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FIO Fin.Objects

59.25
0.00 (0.00%)
28 Mar 2024 - Closed
Delayed by 15 minutes
Share Name Share Symbol Market Type Share ISIN Share Description
Fin.Objects LSE:FIO London Ordinary Share GB0004516976 ORD 2P
  Price Change % Change Share Price Shares Traded Last Trade
  0.00 0.00% 59.25 0.00 00:00:00
Bid Price Offer Price High Price Low Price Open Price
Industry Sector Turnover Profit EPS - Basic PE Ratio Market Cap
  -
Last Trade Time Trade Type Trade Size Trade Price Currency
- O 0 59.25 GBX

Financial Objects (FIO) Latest News

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Financial Objects (FIO) Discussions and Chat

Financial Objects Forums and Chat

Date Time Title Posts
25/5/201021:46Financial Objects PLC.. any views???56
04/9/200813:53Financial Objects - Strong Growth389
06/9/200711:47Fin.Objects - Well underpriced516
30/8/200508:54Check out Financial Objects Plc91
07/5/200409:23The only way is up!195

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Financial Objects (FIO) Most Recent Trades

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Financial Objects (FIO) Top Chat Posts

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Posted at 27/7/2008 09:23 by rivaldo
From Small Cap Shares this week - interesting that even now they say there's still the chance of a counter-bid.

I notice that last week FIO won a major contract with Rabobank too.

"FINANCIAL OBJECTS
FIO £25.6m 57.5p HOLD
TAKEOVER AIM
The financial software provider Financial Objects has received a
£27.2 million, or 60p a share, cash offer from banking software
business Tenemos. The directors of the company are recommending
that the offer be accepted. So far Tenemos has received irrevocable
undertakings to accept the offer in respect of 46.7% of Financial
Objects' share capital.
COMMENT ▼
Financial Objects released a profits warning in May and the share
prices has plummeted since then so it is no surprise to see this bid
come in from Tenemos. The bid is at a 90% premium to Financial
Objects' share price the day before the deal was announced. Given
forecast earnings of 6p in the current year to 31st December 2008
the bid values the company at 10 times earnings, or 8.2 times
earnings if we strip out 10.8p of cash that the company had at the
end of December 2007. In the current market, where the financial
software sector is experiencing deteriorating market conditions,
that is probably about the best price that the company will get in
our opinion. With management backing and a not insignificant
amount of irrevocable undertakings received the deal looks like it
will go through. However, there is still the chance of a counter bid
and as such we suggest that until the deal is declared unconditional
that you HOLD"
Posted at 04/7/2008 07:05 by rivaldo
Holway's perspective on the offer - he notes that Temenos' main competitor is Misys. Let's hope Misys step in!



"Thursday, 3 July 2008
Financial Objects - Another one hits the dust

Financial Objects (FO) has become the latest in a long string of small/mid-sized UK SITS companies to succumb to a bid approach. Temenos has bid 60p (a massive 90% premium to last night's closing price) which values FO at £27.2m. FO had revenues of £21.23m and PBT of £2.75m in FY2007. FO provides software solutions and services for banking and financial services, energy companies, property asset management and document management. They have around 500 customers including Abbey, Wachovia, Aegon, BAA, Bradford and Bingley.

My involvement with FO goes back to its formation in 1995 by Roger Foster (then of ACT fame). They floated in Nov 98 with a £82m valuation and a share price of 230p – so the 'takeout' price is a mere fraction of that! But that was as nothing compared with the 790p price that FO hit in those crazy days dot.com of early 2000. Although quite what FO had to do with the internet was a bit beyond me even then. Roger Foster has since stepped down and new CEO, Karim Peermohamed, who I have also got to know, has done a very good job since. Indeed, I'm sure FO's shareholders will raise a glass to him for executing this deal

Temenos' main competitor is Misys. It will be interesting to see how far consolidation in this sector goes..."
Posted at 03/7/2008 21:28 by diku
So now we know why the Chairman and the Directors bought a handful of shares just few months ago...I think since the profits warning just few weeks ago the company was probably put up for sale...this is where the board members protecting their best interest and sell the company whilst they can make a decent profit as they were probably aware that trading would worsen in the second half and the share price would take a dive further...anybody noticed the two trades on Tuesday and wednesday...looks very suspicious and the price lately was also holding up...those in the know!!...

good luck to those private investors who held and made a bit of profit...
Posted at 03/7/2008 19:21 by michaelmouse
SKYSHIP - "It was just the Market totally undervaluing the small caps. There will be many more bids at double the market price, just like this one".

