END

[rambutan2] 12/4/2005 13:03

we hold a small stake in d-pharm...

[bubface] 02/4/2005 11:34

this is a somewhat overlooked situation.their involvement with prelude may gain them some more attention.other recent news of possible float of sub cjudge should also add value.the most interesting holding however is kss which evt wholly own which was picked up a few years ago for a song and is probably worth the current market cap alone with other investments and cash in for nothing.the company has good institutional support and is due a rerating sometime soon.

[mangal] 31/3/2005 11:37

Hopefully we will soon extract some value here:

[rambutan2] 10/1/2005 10:01

now thats a good announcement.

[lyceeuk] 10/1/2005 07:08

Embargoed until 7.00am on

10th January, 2005

Eurovestech Plc ("Eurovestech")

Further Re: Knowledge Support Systems Limited ("KSS") Contract

In the Chairman's Statement included in the Interim Results of the Company for
the six months to 30 September 2004, Eurovestech made reference to the decision
to continue receiving a term license rather than pursuing a lump sum from a
perpetual licensee. Eurovestech is now pleased to announce that a term
licensee, which is a major US retailer of petroleum, has converted its term
license into a perpetual license. As a result, KSS has received $2.25 million
in consideration. This payment brings total receipts from this client to $3
million. KSS is expecting to continue to receive annual support and maintenance
revenues from this client.

KSS is a leading provider of pricing and revenue management solutions for the
retail and petroleum industries. Eurovestech owns the entire issued share
capital of KSS.

Richard Bernstein, Chief Executive of Eurovestech commented: "The receipt of $3
million from one customer demonstrates the commercial value of KSS's software
products as well as providing an important reference point in the US retail
fuels market. The boost to cash balances together with the growing momentum of
the business is a source of great optimism for KSS's prospects."

Further enquiries:

Eurovestech Plc

Richard Bernstein

Chief Executive Tel: [phone]



END

[rambutan2] 30/11/2004 14:47

and also this...

Convenience Store/Petroleum Daily News, 15th November 2004

NEW YORK -- In 2001, Miller Oil Co. was being squeezed from all sides in a brutally competitive environment. Its major-oil competitors were selling off sites to dealers and slashing prices to keep volume up, to the point that the market had inverted for nearly three months, and some stores were selling gas for 15 cents below rack price. Add into this mix new entrants such as Sheetz, Wawa and Sunoco, as well as hypermarket heat from Costco and Sam's Club, and you have a retailer at the crossroads.

"We had to really reassess our whole business model and decide what in the world we were going to do to try to survive," said president Jeff Miller during a CSPNetwork CyberConference on fuel-pricing strategies. "We were going to have to do greater volume, generate more income and do more [business] per site."

After working on inside sales, Norfolk, Va.-based Miller Oil refocused on its No. 1 category, fuel. It discovered a pricing process so weighted down by procedural inefficiencies that street changes were on permanent time delay. Store managers surveyed competitors' prices twice a week and phoned this information to the area supervisor, who created a spreadsheet and e-mailed it to the pricing analyst, who, based on several factors and a little intuition, came to a decision, which he then phoned to each of Miller Oil's 50 company-ops. The process cried out for automation.

So Miller Oil turned to PriceNet, a fuel-pricing application produced by KSS Inc., Florham Park, N.J. The product is designed to embody what Mark Hawtin, KSS's senior vice president, cited as the three key steps to an effective pricing process:

1. Respond quickly and effectively to market events. "Becoming more agile in the price-decision process is about turning price decisions around more promptly, finding ways to automate the process where no subjective decision is needed," Hawtin said. The PriceNet software can automatically generate price suggestions based on predetermined rules, which enables pricing analysts to divert their attention from administering and managing data to focusing on items that require strategic, subjective decisions.

2. Implement pricing strategies efficiently and accurately. Retailers must first compose a clear pricing policy and be sure to tailor it to the needs of individual markets. With PriceNet, users can document policy tactics and share them uniformly across the organization, saving time and avoiding individual interpretation.

3. Constantly challenge pricing tactics. Creating a "culture of challenge" is key to long-term success in pricing, Hawtin said, but it has to be done in a controlled manner. A system that can sequentially challenge aspects of pricing policy, implementation and analysis will uncover any outdated tactics or assumptions, and may also reveal competitors' weaknesses.

After testing PriceNet, Miller Oil was able to debunk a couple of assumptions of its own. For example, the retailer would change prices at neighboring stores together to avoid displeasing customers. After running different pricing scenarios through the software, Miller Oil learned that the impact of independent pricing was often nonexistent.

The retailer was also able better understand the price delta-and breaking the taboo that says all grades must be priced by 8 to 10 cents apart. "If [the software] sees we're doing well on regular and midgrade, but premium is down, it would recommend we decrease the delta to get the volume up," Miller said. "We can price each store on a daily basis, and there is a lot to be gained there."

Thanks to its ability to make smarter and quicker pricing decisions, Miller Oil finished the fiscal year exceeding its volume budget by 4.5% and hitting its gross-margin target, it said. "We're now reacting more quickly than the competition and are more in control of pricing," said Miller. "Sometimes we're a leader, sometimes we're a follower, but now we're in control."

[buffin] 14/11/2004 22:54

EVT have a copy of the Shares piece on their web site.

[rambutan2] 12/11/2004 12:02

gets big write-up and tip in shares mag out today.
evolution reckon nav currently bit over 11p but tim freeman reckons that rather a conservative take. tim freeborn reckons kss worth £20m+ and good chance of it being floated within a reasonable time horizon. well worth a read.

[swalker] 29/10/2004 22:07

Ahah - So this is where you hang out ram?

Take it you have seen the news re the stake in PDT?

[rambutan2] 06/10/2004 17:45

all looking very good.
surprised at lack of interest here.
when you buy this you buy kss which, im reckoning, has considerable upside.
am unconvinced about size of placing/dilution though.
hopefully some reasons will be given at agm this month.