Fidessa Group Share Discussion Threads

[market sniper1] 21/10/2015 15:22

FDSA, Fidessa, lovely move upwards today on the back of results that indicate a big recovery. Expect broker updates.

[market sniper1] 21/10/2015 11:02

FDSA Fidessa results.... …

things look very bright, way oversold loads of value here, see chart.

[market sniper1] 13/10/2015 11:31

FDSA Fidessa group PLC

Lovely bullish bowl forming on the chart. Steady Eddie type of stock so patience is required. Went long first thing this morning. Reckon there is a lot to come from this stock. There were recentish director buys in late September.



Name Fidessa Group Epic FDSA
Sector Software & Computer Services ISIN GB0007590234

Activites, Fidessa Group plc (formerly royalblue group plc) provides a range of applications known collectively as Fidessa. Fidessa is a world leading solution for trading systems, market data and global connectivity. Available as a simple workstation or as an integrated application suite, Fidessa is built on the clear vision of providing the richest functionality, coverage and distribution to all tiers of the financial community.

Latest share price (p) 1,867.50 Net gearing (%) 12.95
Market cap (£m) 696.47 Gross gearing (%) 42.22
Shares in issue (m) 38.21 Debt ratio 9.99
P/E ratio 23.64 Debt to equity ratio 0.15
Divs per share (p) 38.10 Assets / equity ratio 1.73
Dividend yield (%) 2.09 Price to book value 4.60
Dividend cover 2.23 ROCE 23.23
Earning per share (p) 77.10 EPS growth (%) -9.82
52-week high / low (p) 2,532.00 / 1,746.00 DPS growth (%) 2.97

Fidessa Group director deals

Date Director Type Volume / price Trade value
23 Sep 2015 Ken Archer Buy 1,500 @ 1,799.00p £26,985.00
23 Sep 2015 Chris Aspinwall Buy 7 @ 1,791.00p £125.37
23 Sep 2015 Andy Malpass Buy 7 @ 1,791.00p £125.37
23 Sep 2015 John Hamer Buy 7 @ 1,791.00p £125.37
23 Sep 2015 Chris Aspinwall Buy 1,000 @ 1,779.00p £17,790.00

[huttonr] 21/2/2014 15:29

The market does seem to happy with this - about 10% since the results on the 17th. The usual low volume, of course, but maybe that £24 buy is sensible after all.

[huttonr] 20/2/2014 14:57

Well spotted! Puts a rather better complexion on his latest buy.

[whitestone] 20/2/2014 13:56

I think you'll find the shareholding in question "...decreased following
connected persons ceasing to be connected persons..." by some 22,000 odd shares
in June last year.



So a forced disposal I would imagine ....

[huttonr] 19/2/2014 09:15

It does seem a respectable vote of confidence.
However, I note that he held 87722 at 31/12/12 so must have sold some 20000 during the year at possibly lower prices than the £24 he has just paid. So, perhaps not a person to rely on to choose the best time to buy and sell?

Anyway, it will help the market to be happy about the shares.

[whitestone] 18/2/2014 19:00

Not exactly a token buy is it?


Tuesday 18 February, 2014


Fidessa Group PLC

Director/PDMR Shareholding

Fidessa group plc ("the Company")

Director / PDMR shareholdings

The Company has been notified that on 18th February 2014 John Hamer, a director
of the Company, purchased 10,000 ordinary shares in the Company at a price of
2400p each. Following this notification his shareholding is 76,391 ordinary
shares in the issued share capital of the Company, constituting 0.20% of the
issued share capital.

18th February 2014

[whitestone] 18/2/2014 12:47

Huttonr

I thought I was alone on here..!

Fidessa is a super company which I have held for many years.

It would seem it's traditional markets are starting to recover after being depressed these last few years and from what I can discern the fast-growing derivatives business looks quite exciting... as you suggest we may see some increases this year ..

[huttonr] 18/2/2014 11:48

Whitestone - thanks for your notes.

It looks as if we may actually be getting some increases in revenue this year and, even with the comments about extra investment, some increase in profits.