I am absolutely sure that you are right. Times are tough at the moment and there are certainly some companies in vunerable market sectors with ropey balance sheets that will go to the wall. However, there are a significant number of small and micro caps that are ludicrously undervalued.

This bid for FIO at an almost 100% premium to yesterday's closing price is indicative of the current market madness. I suspect even at 60p that FIO is still a bit of a steal. I hope that holders receive a counter bid to make things even sweeter.

IMO the market is beginning to throw up 'once in a lifetime' opportunities. The real bargains will no doubt prove to be the companies that avoid being taken out on the cheap since when the good times return they will multi-bag.

For me FIO was a stock I watched for some considerable time a year or two ago (maybe more) when it appeared stuck at around 40p-44p but I never did buy any.

Well done holders with the added bonus of freeing up some more cash to catch another bargain.

Cheers.
Michael.
Posted at 27/6/2008 14:12 by rivaldo
I still hold here (at a loss obviously!).

FIO remain interesting to me. At 34p on a £15m m/cap, Edison forecast 6p EPS this year having downgraded, and EVO still go for 6.9p EPS! There's also a 5% divi as forecast for this year.

There was £4.8m net cash at 31/12/07 against that m/cap, and Edison forecast over £6m at this year end.

The gamble is whether the banking has fallen off a cliff or simply reduced temporarily. With increased regulation (MIFID etc) the need for FIO's software is surely only increasing? And with the risk management division and everything else, an EV of around £10m for £20m of turnover and a load of IP is surely tempting to someone.

An interesting nugget re FIO in the FT today too:



"Private equity gaze likely to turn to Aim
By Martin Arnold, Private Equity Correspondent

Published: June 27 2008 03:00 | Last updated: June 27 2008 03:00

Companies listed on Aim, especially those with high levels of cash and a large strategic shareholder, could provide tempting targets for private equity, according to research published today.

Likely targets include: Panmure Gordon, the mid-market brokerage; Character Group, the maker of Dr Who toys; and WH Ireland Group, the Manchester stockbroker, according to Noble Group, the investment bank.

The research, produced by Absolute Strategy Research, a consultancy, says credit market turmoil will prompt private equity groups to seek targets with healthy cash balances and strong growth potential, as shown by some Aim companies.

To compile a "private equity watch list" for Aim, it used a filter including only companies with a market capitalisation between £15m and £100m, net cash positions, an institutional investor with a holding of at least 10 per cent and staff with at least 5 per cent.

John Llewellyn-Lloyd, chief executive of investment banking at Noble, said: "In a post-crunch world, conservative financing structures will be the norm. Aim-listed companies, which have on average the lowest net debt-to-equity ratios in the UK equity market space, will look very attractive to private equity buyers."

Other companies thrown up by the watch list included Gulf Keystone Petroleum, an oil exploration company; Financial Objects, a software developer for the financial services sector; and Arden Partners, the stockbroker.

While figures this week from the Centre for Management Buy-out Research showed a steep drop in the value of buy-outs in the first six months of this year, many of the biggest deals were public-to-private buy-outs of listed companies.

These included Emap, the publishing company; Abbot Group, the oilfield services company; and Biffa, the waste management group.

"There has been a continuing interest in private equity-backed public-to-privates but this may be set to accelerate, which is undoubtedly positive for the [Aim] market," said Mr Llewellyn-Lloyd."
Posted at 08/5/2008 19:35 by rivaldo
Just read the May issue of Small Cap Shares. They had a Buy rec at 42.5p on forecast EPS of 7.4p this year.

More importantly, they stress that 75% of FIO's revenue is recurring.

Even if EPS were to halve to 3.7p, with £4.8m or more net cash on a £17m m/cap FIO is hardly expensive.

There are of course risks of further warnings. It'll be interesting to see if the directors dip in again.

Equally there's the possibility that those contracts will come in and the extra staff will deliver. And the banking side is getting smaller and smaller anyway.

