Gresham Technologies Share Discussion Threads

[richjp] 12/4/2016 14:36

On reflection I think it probably better that they do not give figures for new orders. When in the past they have referred to a deal being worth £X million over say three years, with a usage based model that revenue stream will depend on the rate at which the customer rolls the service out and customer requirements may change during that period. So when they made those sort of announcements previously perhaps they should have said an anticipated revenue stream of £x million.

As much as I always like to know cash balances, cash flow can be distorted by companies who may pay up front so I am prepared to wait for six monthly updates as long as they make positive statements about future cash flow, which they did with the 2015 results.

Depending on which website you look at the PE is around 31, which is high for a company which is growing slowly and whose revenue growth has an anchor in the form of the diminishing revenues from the legacy business. I think the recent RNS supports the share price at the current price, rather than giving reason for it to move higher.

The interesting comment was that Gresham is becoming the "go to" solution for certain types of business which I think is a very bold statement. I have said before from my own IT sales experience that it can be difficult for new suppliers to break into accounts where there are incumbent suppliers. If their product is that good that they are indeed the go to solution, that suggests that it is becoming easier to win new customers and maybe we can get some faster growth.

[amt] 09/4/2016 08:31

Not really they always have announced new ctc contracts.

[thebullyboy] 08/4/2016 21:28

Strange announcement as I thought they stopped doing quarter end updates. No financial numbers, level of cash would have given us a clue of the direction of travel so far this year. If they just wanted to update investors on client numbers they could have waited a few more weeks until the agm.

[jadeticl3] 08/4/2016 15:50

Apparently not. The rise yesterday was small with no follow through today despite a positive market. Maybe investors are not impressed by "Contract Wins" any longer as they are not told enough about their value. Maybe they wish to see how all these wins play out in terms of annual results, and only when the company is showing accelerating growth in revenue and profit will the market believe.
Disappointed! The wait is prolonged!

[jadeticl3] 07/4/2016 07:43

Good news indeed, and they have not delayed telling us which is also pleasing. Could this restore confidence back to the levels of two to three years ago?

[amt] 07/4/2016 07:18

4 new clients in first qtr, looks like progressing well. I think that's the greatest number of new clients ever achieved in a qtr?

[mick bell] 03/4/2016 10:27

Thank's QANTAS, an interesting read.

Fingers crossed Mr Manocha brings home the bacon in 2016 and collects the full
£250,000 bonus on offer.

[qantas] 02/4/2016 12:19

hxxps://www.gresham-computing.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Gresham-Computing-plc-Annual-Financial-Report-2015.pdf

For all to read online

[4-10] 26/3/2016 14:58

Postman Pat delivered my annual report this morning - had a first glance through and it looks like a very professional document, now to read it - might take awhile!

[qantas] 18/3/2016 19:07

hxxp://www.financemagnates.com/fintech/data/interview-neil-vernon-cto-uk-listed-gresham-computing-plc/

Gresham’s CTO: “Our engine borrows from many aspects of CEP”
An exclusive interview with two members of the firm's senior management.

[richjp] 09/3/2016 18:39

Yes I agree, we always seem to be one step away from any serious growth.

To be fair though, a lot of small cap software companies have had a rough time in the market recently and I think PIs are being very cautious. The good get tarred with the same suspicion as the bad.

Just one more decent set of results, just one more............

[jadeticl3] 09/3/2016 18:21

This is one of my favourite companies!! But it is a VERY SLOW BURNER. Every year I expect this to take off.. Every year it encourages me, but always the big leap forward is next set of results. If you like suspense this is the share to go for!!

[richjp] 09/3/2016 17:27

They have gone some way to satisfying some of my concerns regarding cash. “The group anticipates cash will increase as the trend of increasing Claretti revenue continues and moves ahead of product and sales and marketing and other operating expenses required to service these revenues”. They also talk about a future divi again although note this will be “in respect of financial year 2017” which I take to imply that the first divi will not actually be paid until 2018.

I still am cautious about the decline in legacy revenues and how quickly they will decline. I just hope they have good forward visibility in that respect, which their confidence in cash flow suggests.

My other concern has always been the long selling cycles which they refer to in the report with regard to large accounts. I am not sure what can be done to improve that. So we come back again to what the rate of growth will be. At the moment it is steady growth rather than spectacular. With all the foundations now seemingly in place, hopefully growth will accelerate to some degree.

I think it too early to judge the new CEO as he only started last June. Gresham seems to have opportunities in a number of market areas, so prioritising those different areas will no doubt take some time. The other issue is that the pricing model is almost certainly different for different marketing sectors and those pricing models need to be thought out carefully.

