Foresight Share Discussion Threads

[whites123] 28/8/2009 15:45

When this does finally get picked up on by PI's, then it really could fly... There is no stock about and the company actually WANT to return money to shareholders... Via a divi...

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Bank of Ireland Life mass affluent channel live with focus:360°
Focus Solutions, the leading provider of multi-channel distribution solutions to the financial services industry, is pleased to announce that Bank of Ireland Life has successfully implemented focus:360° wealth management for its mass affluent advisers.



Bank of Ireland Life has rolled out focus:360° wealth management as its point of sale solution to the mass affluent. The solution, which is being utilised by its advisers across the bank's branch network from 24th August, includes branch based case management, personal and corporate factfinding, needs analysis and recommendations together with automated report and suitability letter generation.

The new solution has been integrated into a number of the bank's existing systems to ensure the seamless transfer of client data throughout the process and is envisaged to help Bank of Ireland Life advisers reduce administrative overheads and spend more time with clients.

Speaking on the project Dermot Murray of Bank of Ireland Life commented, "We are delighted with the focus:360° solution and how the Focus team have performed on the project. They have demonstrated great knowledge of the UK and Irish financial services markets as well as in-depth expertise of implementing wealth management solutions which has been invaluable in the project. We are very excited about how the solution will support our advisers now and in the future."

The next stage of Bank of Ireland Life's project is to enable straight through processing of applications and is due to go live later this year.

[aishah] 26/8/2009 18:36

Director buys 25k@38 and 15k@37

[davidosh] 07/8/2009 09:38

littleweed.....No problem. I always try to get to Agms and usually attend about 30 to 50 per year but a 10am start was pushing it. They must think all the shareholders live within 30 miles of Leamington Spa !! Rush hour traffic and the railway strike would probably have meant a near four hour journey for me. It would be good to see them do a presentation to investors in London so I am already on the case with that one.

Buybacks are a good alternative to a dividend but investors do not feel the benefit in the same way and of course when times are hard and interest from the banks is so low a decent and steady dividend return will be very attractive in a growth stock.

[littleweed] 07/8/2009 09:28

I only asked because you posted you would try and get to it. Think on balance I would prefer a share buyback program. Cheaper for the company.

[davidosh] 06/8/2009 16:44

littleweed....No sadly too far away for an AGM with a 10am start so not very shareholder friendly in that respect...I live in Kent so to be in Leamington Spa for 9.30am would have needed to get up at 5.00am. I am not a farmer so that was out.

Did anyone from the midlands attend ?

[littleweed] 06/8/2009 16:34

daviddosh
Did you manage to make the AGM?. They obtained approval for a share buyback, I wonder if they now prefer this route over a divi. It might perk the share price up and the directors did award themselves a shedload of new options not so long ago. I wonder if there was any new contract news

[littleweed] 31/7/2009 09:31

No amount of bullish broker recs, tipsheet plugs and third party tie ups (has the Unisys deal generated new business?) have moved this very far. Any strength is followed by a drift down. What we need is news of new contracts and decent sized ones at that. Which is just what ALL are achieving and I bought a few more ALL at the expense of FSG last week. Perhaps FSG will have some solid news at their AGM next week, I really hope so. New medium/long term punters here should have a look at ALL, its had a recent run up but the rate at which its winning new business bodes well for the long term.

[ammons] 22/7/2009 06:47

On Techinvests "second half best buys" list in the July edition @ 38.5p. Wish I had spare funds to pocket a few. Look like great value.

[welsheagle] 21/7/2009 20:51

Daniel Stewart reiterated their 'buy' recommendation today, with a target price of 63p.

[philjeans] 21/7/2009 08:19

I should think this arrangement announced today will have very significant benefits for Focus.

Business going from strength to strength.

[davidosh] 06/7/2009 11:22

Looks like the groundwork and preparations for paying a dividend to be done at last having been flagged by the chairman two years back....

[davidosh] 24/6/2009 10:58

GHF....Well done on MUBL. There was a contract win announced yesterday and the overall business with Morrisons I am told has scope to grow revenue very significantly.

A good appointment by FSG today.

[aishah] 24/6/2009 08:41

From the UK Analyst:

Shares in IT services provider Focus Solutions (FSG) rocketed by 2.5p to 38.5p after it announced the launch of a new product. The financial services industry specialist said its new distribution platform, focus:enterprise, has been designed to help the City deal with further regulation. It said that the new product would help retail banks distribute products via any channel and assist them in complying with regulation under the Banking Conduct of Business Sourcebook or the Payment Services Directive. Focus said its new programme would help banks create a single client hub or wealth transformation programme across their entire firm.

Broker Daniel Stewart maintained its 'buy' recommendation on the shares, adding: "Focus recently reported strong (+27%) March 09 EBITDA growth and a year-end cash balance of £4.0m. The launch of focus:enterprise reinforces the key message which is the gathering pace of regulatory scrutiny being applied to retail banks in the aftermath of the high profile involvement of some segments in high risk strategies. We do not anticipate this driver will lose momentum, whilst Focus decision to diversify via is focus:360º programme and the acquisition of The Coaching Platform has proved timely."