[whitestone] 18/2/2014 09:42

Fidessa full-year results flat but CEO sees signs of modest growth in 2014 DIGITAL

February 17, 2014

- Pre-tax profits rise
- Revenues flat
- Jefferies recommends 'buy'

Financial trading systems provider Fidessa said conditions in all its customer markets were improving slowly as it reported an increase in pre-tax profits to 43.1m pounds from 42m pounds for the year to December 31st.

Chief Executive Chris Aspinwall said the better outlook 'is reflected in our current deal pipeline' but warned that the upturn had been 'somewhat uneven' with customers still unable to make investment decisions with confidence.

Revenues continued to be hit by tough conditions in equity markets and were flat at £279m, up marginally from £278.6m in 2012. Fidessa finished the year with a slightly higher cash balance of £73m and no debt after dividend payments, against £72.1m in cash in 2012.

The company is paying an unchanged annual dividend of 37 pence a share along with a special dividend of 45 pence a share.

Broker Jefferies rated Fidessa shares a 'buy' and raised its price target to 2570 pence from 2450 pence citing 'exceptional' market positions to take advantage of improved growth rates.

Aspinwall said tight spending controls by clients had led to lower consultancy revenues but added that sales of Fidessa's derivatives platform had made good progress during the year with revenue more than doubling and contracts had been won with two 'large' unnamed US banks and a 'significant' firm in derivatives trading.
He added that as the global economy recovers from the 2008 financial crisis Fidessa should see growth in sales of derivative and service-based platforms to feed slowly into overall revenue improvements although 'our recurring revenue model has the effect that some of the impact from the attrition in 2013 will flow through into 2014′ with expected modest constant currency growth in 2014.

Fidessa's finance director Andy Malpass also said he would retire in 2015

[whitestone] 18/2/2014 09:32

Rough Winds at Fidessa

By Theron Mohamed,
17 February 2014

A still uncertain global economic backdrop, along with industry consolidation, dragged on financial trading software group Fidessa

(FDSA). A 5 per cent year-on-year decline in European sales meant flat full-year revenue and only a small earnings bump. But sales in the Americas did rise 6 per cent, while turnover growth in Asia - apparently slender at 1 per cent - would have been in double digits but for Japan's economic woes and currency weakness.

Fidessa also broadened its customer base and generated 57 per cent of total revenues from outside of Europe, while recurring revenues rose 2 per cent to £239m - representing 85 per cent of total sales. Another bright spot was derivatives platform sales, which more than doubled year on year and now account for around 4 per cent of recurring revenues. Analysts think sales there could double again in each of the next two years. But management sounded a cautious note. "The market has been through a severe downturn and we expect to come out of it gradually," said chief executive Chris Aspinwall. But he did add that Fidessa had seen "improved conditions across all our main markets".

Broker Jefferies expects adjusted pre-tax profit of £44.2m for 2014, giving EPS of 87.3p (from £41.8m and 83.5p in 2013).

[whitestone] 18/2/2014 09:29

February 17, 2014 2:39 pm

Fidessa aims to take advantage of US swaps trading reform

By Philip Stafford

Fidessa is looking to exploit impending changes to US swaps trading as the UK trading technology company looks to its fast-growing derivatives business to underpin growth.

The group is talking to customers about providing tools for trading the over-the-counter swaps market as it looks to reduce its reliance on the fortunes of share dealings of banks and investors.

Chris Aspinwall, chief executive, said on Monday he expected strong growth and continued investment in the coming year at Fidessa's derivatives unit. Boosted by three large deals, turnover at the business more than doubled in the year to December 31, becoming nearly 5 per cent of group revenues.

Many of Fidessa's bank and fund manager customers failed, merged or pressed for fee cuts in the wake of the financial crisis. In response, Fidessa has pushed into new markets like derivatives, Asia and outsourced hosting of trading.

Mr Aspinwall said many of its customers were seeing the first uptick in business in five years, with "first real improvement since the start of the financial crisis".

US rules coming into effect this week have mandated that swaps, the most popular type of over-the-counter derivative, be traded on electronic exchanges. The majority of the market is currently traded on the telephone.

More than 20 venues have sprung up in the US aiming to exploit the changes. Many expect the swaps market to adopt trading practices in the equities market.

They include so-called sponsored access, whereby a clearing broker allows an investor to directly buy or sell a swap on a venue. Other market participants are considering a tool that will "aggregate" all quotes for a particular product, so investors do not miss the best price.