Since FIO is positioned as a defensive stock with that high recurring income I'd hope that it won't take too long for FIO to recover.
Posted at 28/3/2008 16:55 by skyship
Wrote to the company last week & the FD phoned me yesterday.

Two Queries:

Q. Why not a larger dividend?

A. Much discussion amongst the Board on this issue as they wish to proceed with a "Progressive" dividend policy. However they decided that 1.5p was a serious step-up from 1.0p; and obviously makes it easier to continue at that pace.

Q. Why not make share buybacks at these low levels

A. (As always!!) - We prefer to use our cash resources to grow the business through acquisitions

Unfortunately he caught me unprepared and just leaving for our weekly market visit (v. important here in France!) so I rather missed the opportunity to quiz on other aspects of the share price decline.

However I did ask whether there had been a non-competition clause with the departing Fosters. He answered that he couldn't discuss individual contracts, but that all such arrangements are time limited in any event; and that they welcome and are not worried by competitors.

He also said that the share price was disappointing for all holders, including the Board who had made serious share purchases quite recently.

All in all a positive and helpful piece of investor relations.

As for today's continued decline; it was yet again on small volume. MMs have no option but to lower the price in the face of the consistent PI dribble. It's a problem with AIM stocks generally.
Posted at 24/2/2008 13:05 by rivaldo
Just a reminder of the January trading update - the share price should start to tick up in the run-up to results in two weeks:

"The Board of Financial Objects plc, an international supplier of software
solutions to the banking, wealth management and energy sectors, (AIM: FIO), is
pleased to announce that, following the completion of its financial year ended
31 December 2007, it expects to report an operating profit ahead of market
expectations.

The Company is scheduled to announce preliminary results on 10 March."

This is what SCSW had to say in their recent issue - they have FIO as a tip:

"Financial Ojects - Financial dislocation creates no problems
47p Epic code: FIO

(Sharewatch) Concerns that Financial Objects, the banking software provider, would come unstuck as a result of the financial dislocation have been unfounded with the company reporting that FY07 results will be ahead of market expectations. This is as a result of second half contract wins in the banking business and further growth in the wealth management sector.

Evolution now forecasts eps of 6.2p for the year already ended with 7.5p in the current year. The broker also expects Financial Objects will have ended 2007 with net cash of at least £4.4m (c.9p a share)."
Posted at 23/9/2007 09:57 by glasshalfull
Response from Peter Youngs, FD, to my query regarding share price volatility.

I find it VERY REASSURING and suggests that the company share price has simply been mauled (down circa 25% in the last fortnight) by the market volatility and in particular the negative sentiment surrounding anything associated with the Banking Sector:-

"Thank you for your letter. There has been no change to the trading situation of the company since the interims which would warrant an announcement. I am in regular contact with our advisers on the issue of how to handle the issue of the drop in the share price, and would make a public statement if advised that it was the correct course of action. Meantime, please accept my assurance that myself and the team here at FO are continuing to work hard in the knowledge that, as long as we continue to deliver in line with expectations, whatever the reason for the short term fluctuations, the long term performance of the share price will reflect our trading position."


Regards,
GHF
Posted at 07/9/2007 09:14 by verdley
There's a combination of stuff going on which is holding back the FIO share price.
1)It's seen as a play on the banking sector. If there is trouble there, then sales will suffer
2) Wealth Management will also suffer from these choppy markets, so I expect sales in the 2nd half to also be a bit slow
3) Roger Foster has, historically, timed his exit from companies well
4) The company is not the cash cow that it once was. I don't see them having anywhere near £4.9m of cash at the year end, unless their debtor/creditor profile changes dramatically. Therefore, so it's less attractive to the sort of investor who likes cash and it takes time to attract investors interested in the growth story.

On the other hand.
1) This is a very stable company and the P/E is less than demanding.
2) The upgrade of their risk product offering is good news
3) Energy is a good market for the medium term
4) The Fosters have formed a PE company which is aimed at consolidating the banking technology sector. FIO could easily be part of that consolidation

Overall, 90p plus is absolutely realistic in 2007, with 100/110p during 2008
Financial Objects share price data is direct from the London Stock Exchange

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