Internet Business Share Discussion Threads

[muffinhead] 02/3/2007 08:33

i know what you mean. i still don't understand how washing powders, the internal combustion engine or biotechnology work but happy to buy the result. The public cottons on eventually.

Anyone care to give a breakdown of the pros and cons of different means of internet advertising and the effectiveness of each?

[aleman] 02/3/2007 08:07

Perhaps I don't appreciate the media division's potential and I think we're cheap at these levels. Has anybody noticed RMV's results? Turnover nearly double and eps almost exactly double. Historic p/e 65 makes IBG look cheap. There don't seem to be any forecasts in the market to compare ahead, though.I might have a look through the thread.

[spacecowboy3] 02/3/2007 08:06

Aleman - 2 Mar'07 - 01:15 - 968 of 971

spacecowboy - AF is by far the largest chunk of the business. If you can understand that, then you don't need to worry about the rest for now.


Whilst I see your point, I'm afraid I don't agree with it. It seems to me that IBG expect Media to be a big part of their future. To quote from the prelims -

The benefits of a successful media business to IBG are as follows:
· high gross margins;
· strategic differentiation for AffiliateFuture, IBG's performance advertising business; and
· it provides an ideal platform to launch new online advertising network services over the medium to long term.
.
.
...Whilst in its embryonic stages of development, the Board is extremely positive about the medium-to-long term prospects of IBG Media.


IMO one of the few advantages available to private investors is the possibility of being 'ahead of the curve'. In IBG's case the curve would seem to mean 'media', so I want to understand it's implications for IBG's business NOW!

I will try to get to the AGM though - do we know when it is yet?

[hirschnathan] 02/3/2007 07:11

The e-commerce sites are niche to the business.

Sounds like maz wants to flog it

[taurusthebear] 02/3/2007 04:21

But surely that's the beauty of IBG at these prices.

The turnover and growth at AF is effectively justifying the current market cap., on a PE of about 15 for this year according to broker estimates. And with the American side of AF about to come into profit, the growth looks set to continue in the medium-term.

The e-commerce sites are niche to the business.

BUT the media side is effectively being thrown in for free. It seems that investors don't appreciate it's potential, and if it comes good to the extent of AF, then the share price can go only one way!

Not disillusioned by the fall, looking to get more if it falls again. I think the only sellers now are the bored or the capitulators. :0)

[hirschnathan] 02/3/2007 01:56

Aleman

I dont think youre right. The media division will overtake the af part very quickly.

The feeds as I have explained, onced rolled out to all travel search portals will make a massive difference. If you take for eample just cheapflights who claimed to have passed £2b worth of sales to its suppliers, last year, can you imagine how much the others produce?
It seems that travelsupermarket have integrated af into its search, I dont know which others have or are in the process, but when I have some spare time I will look around.

[aleman] 02/3/2007 01:15

spacecowboy - AF is by far the largest chunk of the business. If you can understand that, then you don't need to worry about the rest for now. The UK side is so big it can not outgrow its market much longer, but the US can, and that could be much bigger. That is more important than the media division for now. Once the US side is so big it can not outgrow that market (by which time the shares could be much higher), I might worry why I do not understand the media division like yourself. The company survived the dotcom crash and has been outperforming its affiliate marketing peers for the last 3 years. I think you can cut the directors a bit of slack over the media division which is a small fraction of the business at the moment. If you want to worry about the bits and pieces just put them into simple questions to be asked at the AGM. I found it well worth attending and should be going again.

[hirschnathan] 01/3/2007 23:42

space

Nothing wrong with being negative

The problem is someone who is in the affiliate world understands whats happening and cant imagine someone else not understanding. That may be the reason behind the vague rns. .

[spacecowboy3] 01/3/2007 22:57

Niggle

Hope you don't think that I'm "getting disillusioned about affiliate marketing/ibg/the sector/the future". Like you, I'm quite prepared to believe that "This company has a massive way to go."

I'm just saying that if IBG wants to appeal to a broader range of investors than the Affiliates and other cognoscenti represented on this board (together with 'hangers on' like myself) then it might do well to make it's business model a bit easier for 'lay' investors to understand.

I'm not negative - just frustrated that I'm having to work at something which I think the Company should hand me (and others) on a plate! ;-)

sc

[niggle] 01/3/2007 22:45

Can I just say that before anyone starts getting disillusioned about affiliate marketing/ibg/the sector/the future that AF sent me 740 unique visitors yesterday! This company has a massive way to go.

My site has been active for about 6 months.

Yes 740, think about that the next time you put a sell through........

The cpc and conversion is much better than google adwords believe me...............

This is why I have held on to my shares and added since August 2004.
Cheers
niggle

[spacecowboy3] 01/3/2007 21:58

Lord Buffett - 1 Mar'07 - 16:22 - 950 of 961

If you are an AF affiliate, once you are logged on you get a list of merchant categories, one of which is travel merchants (where that list was taken from at some point in the past).

So "no" it's not more informative than AF's own site, in fact it's misleading!