"The sponsored access model and the aggregated tools will play a part," said Mr Aspinwall. "We're working with people in the market to work out the best route."

Analysts said Fidessa was implying underlying revenue growth of around 5 per cent in 2014 from its comments.

"Given the improving backdrop, we expect management to ramp up investment particularly in derivatives and as a result we are lowering profit forecasts around 5 per cent," said David Toms, an analyst at Numis Securities. He added that profits would likely remain flat amid the investment and continued pressure on prices.

For the year to December 31, revenue was flat at £279m while pre-tax profit rose 3 per cent to £43.1m. The group paid out another special dividend of 45p per share, while its final dividend was flat at 37p per share.

At the height of the market boom in 2007, Fidessa was recording annual revenue and profit increases of around 20 per cent.

[huttonr] 13/12/2013 17:41

I've holding for years - buying and selling occasionally - but usually with a respectable holding.
As for directors selling - they didn't take much profit and they still have good holdings so .... irrelevant, I think.
Interim statement was, I think, reasonable in these markets - jam next year not this. I find you need to read between the lines a little. The statements are normally a fair prediction of the results but appear somewhat pessimistic - and are usually written in a slightly obscure fashion.
However, the current share price trend looks good so worthwhile to hang in there, I think.

[malcontent] 31/10/2013 13:45

I have sold mine. Was a small holding but I saw no compelling reason to hold

[stdyeddy] 31/10/2013 13:34

Anyone following this company? Interim statement three days ago saying that things might be less than perfect for a while and then three days later the chief exec and the finance director sell £780k worth of shares. Have they been sacked or are they telling me to sell now too or what?

[whitestone] 14/2/2012 14:39

Fidessa resilient as headwinds continue
Posted on: 13Feb2012 by James Cholmondley Farmer


Trading systems developer Fidessa delivered annual revenue growth of 6%, despite nervous financial markets, but believes that conditions will remain difficult for some time to come.

'Conditions in the financial markets during 2011 were generally more difficult than many of our customers were anticipating, with a widely expected uptick in the second half failing to materialise as the euro zone crisis deepened,' Fidessa explained.

'Trading volumes across most of the main equity markets in 2011 were at their lowest levels for many years and there were also high levels of volatility,' it added.

Despite this, revenue for the year ended 31 December 2011 rose to £278.3m from £262.3m while pre-tax profit for the period rose 7% to £42.5m after growth across all regions and market sectors.

Consensus figures from Factset predicted revenue of £279.65m and pre-tax profit of £41.02m.

The group, which generates over 50% of revenue from outside Europe with Asia and the Americas delivering strong growth, said adjusted operating profit rose to £42.9m from £39.8m before.

Fidessa said the results were achieved despite, 'challenges including low volumes of trading across the equity markets, uncertainty with regard to regulation, high levels of volatility, the earthquake in Japan as well as continued structural pressure on many market participants.'

In light of persistently challenging conditions, the group believes that whilst it can continue to deliver growth in 2012, this growth is likely to be at levels which are lower than we have seen during 2011.

'Looking further ahead, we believe that we will see stability returning to the markets and that reduced headwinds will enable us to return to more historic growth levels as our new initiatives gain momentum,' it said in a company statement.

An annual dividend of 36.5p has been offered, up 11% and a special dividend per share of 45p has been recommended.

Merchant Securities noted that the figures represented a slight miss on revenues but were in line as regards stated earnings before interest and tax (EBIT)of £42.9m and were slightly ahead of the broker's expectations on earnings per share at 81p versus Merchant's estimate of 80.5p.

'The outlook statement is all-important given the revenue visibility and this says to expect a slower year in terms of growth than 2011 (7% revenue growth, 9% EBIT growth) due to market conditions persisting and further product investment,' the broker's analyst, Roger Phillips notes.

'In the short term the reaction will be a disappointment and the shares will come under pressure. Longer term we see Fidessa as one of the outstanding stocks in the sector,' the broker said.

[whitestone] 14/2/2012 14:37

Fidessa warns City slowdown is hurting

Nick Goodway
13 Feb 2012


Fidessa, supplier of trading software to broking firms and investment banks, today warned that it expects a slowdown in revenue growth this years as its customers struggle to do business.

