Internet Business Share Discussion Threads

[stemis] 20/5/2007 11:09

Aleman,

I think one of the problems is scale.

aQuanta will make about 15 times IBG's profit

So Microsoft get a major and strategic foothold in a market that they believe they can leverage using their own market position.

IBG is still pretty much dependant on a few individuals and whilst the growth is very strong, at 60% profit growth its going to take 7 years to get to the size of aQuanta. At that point its would be a very different organisation to what it is now. That's additional risk (which affects value) and time (which the likes of microsoft don't have).

I think one of the challenges facing IBG is to show they can handle the transition from a small hands on organisation, in which the directors are directly involved in everything thats going on, to one in which they are managing the business. Maz staying up into the early hours of the morning to deal with affiliate queries is fine when its a £10M turnover business, but when its a £50M business he's going to have to rely on an organisation to do it. The challenge is to build that organisation.

At the moment buying IBG is a bit of a risk. If Maz and Chick decide to move on after the sale what are you left with?

Having said all that the current value of IBG is ludicrous at little over 15 x current year forecast. Hopefully we'll get some more confirmation in the interims that the current year is on track.

[guythomas] 20/5/2007 01:48

bring em on!>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 100p

[hirschnathan] 20/5/2007 00:52

Who said results are due next week?

[krakow] 18/5/2007 21:01

Just to back that up, Aleman:

from IMRG





Online shopping - £100 billion and counting (18/05/2007)



British shoppers have spent £100 billion online in the 12 years that it has been possible to do so, since April 1995. Online sales worth £3.465 billion were recorded for April 2007 by the IMRG Index, indicating that the alltime total will reach £100 billion by the time this report is published, in May. April saw a massive 55% (54.4%) increase in the IMRG Index, the largest annual rise since December 2003. This is far higher than the average year-on-year growth rate of just of 32% (31.7%) recorded during the previous twelve-month period.

"This is an astonishing landmark," commented Jo Evans, IMRG's MD, who directs the Index programme. "It's been obvious for a couple of decades that a secure, networked consumer marketplace would arrive and be popular, but actually witnessing its profound success and meteoric growth still takes my breath away. April's online sales were worth about the same in one month as London's West End takes in a year."



..................and..................


http://www.imrg.org/ItemDetail.aspx?
clg=News&cid=nws&pid=News_NielsenNetRatings&language=en-GB


Young women dominate UK internet (17/05/2007)



Young women are now the most prevalent group online, accounting for almost a fifth of the internet population in the UK, according to new research by Nielsen/NetRatings. The research found that 18% of active web users were females aged between 18 and 34 and this group also spends the most time online, accounting for 27% more internet usage than their male counterparts. However, overall the genders are almost equally balanced, with men accounting for 50.5% of the UK online population and 49.5% women, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.

Alex Burmaster of NetRatings said, "The internet is no longer dominated by young male adults. Times have changed considerably and many will be very surprised to see that women aged 18-34 are now the most prevalent group online and that a quarter of the online population is at least 50 years of age." He added: "There is little doubt we are entering a new era of the internet. The results of the research, showing young adult women now account for 27 per cent more of total UK computer time than their male counterparts, indicates how the internet landscape is shifting; a shift which is sure to send shockwaves through the entire online industry."

[aleman] 18/5/2007 10:05

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Retail sales in the UK declined slightly in April from March, missing expectations for a modest rise, as falling sales in department stores and household goods retailers undermined the expected boost from the fine weather and Easter sales, official figures showed.

The Office for National Statistics said retail sales on a seasonally adjusted basis fell by 0.1 pct between April and March, missing expectations for a 0.4 pct rise, and were up 4.2 pct on April last year, also lower than the 4.5 pct analysts had expected.

March's figures, by contrast, were revised upwards to show month-on-month retail sales growth of 0.5 pct, from 0.3 pct, and a year-on-year rise of 5.0 pct, from 4.8 pct.

Despite April's falling sales, a leading price indicator rose. The implied deflator for April was up 1.0 pct over the same month in 2006, higher than March's 0.4 pct and the strongest since February 1999's 1.2 pct.

A closer look at the figures shows sales falling 3.0 pct month-on-month in household goods stores, particularly electrical retailers, and by 0.3 pct at non-specialised retailers such as department stores.

Rising sales were reported notably for clothing, up 1.0 pct, and non-store retailers -- such as mail order and internet companies -- which saw sales up 2.5 pct on the month.

Meanwhile, the statistics office also said retail sales were 1.2 pct higher in the three months to April from the previous three-month period, and 0.1 pct higher than the same time last year. Within this rise was a 17.0 pct year-on-year increase in sales at non-store retailers, the highest since records began in 1986.

Based on non-seasonally adjusted data, the average weekly value of retail sales in April was 4.9 bln stg, 5.0 pct higher than in April last year and up 3.3 pct from March.

Earlier this month, the British Retail Consortium's monitor also showed sales growth slowed in April from March. The BRC reported like-for-like sales rose 2.4 pct year on year, compared with March's 3.9 pct.

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[aleman] 18/5/2007 09:15

Consumers swapping the mall for the mouse in ever greater numbers pushed sales past that milestone this month, fuelled by a very strong April performance. A total of £3.47bn worth of goods were purchased online last month: a 55 per cent rise on the previous year.

