Interactive Prospect Targeting Share Discussion Threads

[ninjatnut] 30/9/2008 09:18

Thain and Ryan could obviously not stay but it would be very interesting to see their terms agreed with the UK business. I trust they will not benefit from selling it off as it strikes me as very questionable!

[chiva20] 26/9/2008 16:28

Hi Masurenguy, I agree.

I got stung by the first profit warning, think most of the market was severely burned by that (would need a crystal ball). I turned bearish after the subsequent rise back up to £1.80 on the spurious possible bid, posted my comments/feelings here. Pleased I got out when I did, still a handsome profit but feel for anyone who tracked this down to the wretched levels it now sits.

Rgds

Chiva

[masurenguy] 26/9/2008 15:23

This stock was tipped by both the IC and Profit Watch last year. Hope that anyone who bought in by following these tips operated a strict stop loss and got out whilst the shares still had a three digit price !
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Chiva20 - 19 Jan'07 - 177 of 442: IC tip - IPT is therefore expected to more than double its pre-tax profits to £5.2m this year, which translates into EPS of 9.3p (6.2p in 2005). Next year, EPS is forecast to increase by another third to 12.4p. IPT is a leader in a fast-growing sector, so the prospective PE ratios of 15 times for 2007, based on a share price of 185p, suggest this share has good times ahead of it.

piu888 - 27 Mar'07 - 249 of 442: Profit Watch Recommends
Dear Fellow Profit Watcher, There's a huge trend building in 2007 and it's one that we at Profit Watch want to be on. The profit opportunity we want to talk to you about is online advertising and I believe the little UK stock you're about to read about is the best way to play it. Think of internet search engines and you think of Google, right? It's without doubt the biggest, most important player in that sector. Well, we believe the stock my colleague, Richard Muller, is about to reveal to you could be destined to be the "Google of online advertising" – at least in the UK. And that makes it a great stock for you to buy right now. Richard is very excited about this one and makes it his top profit play for 2007. The company in question is Interactive Target Prospect Holdings (AIM, ticker: IPH). The company has a market cap of just over £80m and is trading at around 200p. It's an AIM-listed stock so you won't be able to hold this in your ISA, but you can hold it in your SIPP. Considering the positive fundamentals, IPH should trade at a significant premium to the sector averages – so at the current level, it looks very cheap to me. Assuming a reasonable growth rate in earnings per share of 30% per annum and a P/E of 30 times earnings, IPH could trade close to 395p by the end of 2007, and 514p by the end of 2008. This means it offers Profit Watch readers and any other smart investors buying at the current price of 188.5p a potential return in excess of 174% over the next two years. ACTION TO TAKE: Buy Interactive Prospect Targeting Holdings (IPH) at 240p or less. Stop loss at 150p.

[bluebelle] 16/9/2008 12:34

...the fat lady's taking a deep breath; the conductor's baton is raised............

[ninjatnut] 16/9/2008 10:58

I'd let them stay and suffer as they can't do much more damage now.

[bluebelle] 16/9/2008 09:40

ninjatnut - 15 Sep'08 - 17:15 - 438 of 439

Quite agree. Either the necessary financial controls weren't in place or management didn't notice what was happening. Either way surely either the FD and/or the CEO should take responsibility and go.

[markie7] 15/9/2008 18:37

The French thing is interesting as well. Buy a subsidiary - then find you can't get the cash out as it makes profits...? hmmmm

[ninjatnut] 15/9/2008 17:15

'This shortfall in the UK trading performance came to light as a result of the financial review' Well the management must be in breach of their fiduciary duty if they could not work this out for themselves, just shows what a bunch of idiots they are and fund managers for backing them, didn't Morgan Stanley buy a significant holding very recently at 120p.

[bluebelle] 15/9/2008 11:27

Looks like the fat lady is about to take the stand !!!

[bluebelle] 20/8/2008 10:39

I looked at IMSG as part of my research into IPH as there was a cross reference to it on some site. If one of my main reasons for not investing in IPH was my perception of the quality of the management, IMSG certainly didn't appeal !!!

[markie7] 20/8/2008 08:33

see IMSG this morning. another thain family success.....

[bluebelle] 19/8/2008 16:03

ninja

I no longer follow the company closely and hadn't noticed that. It's the sort of thing which whilst no doubt perfectly above board - Directors should be under no illusion about the rules these days - leaves one feeling a bit uneasy. I've nothing in principle against executives arranging their affairs to minimise tax liabilities - which I presume is what this is about - as long as it doesn't conflict with the interests of others stakeholders, which it often can.

In similar circumstances, I always found it sensible to consult - and advised others with such issues to do the same - the Company Secretary initially, followed quickly by the Chairman, FD and the non-execs - who often have a view on such things. If they were all onside, then I made sure that it was raised by one of those individuals at the next Board meeting, and minuted.

I'm sure that proper procedure would have been followed in this case.

[ninjatnut] 12/8/2008 20:17

Interesting. I noted that Lionel Thain had some £3m (old money) IPH shares in a Panamanian Trust and returned them to UK jurisdiction. Who knows what was behind that but the Revenue are very interested in offshore accounts at the moment.