Chief executive Chris Aspinwall said: "The pressure our smaller customers have been experiencing in recent years has continued and we believe that this has further to go, with more of these firms expected to consolidate or leave the market during 2012." He added that the group had recently lost two larger customers with the collapse of MF Global and Royal Bank of Scotland's exit from equities but believed these were due to specific issues at those two firms and not part of a more general trend among larger broking firms.

Aspinwall added: "In the short term, given the stress that is still apparent within the financial markets, we believe that conditions will remain difficult for some time to come. However, we believe there will still be good opportunities for growth, particularly through extending our derivatives presence and leveraging our infrastructure to deliver greater value to our larger customers."

Fidessa said profits rose by 8% to £43.2 million in 2011 on revenues 6% higher at £278 million. It lifted its annual dividend 11% to 36.5p. The shares fell 47p to 1650p as analysts trimmed their forecasts for this year.

[whitestone] 14/2/2012 14:33

Fidessa hit by broking squeeze

By Philip Stafford


The contraction in the mid-cap broking industry and large banks' focus on new derivatives markets is likely to cut growth in the coming year at Fidessa, the trading technology group warned on Monday.

But the UK group said it would dip into its growing cash pile to offer shareholders a special dividend of 45p per share for a consecutive year.

Fidessa, whose technology connects brokers and institutions to trading venues, will look to offset the squeeze among smaller brokers with higher spending on derivatives trading products to larger customers.

The London-based group has seen growth rates drop dramatically from its boom period four years ago as its main customers grapple with restructuring, slowing profitability and incoming regulation such as the US Dodd-Frank act, which is intended to reshape derivatives trading. Four years ago it was delivering profits and revenue growth of more than 40 per cent.

For the year to December 31, turnover on a constant currency basis rose 6 per cent to £278.3m. Pre-tax profit rose 7 per cent to £42.5m while earnings per share rose 7 per cent to 81p. Shares in the group were down 3.3 per cent to £16.41 in morning trade in London.

Chris Aspinwall, chief executive, said growth in the second half of 2011 had been hit by consolidation and restructuring among brokers, such as Royal Bank of Scotland selling its equities business.

The insolvency of MF Global, the US futures broker, shaved more than one percentage point of the group's total turnover, it added. Growth in Japan was also hit by the earthquake last March.

Mr Aspinwall said RBS and MF Global were "specific issues at these firms and are not representative of a general market trend among larger firms".

"We think capacity needs to come out of the bottom end, but our view of the top end is that it's pretty much restructured," he said.

Andy Malpass, chief financial officer, said the consolidation among brokers would hit revenue growth by "a few percentage points" while profits would be affected as it increased spending developing derivatives products and services.

Fidessa is looking to win more deals similar to the one it clinched with Citi in October, in which it will provide a trading platform for the US bank's global listed derivatives business.

The group also said it would pay a special dividend of 45p per share for a consecutive year. It also made a special payout in 2009. The pay-out is in addition to its annual dividend of 36.5p, up 11 per cent on a year ago.

[whitestone] 14/2/2012 14:27

ANALYST VIEWS: CAN FIDESSA CONTINUE TO GROW AT ITS CURRENT RATE?

Tuesday 14th February 2012, 1:05am

JAMES WATERSON



DAVID TOMS | NUMIS
Fidessa's results are modestly ahead of our expectations. Management's increasing confidence in the multi-asset opportunity and the potential for a new engine of growth from hosted platforms for larger customers continue to support our positive stance.

JULIAN YATES | INVESTEC
Unsurprisingly the company is seeing continued weakness in its SME customer base and it expects these trends to continue. New asset classes will not be enough to sustain previous levels of growth and we would expect sales growth in low single digits.

ROGER PHILLIPS | MERCHANT SECURITIES
The statement says to expect a slower year in terms of growth due to market conditions persisting and further product investment. In the short term the reaction will be a disappointment and the shares will come under pressure. Longer term we see Fidessa as one of the outstanding stocks in the sector.

[huttonr] 13/2/2012 08:37

Allowing for the general financial situation, today's results seem very reasonable - I must admit that I was hoping for a 10% revenue rise but it was hope rather than reason.
Anyway, another special div to use up some of the cash is very welcome.

[ygor705] 14/10/2011 14:07

See that Director buying has turned the trend here.