[baheid101] 17/5/2007 17:40

I would think that highly likely Hirsch given their comments about part of the acquisition case for Netfreestuff is that it has an oz facing version, and that an element of the strategy of IBG Media is to provide a low cost way of attracting advertisers to AF in new markets. I am not sure how likely it is that oz.netfreestuff.com is likely to help them much in its current form

[hirschnathan] 17/5/2007 15:27

On a seperate note I have a funny feeling af are going to try and launch in Australia

[hirschnathan] 17/5/2007 15:26

I thnk its worth noting how buy.at with funding behind them have tried launching in the usa. They seem to be having it tough, which I pointed out on an earlier thread, my opinion on what they have done wrong. They will get there.
Af seemed to attract merchants with relative ease.

[aleman] 17/5/2007 09:18

ITV still suffering

In the first quarter of 2007 we identified that total UK television advertising
revenue had stabilised, and this trend has continued. Total UK television
advertising for the six months to June is flat compared to the same period last
year. ITV1, affected by the contract rights renewal (CRR) remedy, is down by
9.6% over the first half of 2007, whilst ITV plc total advertising revenue is
down by 5.7%.

[stemis] 14/5/2007 14:31

I think they would already have sold the e commerce business if they could have gotten a reasonable price

[the analyst] 14/5/2007 13:56

I wonder if during the review they will seriously consider disposing the e-commerce business and selling the hosting customer base to concentrate the company 100% on marketing / advertising?

On the one hand, such a move would lose the company some quite useful assets that look set to expand (e-commerce) and that provide a steady income stream (hosting), but there could be big benefits too - It may provide cash to make Maz's expansion plans possible without too much share dilution. It would also make the business plan much more focussed and simpler to understand.

[aleman] 14/5/2007 13:38

I think they have been wasting their time with institutions. I tend to invest mostly in tiddlers. There is sometimes a bit of fuss when a fund buys in for the first time, but I have yet to experience any kind of long term benefit to the company. They seem to spend their time cultivating management to get preferential treatment, most notably with fundraisings. Despite this 3/4 of fund managers still underperform the market after considering reinvested dividends.

[stemis] 14/5/2007 13:33

Thanks andnmand

[the blackster] 14/5/2007 13:27

Hirschnathan/Lord Buffet - that's the point - getting the story covered is the PR's job.

The issue here is the PR is not being creative enough or effective in delivering coverage. Though part of the reason could be that their brief from ibg is one dimensional, the reality is the PRs probably need a kick up the proverbials and should re-pitch to prove their mettle. A re-pitch will get a load of new ideas in front of the board, will also show the board what other PR talent is out there and make the incumbents go up a gear.

ibg need a dynamic brief and a PR company who think laterally combining both trade and corporate coverage to get column inches. If they're not delivering, it's time for a change - and another thing - with the company looking at strategic options - now is the perfect time to make that change and get the profile of the company up and seen in the right places.

[niggle] 13/5/2007 21:23

andmand

"I also know from the other affiliates on here (Niggle, Hirsch etc..) that their invoice numbers seem to increase by nearly the same as mine each month"

My increase is exactly the same as yours whcih means that an invoice must be generated for all affiliates.

[andnmand] 13/5/2007 20:17

Hi Stemis,

I know from my early days as an affiliate on AF that they don't issue an invoice if you get no earnings and they do issue an invoice with a number if you earn any commission in the month (even if it is too little earnings to get a payout). I don't post my actual invoice numbers just the increase in the invoice number since last month. I also know from the other affiliates on here (Niggle, Hirsch etc..) that their invoice numbers seem to increase by nearly the same as mine each month, also that the actual invoice number seems to tie up with your affiliate id (i.e. someone with a low id who joined early on has a lower invoice number than someone with a high id who joined more recently).

All educated guesswork really but it seems to point to a system where each month they start with the last invoice number used the month before and work through the affiliates starting with the lowest affiliate id and allocate invoice numbers if they have earned anything.

[hirschnathan] 13/5/2007 15:58

Aleman

The profits refer to the big bucks, thats when the travel commissions start rolling in

[aleman] 13/5/2007 13:30

Looks set for very good H1 turnover. It will be interesting to see what extra investment holds profits back until H2, or was it just that profits will be better in H2? It seems to suggest the latter, unless it doesn't. Roll on results. Should get the date soon.

Trading since the financial year-end has remained in line with management
expectations. The Board remains confident of achieving market expectations on
profit before tax for the current financial year, whilst significantly
increasing the infrastructure to facilitate the future growth potential of the
Company. The majority of these profits are expected in the second half of the
financial year, as a consequence of seasonality in line with the markets in
which IBG operates.

[stemis] 13/5/2007 12:27

Thanks for posting that andnmand.

Remind me again what the rationale is for believing this is a measure of active affiliates?

[hirschnathan] 13/5/2007 12:24

2. When am I paid?
Payment is made approximately 14-20 days after the end of the month for those of you reaching £20 in commission (£100 if you are outside the UK and paid by cheque). You must complete the My Details and Financial Details pages with valid information.