Keywords Studios Share Discussion Threads

[ihatemms] 20/8/2019 20:52

Signed petition.

[alphabeta4] 14/8/2019 18:14

Nope, not necessary; shorting fulfils a good function. AIM could do with better governance and by deterring malpractice the enhancement in reputation is only of help to the rest of AIM.
Now market manipulation and deliberate delays before publishing short notes I could agree with.
Isn't this a bit off topic anyway?!!

[christh] 13/8/2019 09:41

Petition Ban shorting of London AIM stocks.

[aimingupward2] 03/8/2019 12:32

What he says is more important than where he is standing and it's all very positive.

[harris tweed] 01/8/2019 13:22

Proactive Investors interview with Andrew Day:


He always looks like he's being interviewed in a broom cupboard...nice to know KWS aren't wasting money on flash offices!

[rivaldo] 31/7/2019 22:51

New note from Edison - they note that H1 was "stronger than anticipated" and that KWS looks "set for a strong H2".

And in view of "the strength of the H1 performance, we may need to review our forecasts for FY19":

[alphabeta4] 31/7/2019 15:40

FWIW I think they have done something quite clever here - if you take the H2 pbt and add 17% they hit the forecast and that ignores any margin improvements from economies of scale plus the acquisitions not fully in or completed since H2 18 which I calculate are worth a 2.5% beat alone. I think this is a strategic plan to up the future organic by using what would have been a beat to up the investment in the new product acquisitions from last year. This will then up the pe rating as the LT CAGR will be higher for the analyst models.

[bulltradept] 31/7/2019 08:31

Interested below £16, if it get there.

[rivaldo] 31/7/2019 07:54

H1 revenues were well ahead of forecasts at EUR153.1m - the forecast for this entire year is EUR298.9m, so KWS are running nicely ahead.

H1 adjusted PBT is EUR18.4m, so with the H1 capacity increase/investment costs leading to further H2 business and margin improvement, plus H2 seasonality, the forecast EUR44m should be achievable.

The core businesses seem to be booming. Plus there's lots of scope for acquisitions.

[rivaldo] 29/7/2019 11:49

Good to see KWS tipped as Brexit-proof by a senior portfolio manager at American Century Investments.:



"Another globally focused name is Keywords Studios. The UK-listed company (headquartered in Dublin) outsources technical services to the video gaming industry. The firm is benefiting from two secular trends within gaming - the accelerated development of streaming games and increased outsourcing of non-core game creation services, such as translation, localisation, testing and art creation.

With direct exposure to the globalisation of gaming, Keywords Studios is more closely aligned to growth in the global gaming industry and less exposed to the UK’s domestic economic conditions."

[steeplejack] 15/7/2019 12:40

Head and shoulders completed...up we go.

[rivaldo] 05/7/2019 14:36

Good news from Brazil, where KWS are growing "very fast":



"Keywords opens new Brazilian recording studio

Earlier acquisition Maximal Studios expands with 3,550 square foot localisation facility
Friday 5th July 2019

Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider to the global video games industry and beyond, today announces that it has opened its first dedicated recording studio for video games in São Paulo, Brazil.

Maximal Studios, acquired by Keywords Studios in 2018 and responsible for localizing more than 150 games since 2011 (including Overwatch, World of Warcraft, FIFA, PES), will now benefit from a new 3,550ft², state-of-the-art facility. It features six individual studios for recording, 5.1 surround sound mixing as well as pre- and post-production. The space also features an administration wing for co-working and meetings.

Keywords Studios first entered the Brazilian market in 2015 with the acquisition of Reverb, a localization studio. Voiceovers and localization are increasingly in demand for the Brazilian video games market, a country where actors who provide dubbing voiceovers for beloved characters become stars in their own right. Dubbed content is one of the first things many consumers look for in films, cartoons series and, of course, video games, as 66% of Brazilians are gamers, according to the Brasil Game Show 2019 research.

"With our new space in São Paulo we are further consolidating Keywords Studios' presence in Brazil," says Priscila Caiado, Head of Keywords Studios in Brazil. "We are creating new jobs, increasing our capacity and, as a consequence, offering a greater variety of services to our clients."

"Keywords' growth in Brazil has been very fast," adds Cristiano Prazeres, Studio Manager. "Since the incorporation of Maximal by Keywords last year, the company has grown exponentially and our new studio reflects that. Our production capacity has doubled and we are very excited about the expansion that our new facility allows, not only in recording, but in areas such as production and project management."

"Brazil is a key territory for video-games," explains Nicolas Liorzou, Regional Managing Director - Americas, Keywords Studios. "Yet localization in Brazilian Portuguese was lacking a dedicated and scalable state-of-the-art, go-to voice-over recording capacity. We believe that with this expanded studio in São Paulo, we'll now be in the best position to accommodate the always-increasing needs of our customers in Brazilian Portuguese voice-over."

[1670127] 05/7/2019 14:01

They have scope to increase PEG this year. Will be helped by the lower C$ where they have thier biggest delivery centre as a lot of clients are billed in US$. Mid year results due next month so will be interesting to see where they come out. Industry cycle typically shows dip ahead of new console launches (18 months). That is followed by an upturn a year or so after they have launched. May not happen this time with new players coming into the space but worth bearing in mind.