The new CEO has a background in sales and marketing so qualifying different opportunities and establishing appropriate pricing structures is what he was probably largely brought in to do. I think the time to judge him is this time next year.

[schytalk] 09/3/2016 08:37

Well the annual results are out and somewhat underwhelming in my view, good but not really good. Perhaps I am too optimistic but I was expecting better.

I am a little concerned about the slowing pace of the recurring revenue increase which I guess will be the key factor in when dividends are declared. Further CTC signings have been made in 2016 which were not RNS and I see that as a positive.

So are GHT sandbagging and playing things safe, is this 'the lull before the storm' or is the momentum slowing? Management remains confident!

Don't get me wrong, I am still a huge believer in the CTC product set, the question is has the current management team got what it takes to make it big time? So I still have a question mark as regards the new CEO, yet to see his impact.

Thoughts anyone.

[the drewster] 09/3/2016 08:31

I particularly liked this bit (potentially transformational):

"Shareholders will have noted our announcements in 2015 regarding CTC contract wins in the US and in Asia. I am particularly pleased with these wins as they demonstrate the good progress the Group has made in expanding CTC adoption globally. The US and Asia markets have the potential for much higher growth and the Board continues to support the ongoing investments in direct sales resources, in addition to forming strategic alliances to further expand distribution capacity."

[jadeticl3] 08/3/2016 16:45

The Market's reaction to these results over the next week will be of interest. As for me, I am encouraged but not euphoric!

[amt] 08/3/2016 07:57

We already knew the results so the outlook is important. Talking about dividends a possibility in 2017 and strong outlook for 2016 and beyond. 4 billion market and they hope to be market leader. If they get 10% of the market then I would be very happy.

[thebullyboy] 01/3/2016 08:56

Whether a contract win is £250k or £1m, for a small/micro company that makes little or no profit, it all makes an impact, just a matter of degree. I thought all financial sensitive information had to be RNS'd, and as soon as practicably possible. The company can announce a new contract as a matter of fact, and the company could choose not to over egg the contracts and therefore not raise unwarranted expectations. Still not convinced by the need to lock down on information.

Anyway 9 months into the job, I am not sure what the new man is upto hopefully he will reveal his cunning plan(s) for the company soon.

[wh1spa] 01/3/2016 07:26

edit - no idea when results are out , the link that announced today may well be one of these automated sites that seem to be popping up all over the place normally discussing brokers targets etc

[qantas] 29/2/2016 19:02

hxxp://zolmax.com/investing/gresham-computing-plc-ght-scheduled-to-post-earnings-on-tuesday/443115/

Gresham Computing plc (LON:GHT) will announce its earnings results before the market opens on Tuesday, March 1st.

hxxps://www.gresham-computing.com/gresham-recognised-within-top-50-global-risk-technology-providers-in-risktech100-report-2016/

Gresham recognised within top 50 global risk technology providers in RiskTech100 report 2016

[jadeticl3] 29/2/2016 08:53

The last two company announcements have told us (together with many other things) that 11 new contracts were won in 2015 as a whole, and 6 of these came in the final 6 months. So, contract wins worth mentioning at the rate of one per month. Nothing has been said about the first 2 months so far and the share price has fallen slowly over this period.
I note richjp's comments that contract wins to date should be delivering revenue, and that the new management are more cautious about announcing contract wins, but I feel that the results (due soon) will need to convey that increased revenues are being delivered, and that new contracts are being won if this share price fall from 110 to 96 is to be reversed.
This company is not my largest holding, but it is important to me, and I have had a soft spot for it for so long that it would hurt me emotionally to see it fail.
I remain hopeful, and, as always, expect the next set of results to confirm my faith in this company!!

[amt] 29/2/2016 08:32

Judging by share price recently the market is expecting to be disappointed. Let's hope for a decent outlook.

[wh1spa] 29/2/2016 01:16

results out tomorrow - 1st March

[richjp] 24/2/2016 17:59

jadeticl3, No I have not spoken to the new CEO and do not expect to outside of the AGMs. At the last AGM his appointment had been announced but he had not then taken up his position. I would be wary of anyone on ADVFN who claims to have information directly from a director of a company, as I have seen on other threads. Company directors should normally only release information that is generally available in the public domain.

They did say at the last AGM that they would be more careful about making announcements in the future. I think they realised that they had been a bit too optimistic before the profit warning so are probably keen to avoid that again, which is probably a good thing. RNSs in in my view should only be made for announcements that could be regarded as strategic. They have enough CTC clients now, that I don't think additional orders unless they are exceptionally large, can be regarded as strategic.

At least we are now getting close to the full year accounts.