Genuit Share Discussion Threads

[loss-leader] 06/6/2003 22:54

Cash will soon be gone. The intellectual property only has a value if there are people wanting to buy it (Which there are not just now). Consulting business has some value and will probalby not go bust [cos people work/sell harder the nearer the cliff they get. The buidling (beautiful watermill surrounded by high tech buildings) is a real jewel for anyone who can hang onto it long enough for business property prices to recover.

[jimmmy] 06/6/2003 15:17

would you say it was worth getting in now or to wait and see what happens on Monday ?

J

[biomax] 06/6/2003 15:09

weekend press would be nice

[rambutan2] 06/6/2003 15:06

would be very surprised if were maxwell, theyve downsized big this year and are in cash preserving mode. theyve already got more bright ideas than they can deal with.

[biomax] 06/6/2003 15:06

Mark P, losses good point, may be the bidder will pay more,
20 p would be nice, wouldn't it

[biomax] 06/6/2003 15:01

marketmaker buy at 6.5 p looks good

[maxwellsdemon] 06/6/2003 15:00

I wonder if BTG would be interested in purchasing GEN?

[mark p] 06/6/2003 14:55

Don't forget the past losses are also of value.

[rambutan2] 06/6/2003 14:51

forget the cash as would disappear, remember they employ a lot of well paid scientists and the like all no doubt on decent contracts, plus this and that etc.
the vc port is still too young with the exception of synaptic.
i imagine whats happened is that catella and management thought sod it with this stock mkt lark, why bother to put in extra £1ms when you can buy out the co for the same amount, do whats needed in private and take big profits down the line.

[biomax] 06/6/2003 14:26

i personally would agree on 15-12 p,
but not sure if it would be offered

[biomax] 06/6/2003 14:19

Supervisor,

I haven't got a clue,
NAV 20p,
including fixed tangible assets at 14 p and cash about 6p,

current price 6 p,

i reckon, anything up to 10-20 p is possible but could be a single digit only,
make your pick

[rambutan2] 06/6/2003 13:57

dont get carried away. recent (bitter) experience has taught me that in the current climate, and with their majority shareholding they could get away with single figures. of course, in the unlikely case that its an outside bid, then the price would have to be much higher.

[biomax] 06/6/2003 08:54

strong buy comes in mind!

[hugepants] 06/6/2003 08:21

Paul Curtis suggested this one as perhaps worth a look. Company looks a bit of a nightmare but big discount to net tangible asset value of 20p. There is a lot of freeholds on the tangible assets. Synaptic stake alone worth about 2.75p a share (based on current NASDAQ price). Cash burn looks horrendous but directors own about 10% so surely they have some plan to salvage value? I bought 100K this morning. Annual report downloadable from www.generics.co.uk. dyor etc.

[amorruso] 05/6/2003 16:44

rambutant2, I'm interested in having a look at this one. What is your views both pos. and neg. Have you held this long?

[rambutan2] 30/5/2003 14:02

not able to post yesterday. everyone else given up?

29 May 2003

THE GENERICS GROUP AG ('GENERICS')

FIRST QUARTER RESULTS 2003

Generics, a leading integrated technology consulting, development and investment
organisation, today announces its results for the quarter ended 31 March 2003.

First quarter highlights include:

• Turnover up 3% year on year to £3.3m (Q1 2002: £3.2m)

• Operating expenses down 10% year on year to £6.6m (Q1 2002: £7.3m)
notwithstanding one-off costs relating to cost reduction exercises of £0.2m

• After expensing development costs in spin-out and associated companies of
£1.7m (Q1 2002: £1.9m), the Group made a loss (before finance income,
taxation and minority interests) in the quarter of £4.0m (2002: £4.4m)

• Quarter-end portfolio valuation of BVCA £15.5m (Q1 2002: £37.2m) primarily
reflecting the decision by quantumBEAM Ltd's directorsBoard to place the
company into administration

• Cash balances of £6.9m (Q1 2002: £23.9m)

• Expansion of our UK headquarters building in Harston has been completed.
Additional space within the new buildings is available to let and marketing
is under way.