[bluebelle] 12/8/2008 15:22

ninjatnut - 11 Aug'08 - 17:11 - 430 of 431

The story just gets worse. To say they discovered the under performance as part of the strategic review is ridiculous,

Quite right. Absolutely ridiculous. When did this lot EVER have a STRATEGIC review? !!!

I wonder, incidentally, if part of the discussions with the bank involves questions about what happened to the money the CEO made from selling some of his shares not long after flotation and how much of that is available as collateral ?

When I looked at this it was one of the first things that put me off. Such sales are very uncommon - there's normally a lock in for longer than that - and I couldn't see why I should put money IN to something from which the CEO was taking rather more OUT !!!

[whiterussians] 12/8/2008 14:41

The Company is also currently in discussions with its bank regarding its funding
requirements.

[ninjatnut] 11/8/2008 17:11

The story just gets worse. To say they discovered the under performance as part of the strategic review is ridiculous, surly they have monthly management accounts and daily/weekly sales figures! They are doomed.

[moob] 09/5/2008 00:14

maybe the banks wanted to take over, lol

[ninjatnut] 08/5/2008 12:45

Just realised they have officially pulled out. Did anyone believe they really existed?

[ninjatnut] 08/5/2008 12:41

The prospective bidders must be playing hard ball!

[moob] 08/5/2008 07:57

ceo goes from anchor to w^nker in a year, as sir alan once never said

[ninjatnut] 29/4/2008 11:23

Death spiral, the bidder must be waiting for a lower price!

[bluebelle] 28/4/2008 13:39

Anyone got any idea about the current cash position : that's pretty much all that matters as far as small caps are concerned at the moment. Anyone trying to raise additional working capital on the back of a shortfall in revenue would find it pretty difficult.

[bluebelle] 18/4/2008 12:19

Masurenguy - 15 Apr'08 - 07:40 - 422 of 422
...since it would seem that they are in play and there is a current approach which may or may not lead to an offer.


They have been for quite some time, Masure : a price of 180 was mentioned at the time of Trinity Mirror's reported interest : whatever 'new approach' they are considering, I bet it's a tad (or several) below that !!!

As I've said before this

The level of operating costs remained constant and therefore the shortfall in revenue impacted almost directly on operating profit.

is always the danger with a company like this and makes it a sell at the first whiff of problems in the sales area.

[masurenguy] 15/4/2008 07:40

Took a look at this company almost exactly a year ago when the shares were around 100p. Glad that I decided not to invest here (got a little bit burned on IBT instead). Even at half the price this still does not look interesting with forward prospects so discouraging. Best hope for existing shareholders could be via a takeover since it would seem that they are in play and there is a current approach which may or may not lead to an offer. Good luck !
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RNS Number:3247S
Interactive Prospect TargetingHdgs
15 April 2008

Final Results for the year ended 31 December 2007

Key Points

Group revenues increased from £24.1m in 06 to £33.2m in 07, an overall growth of 38%

Operating profit of £0.6 million (2006: £4.2 million)

Our French businesses, Directinet and NP6, have continued to exceed expectations with particularly strong demand from Directinet's blue chip client base.

Commenting on the results Lionel Thain, Chief Executive Officer, said: "2007 was a challenging year for IPT Group. The Group faced a number of technology related issues that were compounded by stiff competition in certain markets and a weakening of the broader economic conditions. However, the Company's French
operations, including its newly acquired companies, performed above expectations and the core UK business is undergoing a strategic re-alignment that will help recapture profitability in 2008."

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

The financial year to 31 December 2007 was a difficult one for Interactive
Prospect Targeting Holdings plc and its subsidiaries. While revenues grew 38% to £33.2m (2006: £24.1m), this was mainly due to the continued growth of our businesses in France and the impact of a number of acquisitions made during the last 2 years. Our core UK business has faced a number of challenges. On 27 March 2007, we announced that the UK operations had been impacted adversely by a problem in sales execution which was causing a shortfall in revenue in our customer acquisition division. As I reported at the time of our interim results this problem was resolved, however, it was not possible to recover the losses that had been incurred. The interim results showed that recovery was underway and the second half of the year began on a positive note. The last quarter of the year has traditionally been our most important quarter with a disproportionate level of revenue and operating profit being achieved. In 2007, UK revenues in this quarter fell well below our expectations. The level of operating costs remained constant and therefore the shortfall in revenue impacted almost directly on operating profit.

Group loss before tax was £1.0m compared to a profit of £4.0m in 2006. In
addition to the UK trading matters, Group loss before tax was negatively
impacted by £1.0m foreign exchange movements on deferred consideration and
foreign currency loans and a further £0.6m on non-cash interest accretion on
deferred consideration.

The reported current slowdown in the world economy is predicted to have an
impact on certain aspects of the European media sector and, in recognition of
this, we do not expect substantial growth in the more challenging environment of 2008. We have revised the Group's expectations for the coming year accordingly. In the view of the results for 2007 and the prospective trading environment, your Board recognises the requirement to focus on the core product areas of the UK business and create the appropriate operating cost to revenue ratios to bring the business back to operating profitability. To this end much has already been achieved in 2008.

On 22 August 2007, we reported that we were in discussions with parties that may or may not lead to an offer for the Group. Whilst certain discussions have now ceased, a new approach has been received which your Board is considering whether it may or may not lead to an offer for the Group.