Thanks for that correction LB. Maybe all IBG investors should sign up as AF affiliates so they have this information. ;-)

Joking apart, my underlying point was that if potential investors have to do this much work to understand what Henoo is about then I don't think we can be surprised if there's a lack of new investor interest in IBG.

In a previous life I was involved in giving presentations to potential (institutional) investors and the advice was always "you've got a maximum of 15 minutes - make it easy for them to say yes, otherwise they'll just move on to the next of the myriad opportunities available to them".

Much as I appreciate and enjoy the industry knowledge possessed by many of the major contributors to this board (and I'm sure it also gives the rest of us who read it an 'inside edge'), I think it's easy to forget that most investors just don't have that knowledge, or the time to work it out for themselves.

IMO the IBG website does a good job of explaining affiliate advertising, as does the AF site itself. When it comes to the 'media' division, however, there's very little explanation of what it's all about or why it's a good thing FROM AN INVESTOR'S POINT OF VIEW.

In fact the 'Investor Relations' section of the website contains very little that helps INVESTORS (as opposed to potential affiliates or merchants) to get a quick view of why IBG is such a great company. How about a presentation or two setting out (in terms that even non-technical investors can understand!) why IBG's market is such a good place to be and why/how IBG are so well positioned in that space to make a shed load of money?

I'm very aware that it's traditional for 'punters' on BBs to blame poor IR when the share price isn't going in the right direction - usually the critics merely seem to be saying "for heaven's sake just release some good news and get the price up".

I don't think that's the case here. IBG release plenty of good news - every set of results in fact! What I'm saying is that they don't make it easy (even for a 'believer' like me with 10% of their portfolio invested here) to understand how the business is likely to continue to deliver great news in the future.

Sorry about the rant!

sc

[slapdash] 01/3/2007 21:22

would be nice if directors bought shares ... they have bought before above this level I think....

Slapper

[aleman] 01/3/2007 20:52

UK 1379

A1Comms




Description:
A1 Comms have been trading since 1997, the website originally set up to support our high street mobile phone shops is now stand alone and over the last 10 years of trading has gained many 1000s of satisfied customers. Our site sells all networks and specialises in contract phones with Free gifts such as Game consoles and mp3 players, we also offer line rental discounts (by redemption) and automatic cash back (where no claim is necessary).

UK 2272

Concept Zen




Description:
We are an online bathroom and shower accessories store. Selling a contemporary range of shower heads, thermostatic shower systems, bathroom accessories and door handles.

[aleman] 01/3/2007 20:43

That site is a low priority for them. (Busy with Allegro in Poland - check traffic stats.) I would have thought it could have expanded tremendously in the UK after eBay's charges went up. Missed opportunity perhaps.

[hirschnathan] 01/3/2007 19:56

Aleman

That link on qxl, is producing v1 of the travelsearchresults, funny they havent even updated it to the new one yet

[the blackster] 01/3/2007 19:42

This is not going anywhere near 19p - we're having a market correction and people are selling - so what - that's the name of the game - when it bounces this will revert to its inevitable route towards 40p

[aleman] 01/3/2007 19:38

I'd be selling shares that might drop into losses if we have a recession. So what if IBG grows fast instead of very fast and turns out to be on a p/e of 11 or 12 for 2008 instead of less than 10? It beats having to cover losses with a diluting share issue after the shares have hit 1/10th of their previous value.

[yump] 01/3/2007 19:29

Has Derren Brown been mentioning 19p everywhere or WHAT ?????!!!!!!!

[nottoworry] 01/3/2007 19:04

As I said before, I would not get worried even if share price drops to 19p. It is only about how much an investor would like to pay for a high-growth small cap company. Market sentiment will change from one month to another. Given a good track record of Maz and his conservative estimates, one might say that PER of 20 for current financial year is cheap. On the other hand, on a negative market sentiment such as the one we had in 2003, one might say that he is not ready to pay more than PER of 10 simply because the IBG is a young and small company and depending too much on a single man (i.e. Maz).

I have actually paid 32p for my current holding but as I have said before I will not either add or sell at these prices. I will buy if it hits low 20s and I will sell if it hits 40p. (Provided that market expectation remains the same in the next six months.)

[hirschnathan] 01/3/2007 18:47

Nig

I complained that 2 days ago was quiet, well yesterday was amazing and today so far its going great guns

[yump] 01/3/2007 18:43

In terms of investment I don't think being stuck within a trading range and not going up is a problem.

When there is 'something wrong' shares always seem to tail off downwards, for no known reason. I think we could be sure that with the likely high level of affiliates invested in IBG, then if anything started being a problem, the share price would start tailing off downwards. ie. out of the long trading range.

I'm sure if the share price had continued upwards, a lot of us would all be saying that Henoo etc. must be getting recognised and that's the cause. However, the business without Henoo has grown sufficiently to warrant a re-rating, so I don't think getting hung up about the travel search and its pros and cons is really going to get anywhere.

[niggle] 01/3/2007 18:32

i must say that we are converting really well with AF!