Following the quarter-end Generics announced that quantumBEAM Ltd was placed
into administration following a decision by its shareholdersdirectors not to
invest further funds, even though the company had largely met its technical and
budgetary objectives. This has been treated as a disposal in the period at nil
value within these statements, leading to a recognised loss of £377,000 and a
reduction in BVCA valuation of £14.6m.

Gordon Edge, Generics' Chairman, commented:
'The financial performance in the quarter has been disappointing. While
consulting performance is improving, it is still below breakeven and the venture
funding market remains very tight as reflected in the inability of quantumBeam
Ltd to raise further funds. Management is therefore exploring, in conjunction
with the company's principal shareholder Catella AG, various potential proposals
for the re-financing of the Group's investment portfolio. A further announcement
in this regard will be made shortly.
There have been a number of consulting wins since we last reported to the
market. There is now good evidence that the increased emphasis on high-quality
public sector consulting has been paying off in the form of major competitive
wins, including a contract with the Department of Trade and Industry on the
optimum transfer of television viewing from analogue to digital.
During the quarter there have also been some important breakthroughs across our
intellectual property (IP) portfolio. In particular, our biometrics initiative
is likely to have an impact on addressing concerns of civil liberties groups on
the need to store personal information in central locations, for example in
identity cards.
Within the investment portfolio, progress in Atraverda Ltd and Imerge Ltd in
particular has been good and the share price of Synaptics Inc has risen
considerably since the end of the quarter.'

so, no explanation as to why quantumbeam dropped in that manner.
failed on their consulting profitability! (Order intake in the quarter was £3.6m (Q1 2002: £3.5m). The breakeven level for monthly order intake is currently £1.35m.) will they ever get there?
but most interestingly, what will catella offer them and what will it mean to us. ive got my fingers crossed.

[rambutan2] 23/5/2003 11:47

From Electronics Weekly 

Eye-catching system creates digital ID from biometric source
Harry Yeates

A low-cost technique for generating a secure digital ID code from an analogue source has been developed by the Generics Group, the Cambridge technology firm.

The system uses signal processing methods to generate a unique large number from a stable analogue source. That source could be a live biometric such as an iris or fingerprint, or something like a passport photo.

The unique number is encrypted using public key cryptography, and incorporated into a digital signature written into a 2D bar code. Any modification of the photograph or another element of the document would be uncovered as soon as the bar code was scanned.

The company claims the technology could make identity documents virtually tamper-proof, and is working with partners to take it to market.

"We're just completing the demonstrators, both for the passport type applications, and we hope for the iris," said Dr Aled Jones. "We're talking to major manufacturers of hand and fingerprint recognition systems."

The UK passport office has already issued a request for technology tenders to incorporate biometrics into passports by 2006, and Generics is working with one of the firms in the second round of the selection process.

Because the bar code is digital it doesn't have to be an integral part of the ID document, so it could be added by an authority other than the original issuer of the document. Also, the same passport authenticated in one country by fingerprint could still be authenticated from the photograph and bar code in another country without biometric technology.

Apart from the security aspect, Generics expects the low cost and ease of use of the new system to be key factors in its uptake.

A bar code reader is all an agency wanting to deploy the public key-based system needs access to.

[rambutan2] 21/5/2003 14:42

perhaps it will be a hit!