[steeplejack] 05/7/2019 11:57

You may or may not be right but i suspect,for now at least,the market is looking at the PEG rather than the PER and believes there's fuel in the tank.The strength of organisations like KWS is vested in its workforce.If you can approach competitors,in a fragmented market,and offer them critical mass and a share (via equity) of the business,then you're likely to succeed in attracting talent.First and foremast,the industry has real momentum and growth potential and KWS has tapped into that.I agree the rating looks high but the prospects look excellent.I suspect that if KWS were to hit a banana skin that it'd get acquired pretty swiftly.

[1670127] 05/7/2019 11:18

The acquisition strategy works well as you grow the business. But there is a point where you work with all the major players and have all the services. At that point the cross selling benifits disappeared, although there are potential operational efficiency that can improve margins. There is definately a push from the market for a more diversived supplier base. I've heard comments from friends who work at Kws's competitors that they have won projects based on that alone. Whether this is enough to impact Kws long term, your guess is as good as mine as there are obviously advantages with working with a company like Kws that can provide a one stop shop. Many of thier competitors can't do that. Time will tell. As I continue to stress, I'm not negative about kws as a business or thier strategy, just the valuation which, in my view, is probably double where it should be.

[alphabeta4] 05/7/2019 10:49

How can they in one breath be talking about them doing acquisitions being dilutive for the financials and then in the next be saying the FD departure as a key concern noting his excellent record in mergers and acquisitions? The two are opposites - you can't have them both. Just smacks of creating a narrative to fit a story.

[steeplejack] 05/7/2019 10:01

Of the smaller players, the Ireland-based, Aim-listed Keywords Studios, which provides services to computer games developers, was knocked by a recommendation from analysts at Peel Hunt to sell. “The share price has been on a rollercoaster but it appears to be ratcheting back up to its highs,” they said. “One concern is whether the company has been acquiring businesses that are dilutive for the financials and whether it may start to overpay for those that aren’t.”

Keywords has made 37 acquisitions since listing in 2013, and revenue growth slowed from 24 per cent in 2016 to 10 per cent last year. Peel Hunt also listed the departure of David Broderick from the role of finance director as a key concern, noting his excellent record in mergers and acquisitions. Shares tumbled 128p, or 7 per cent, to £16.92.

[steeplejack] 04/7/2019 21:06

Of course it’s been driven by acquisition that’s the name of the game .Is that really such a surprise.You acquire a company,you offer them equity in the combined group,strength in numbers.The expertise goes up and down in the lift,you tie them in by making them equity partners.....and one day a bigger fish might come along and do exactly the same to whole of KWS ......who knows.

[1670127] 04/7/2019 16:41

Indeed it is. When this was 24 pounds per share I predicted it would drop to sub 10. It did. I wasn't far out on last year's results. This has got overvalued again, in my humble view. They had write offs relating to a number of clients last year as they went under. Those revenues need to be made up for the growth story to continue. With a 300 million revenue base, to maintain 40% growth they need an additional 120 million. That is two VMCs. That has not happened. I'm not negative on the stock but feel it should be valued at 10-15 times earnings in line with most other tech companies. You can do the math and work out where that puts this. Do your own research.

[alphabeta4] 04/7/2019 14:27

Bit of fun:

Pretend market update

Keywords Studios (kws) lost 10% in morning trade following Peel Hunt issuing a sell note with £13.10 target price.
Peel Hunt, who were spectacularly wrong with a £12.54 note back on 9th April which cost their clients 50% upside, upped their EBITDA target 8% but tweaked their valuation method to save face and keep their upgraded target to £13.10.
A spokesman commented: 'yeah, we stuffed up a bit. This note gets us a bit closer to the new price and hopefully will look sensible enough to cause a wave of panic selling to further close the gap.'
We also approached Keywords but they just said 'meh' and shrugged their shoulders.

Ends

[rivaldo] 04/7/2019 13:39

It's worth looking at 1670127's posting history :o))

[1670127] 04/7/2019 13:31

Kws growth has been driven by acquisitions. The last 12 months has seen a few take place but these have all been small so expect the growth rate to drop significantly from last year. The founders sold 8 million pounds of shares a couple of months back which is not a great sign. Not sure if the current PE ratio supports the reduced growth rates but that is everyone's call. I expect this to go back sub 10 pounds when the results to end June are released.

[rivaldo] 04/7/2019 12:46

Amazing isn't it, the sheep/herd mentaility. Still, the sharp ones amongst them will now be buying back the shares they sold first thing. Congrats to them.

[christh] 04/7/2019 12:30

Growth for the last 5 years (as captured yesterday's data)
-------------------------------------
Name....................1W....1M.....3M.....6M......1Y....2Y....3Y.......5Y (%)
Keywords Studios plc...6.24..4.44...37.4...63.23..1.07..139.65..557.72 1,018.13

[bulltradept] 04/7/2019 12:12

Could be general market happenings, it's still valued pretty highly, so you never know from here.