[glasshalfull] 24/6/2009 08:36

What a difference a (few) day makes.
Another RNS, beefing up the board.

Different feel about the company over the last 24 hours.

O/T Davidosh - Had a few nibbles of MUBL. Agree with your analysis and valuation out of sync with cash and prospective earnings by some margin. Thanks for flagging.

Regards,
GHF

[littleweed] 23/6/2009 10:51

Looks like up on a few buys and down on a few sells!.

[littleweed] 23/6/2009 09:45

hmm surely the rise can't be down to the launch of a new platform. My favoured pick ALL (formally MNS) managed a good rise yesterday but that was on the back of a superb trading update. Fans of FSG might like to checkout ALL- building an international business for itself. Was planning to move totally into ALL, might hold back for a while and see what develops.

[glasshalfull] 23/6/2009 09:28

???

Last thing I expected was a 20% rise this morning.
Sensible valuation returning or something else?

Regards,
GHF

[glasshalfull] 23/6/2009 08:21

Interesting RNS this morning. Market likes it.


Focus Solutions Group plc
("Focus Solutions" or the "Group")

Focus launches new distribution platform

Focus Solutions Group plc, an established supplier of enterprise solutions to
the financial services industry, today announces the launch of focus:enterprise, a channel agnostic distribution platform combined with a range of services to assist global retail banks with distribution change management.

focus:enterprise has been designed in response to the ever increasing regulation imposed on banks and the heightened scrutiny they will face in demonstrating compliance, risk management and treating customers fairly.
focus:enterprise enables global retail banks to distribute any product via any
channel and incorporates both products that fit within the existing regulatory
framework and those that will fall under the Banking Conduct of Business
Sourcebook or the Payment Services Directive in November this year.

The solution will assist those banks looking to achieve a single client hub and/or a wealth management transformation programme across their entire organisation.
The new platform and supporting services have been developed from Focus' years
of experience in implementing solutions for the largest financial
services organisations, who have complex legacy systems.

On the launch of focus:enterprise, Richard Stevenson, CEO of Focus Solutions
commented: "We have observed that many banks still lack an ability to gain a
single view of their customer which means they may not be able to execute or
evidence compliance with all aspects of the upcoming regulation. Additionally
there is an increasing need for these organisations to have the flexibility to
distribute all products via a single platform and we have in focus:enterprise a
solution that can help them achieve this."

As well as the channel agnostic platform, focus:enterprise includes a range of
services such as gap analysis, support for business case production, advice on
delivery approach and a range of end user training options to fully support a
financial services organisation undertaking such a project.
Stevenson added "From our experience of working with some of the largest retail
banks in the UK, we were aware that a change project of this scale requires a
coordinated approach encompassing various business functions and relevant
expertise to ensure it is a success. To this end we have included additional
support services and guidance around areas such as business process
optimisation, governance and user training within focus:enterprise to provide
financial services organisations with the complete package."



Regards,
GHF

[davidosh] 20/6/2009 16:52

GHF....No problem and it is a relatively minor holding for me too here but I may try to make the AGM. I am mainly investing only where there is growth and a low rating so the £2.2m would be good to see. I also like net cash and the cash situation is certainly very comforting here. My current favourite is MUBL with results coming very soon and I have posted there and in the Pub if you want further info on them.

[glasshalfull] 20/6/2009 16:32

Hi David,

I haven't spoken to any directors re. the "reasonably" comment. Just noticed the possible disparity on a detailed read through of the results and thought I'd mention it on the thread.
I bought 50k on the run up to results and sold half for a whopping £1k profit given the prohibitive 13% spread. Happy to hold the other 25k for the medium term. The shares are fairly illiquid and had a decent run up following the results announcement. My interpretation of results suggested to me that the company had performed admirably but market conditions were still difficult. I would have liked an announcement of further contract wins (as would we all) and noted that the last significant contract wins were announced in January. Coupled with the "reasonably" comment, static EPS forecast for the forthcoming year I was happy to liquidate part of my investment given that I hold stakes in a number of fairly illiquid small caps.

DS is projecting £11m revenue and £2.2m PTP for EPS of 5.4p given the effect of tax. So, PER of 6.7, strip out cash which equates to 13p and the multiple falls to 4. They are certainly cheap and demonstrated excellent cash generation in the period.

I've been in contact with directors in relation to 3 other small caps this week but didn't feel inclined to contact the directors here given my relatively small holding. Perhaps I should....all down to priorities I suppose.

Kind regards,
GHF

[littleweed] 20/6/2009 12:10

David,

One must credit Mr Stevenson with the intelligence to appreciate the difference between 'reasonably well' and an unqualified 'well' or even 'very well'. As CEO he should be best positioned to see the overall picture and the tone of this part of his report was not as bullish as earlier years. Hard to see what a conversation would add. Now the question "When are you hoping to win your next new customer" would be worth asking but as we all know it wouldn't be (couldn't be) answered.

[davidosh] 12/6/2009 16:34

Did any of you speak to the directors about the 'reasonably' comment ?

[boadicea] 12/6/2009 16:18

FSG seems to have got a second wind from the results today.
Other than prominent sellers (L-weed, Ghf, Gi !) having stopped, is any other reason known?