The New Scientist published a story about Generics' Torque boot last
Thursday. Since then we have had extensive coverage - please see the list
below.
> Web articles
>
>
>
>
>
> - a long
> way down
> -
> very brief
>
>
> ctid=12959696&method=full&siteid=50061&headline=Footy%20boots%20with%20bui
> lt-in%20suspension
>
>
>
>
> TV interviews
>
> BBC Look East - morning, lunch and evening news (15th May)
> Anglia TV - lunch and evening news (15th May)
> Sky News - live interview 7:15pm (14th May)
TechTV

> Radio interviews
>
> BBC Cambridgeshire (15th May)
> BBC Eastern Counties (14th May)
> Radio 5 Live (15th May) (x 2)
> Q103 (15th May)
> British Forces Radio (15th May)
>
> Press articles
>
> New Scientist
> Cambridge Evening News
> Metro
> IEE
> Press Association
Sunday Telegraph
Newcastle Journal
Evening Chronicle
Aftonbladet (Swedish daily)
Singapore Press
Newsweek Polska (based in Poland)

[rambutan2] 21/5/2003 14:41

took them a while to get there...

21 May 2003

The Generics Group Launches New Business Consulting Operation

The Generics Group, the international technology and business consulting organisation, is launching a new operating vehicle for its management consulting activities. Generics Business Consulting is a response to a worldwide demand for business-technology advisory services that are aimed at delivering improved business performance through good technology management.

The operation will amalgamate the various advisory consulting activities from around the Group into a single entity, while retaining links to the company's world-class technology and product development activities. It will employ some 40 professionals, which will create the necessary focus and critical mass to invest in leading-edge services for technology-enabled businesses.

Generics Business Consulting will provide advice and implementation capabilities in a number of areas to all companies, from early stage businesses to international corporations and public sector bodies:

New Business Creation – identifying new business streams from current assets
R&D Performance Improvement – maximising the value from investments in R&D
Technology Planning – making and implementing the right strategic investments in technology
Exploitation of Intellectual Property (IP) – identifying valuable IP, and defining and implementing routes to realising value
Transaction Support for Investors – technology and commercial due diligence
Strategy generation – providing the right direction to maximise business value when technology is crucial to success

This launch builds on Generics' established experience of success in deploying these services, which has been complimented by the targeted recruitment of a number of industry professionals. Going forward, Generics Business Consulting will work closely with its wide international client base to develop and deploy services that have a real impact on business performance. Service delivery will continue to be enriched by access to Generics' 120 strong team of professional scientists, technologists and product developers.

Generics Business Consulting will be led by a team of senior professionals with proven experience of operations at senior levels in major international consulting firms.

Peter Hyde, CEO of Generics, said: "The establishment of Generics Business Consulting is the culmination of recent activity to streamline our activities in line with the changing economic environment. The result will be an even more focused and inter-disciplinary portfolio of technology and business services that can deliver maximum value to clients."

[rambutan2] 25/4/2003 17:09

no, ive made my gamble on this one for the time being, albeit at a higher prices. will be interesting to see if herald ups its stake or another institution appears.

[snape] 25/4/2003 16:49

Looks like a few others expected the warning and are now buying in on the news. You one of them Rambo?

[rambutan2] 25/4/2003 16:38

cant say i was really shocked. was rather inevitable considering the economic environment and where they were the previous quarter.
as you say, their great mistake was made many months ago when they failed to forsee the depth of the downturn.

[dell314] 25/4/2003 16:03

Rambutan - Can you honestly say you weren't shocked by the latest results?
I am not expecting instant miracles but the scale of the losses suggests there is very little appreciation of reality by the board. The bear market isn't a new thing. Belt-tightening should have started long ago.
Let's hope the administrators can get a reasonable sum for Quantumbeam....

[rambutan2] 25/4/2003 15:59

i dont really like to blame others for my own investment decisions. its a pointless and frustrating exercise.
so, we know its the worst of times for vcs and more than one of the port will be going bust. they dont have the cash to support their cos on their own. if it wasnt going to work then better not spend more resources on it.
the mms have taken fright and shares can now be picked up for 4p.
i guess that herald would have sussed out the sit before buying in recently. that gives me hope.

[snape] 25/4/2003 15:44

Not one of Katy P's better picks I have to say!