Internet Business Share Discussion Threads

[renew] 21/8/2007 07:35

FT on monday had column on internet sales. July sales up 80% on last year compared with average monthly figure for year of just under 40%.
Might be what inspired Maz et al to buy a few.

[niggle] 21/8/2007 07:17

Getting on for nearly 5 days without comment, must be a record! I see a steady stream of merchants joining.

[clond] 16/8/2007 12:27

Not really bothered what directors or nomads say , or even stockbrokers really ,

JUST KEEP BANGING OUT INCREASED PROFIT MARGINS YEAR ON YEAR and i'll keep topping it up !

[clond] 15/8/2007 17:12

Have to see what happens when next set come out !!!

[ninjatnut] 15/8/2007 14:23

LB we will have to agree to differ - good luck.

[hirschnathan] 15/8/2007 13:02

I am not sure

[yump] 15/8/2007 10:44

hirsch
Thanks for that - no, hadn't seen - is that very recent then or am I just screen-blind ?

(Edited previous moaning post btw)

[lord buffett] 15/8/2007 00:09

ninja

I think Nic Costa would disagree with you about that as he added 30% or so to his holding at a cost of about £60,000.

As the IBG directors do not pay themselves huge salaries and none of them are wealthy, except in terms of IBG shares, that's a fairly emphatic statement IMO.

Added to which, if you believe Maz pulls most of the strings, it could also be interpreted as a vote of confidence in Maz and the prospects for IBG going forward... and no I'm not Maz (and nor's my wife, as they say in Monty Python circles).

As for any doubts, I spent about five hours talking to the directors of IBG last week, along with a number of others, and have concluded that the risk/reward is extremely favourable at the current time and shareprice.

[ninjatnut] 14/8/2007 21:02

LB Do you ever have any doubts - you're not Maz are you? And I do not see the directors buying because they think its particularly cheap, the extra will make little difference to their overall position but more as a show of support to protect their existing holdings.

[hirschnathan] 14/8/2007 13:01

Yump

I see you havent looked (last few days) at afuture, add a new merchant.

[tonyr] 14/8/2007 12:54

FYI, a longer term view from someone attending Maz's recent presentation to PIs:-

[bonio10000] 14/8/2007 12:09

Maybe nghomi?

lols.

Try comparing CYH and EIT then.

[clond] 14/8/2007 12:07

What makes me laugh is the comparity of shares

Ultrasis

Turnover 1.24 Million , Profit -0.28 Million , Market Cap 15.37 Million

I.B.G.

Turnover 13.4 Million , Profit 1.12 Million , Market Cap 12.13 Million

Who teaches share dealing to the masses ???

[bonio10000] 14/8/2007 10:21

I tend to think:

1. The comments on here by Maz after the RNS
2. The interims
3. The director buying
4. The meeting with PI's

suggest all is far from bad and they are confident in the future.

anyone know the commission they get on Henoo sales or cheap accomodation?

i regularly get through £10k a year in flights, hotels and business so i might just book in through there.

[yump] 14/8/2007 10:17

LB
As a long term bull of the stock, I'd be interested in your take on the now need for technology improvements.

As I remember, a big thing on here a year or so ago was about the great technology behind the AF platform and how it would give them a competitive advantage over the other networks. You certainly made quite a thing of it.

Edited - rubbish.

[68steve] 14/8/2007 08:10

You`d of thought Andrew Doe should of known too "DOH"

[lord buffett] 14/8/2007 07:58

ninjatnut

Obviously the IBG directors who splashed out £100k on shares the other day don't agree with you... and they should know.

[ninjatnut] 13/8/2007 23:58

The Blackster has summed it up nicely - the reward to risk ratio is just not there! Even Baheid agrees it's getting harder and IBG need to invest, but so presumably are the competition, what evidence is there to say IBG will get it right? They have been wrong before.

[baheid101] 13/8/2007 10:21

Growth in UK affiliate marketing definitely is getting harder, and that is why IBG need to invest in value added publisher tools and technology, and boost client relationship staff.

The H2 for IBG is not the calender year, it is May - October. Reason why Maz was cautious, in my opinion, is that the travel sector had been so weak earlier in the year and there was clear concern within the industry about whether this was a phasing of demand or a downturn. Luckily the hot weather in April which was delaying people booking holidays has significantly reversed and holiday bookings are now up year on year. IBG are in my opinion heavily geared into their second half as May - September is the peak booking season. If anything, concerns over the second half should have eased, and the strong language on current trading in the results is evidence of this.

[lord buffett] 12/8/2007 12:55

The Blackster

Nothing could be further from the truth regarding just about all of the points you raised above, IMO.

Obviously no one can predict the future with certainty, but IBG have a very definite vision of the future which sees them being the competition, not the other way round.

If you are concerned I suggest you give Maz a ring and talk to him, because you clearly didn't attend the investors meeting the other evening.

[the blackster] 12/8/2007 10:54

The bottom line is whatever propspective purchasers found in their due diligence did not support a decent offer price. Even at 28p Maz would have made quite a few million I believe. The man does not seem like a gambler to me, he also knows he cannot maximise profit in the next 2 years, in which case he certainly knows he cannot predict anything beyond that. This effctively says the future dirction of the business is a mystery to the man who runs it. Now when you're faced with a choice between x million selling the company or a potential future where profits may or may not happen I know which one I would choose and my guess is that Maz would have sold the company even at high 20s. Therefore condsidering a sale did not happen it says to me there either wasn't an offer or the offers were much lower. With massive increased competition from everybody from Tradedoubler to various affiliate minnows this is no longer an easy market to grow. The media business has potential but as for being an instant panacea I doubt it. This company may be the five+ bagger Lord Buffet suggests, on the evidence as it is I'd wager the odds are now against.

My other short term concern is what waits around the corner in H2 and why was Maz so bothered about H2 in that infamous RNS? H2 should traditionaly be a strong period for affiliate marketng in the run up to Xmas. I remain concerned.

[niggle] 11/8/2007 14:42

There arn't many stats sites you can trust, ranking.com is equally flawed, the only one I know of, (and they charge) is Hitwise.

[jaka] 11/8/2007 01:56

Thanks LB. I know of no one with a Alexa[toolbar and most spyware programes remove the cookie but I'm still baffled to why so much hype is given to there rankings even on AF's advice page.

Heres another recent example.

[lord buffett] 10/8/2007 20:21

jaka - It's not even a question of the reliability of the Alexa stats (which aren't particularly reliable anyway, except for very big/busy sites), it's more fundamental than that - none of AF's sales/tracking is registered by Alexa, i.e. it simply isn't indicative in any way of AF's sales/revenues.