Maxima Holdings Share Discussion Threads

[tech] 21/2/2005 11:55

Some more nice buys today. Can now sell 15k online and only buy 1.5k online.

[hallow] 18/2/2005 13:02

Tole

Agreed I think these will surge very shortly, its pity there isn't a higher volume, it makes them a bit illiquid.

[tech] 17/2/2005 13:27

Can now sell 20k online and only buy 1.5k online. Any comments.

[tech] 15/2/2005 10:07

More news on company web site.
Tetrad plc to implement Azur for Make-to-Order, a mySAP All-in-One Solution from Azur for SAP.
Tetrad plc (www.tetrad.co.uk) based in Preston Lancashire, with manufacturing and distribution sites worldwide, have been designing and manufacturing sofas and chairs for over 30 years.
Azur for Make-to-Order, a mySAP All-in-One Solution, includes all software configuration, training, project and user documentation pre-configured for Make-to-Order industries. The solution encompasses business 'Best Practices' for Tetrad's industry, drawn from extensive research and experience by a dedicated division within SAP.

[tole] 14/2/2005 11:39

Definate run on the stock - Not many sellers about. Holding tight here and looking for a push to 2quid. Plenty of interest being drummed up lately.

[tech] 14/2/2005 11:23

Now MM's open up spread to 15p.

[tech] 14/2/2005 11:09

MM's open up spread to 10p, desperately short of stock.

[currypasty] 11/2/2005 08:16

Aim: Software and IT solutions - 135p - Software-to-IT services minnow Maxima recently floated on Aim, but has made no secret of its plans to build a much larger group by acquisition. The market that Maxima targets is valued at £4bn, and is currently served by a huge number of companies. So, with a highly experienced management team, investors can expect a raft of corporate activity.

Maxima is split into three divisions: Azur for SAP, Azur Business Solutions and Minerva Industrial Systems. The group secured a listing last November following a successful float that raised £5m at 110p a share. It is this offering that helped fund the acquisition of its core Azur operation. Azur supplies enterprise systems to manufacturing and distribution companies, in areas such as medical, automotive, electronics and consumer products.

Founded in 1983, Maxima is now a partner to several large software vendors, such as QAD and SAP. Market estimates suggest that IT expenditure is on the up, and that Azur is already outpacing its peers by winning market share. Significantly, 90 per cent of Maxima's sales are derived from repeat business.

The company has already secured over 330 customers. Among its clients are Diageo, Geest and Securicor. Recent interim results confirmed good progress, with sales in the six months to 30 November 2004 increasing 9 per cent to £6.2m as profits surged 44 per cent to £800,000.

Margins have also improved, while Maxima continues to demonstrate strong cash-generation. Indeed, a dividend is expected at the year-end.

But Maxima trades on just 10 times current-year earnings, falling to nine times in 2006. That's a discount to the sector and, with the potential to expand by acquisition, the shares have further to run. Buy.

[currypasty] 11/2/2005 08:05

ill have a look

[tech] 11/2/2005 07:50

Investors Chronicle tip today. Anybody post the write up.

[vmjmurphy] 08/2/2005 16:36

The share price recovered throughout the day. A good sign of confidence?

[tech] 08/2/2005 13:46

Little bit of news of their web site today

FEB 2005 - Automotive Industrial Partnerships, (www.aip.uk.com) a leading automotive supplier based in Redditch, Worcestershire, has signed a £100k contract for SAP Business One, Technology Outsource and Application Management with Azur for SAP.

[vmjmurphy] 08/2/2005 10:49

I have risked a small flutter on the back of Bill Johnson's analysis - not previously a company I'd heard much about. A stable company with a PER of under 10. Nice. A longer term hold in my view so a little profit taking following the recent rise is fine ...

[currypasty] 08/2/2005 09:34

a bit of profit taking after the rise on the tips / results ?

[tole] 07/2/2005 19:43

Yep agree - sat watching the lack of action all morning debating whether to pick up some more. Even picked up a quote to buy and declined it....muppet.
City wire article is excellent. Happy to be in and agree there must be plenty more upside in this to come yet.

Small mention in Thisismoney too. All helps to spread the word and generate interest.

'Also on the upside, Maxima Holdings, a provider of software and IT solutions, rose 12p to 142½p on the back of solid maiden interim results and acquisition pipeline.'

[cockneyrebel] 07/2/2005 14:16

wish I'd bought more now. Sat quiet hoping for a dip after the initial rally, hoping to grab a few more.

Nice results tho.

CR

[currypasty] 07/2/2005 13:19

Maxima eyes its first targets

Published: February 2005
By Joanne Wallen, Associate Editor

Maxima Holdings, the acquisitive AIM-listed IT solutions company, is in 'active talks' with potential targets and hopes to have some news soon.

The company floated on AIM in November and simultaneously bought Azur, a business software provider and reseller of enterprise software from major providers QAD and SAP.

Chief executive Kelvin Harrison and finance director Geoff Bicknell want to grow the business into a £100 million turnover enterprise through acquisition in the next few years.

News that the duo are working on achieving that ambition lifted Maxima shares 12p to 142.5p. The rise was also fuelled by maiden interims showing the company is a stable base on which to work from.

For the six months to November, pro-forma figures showed turnover up 9% at £6.2 million and pre-tax profits of £800,000 up from £557,000.

Harrison was at Azur for five years. Prior to this he was chief executive of Cambridge-based Symbionics which 'almost floated' but was then bought by a US company. Before that he was chief executive of Vega.

Azur itself was the product of consolidation, having turned around Weir Systems, added Minerva and then bought IBS from UK-listed K3.

Group finance director Geoff Bicknell joined Northgate Information Systems in 2000 and saw it through its transformation period from its previous incarnation as MDIS. Prior to that, Bicknell worked for engineering group TI and before that he has worked for mainly large US companies on acquisitions and integration issues.

Bicknell said the reasoning behind Maxima is that it is now hard for smaller businesses to 'afford the cost of independence.' Maxima hopes to create the necessary scale to enable the business to continue to grow profitably.

The opportunity is to buy up some of the hundreds of small IT companies, many of which have written their own software, and have not yet 'made the tough decision' to phase out their own proprietary software in favour of selling and integrating a known brand such as SAP or QAD.

What Maxima hopes to buy is a customer base. It will continue to support legacy systems – Bicknell says the older systems are robust and need little support – but the icing on the cake comes from selling an existing customer a new system.

He reckons Maxima currently has less than 1% of a highly fragmented market and that there are some 'sizeable' private companies to go after as well as some of its fellow AIM-listed players.

While Maxima provides similar services to the likes of Chelford, XKO, K3 and Axon, Harrison says the company rarely sees them in competitive situations, and this, he says, is because the market is just so big and broad.

Citywire Verdict:
Consolidation in this sector is probably well overdue. The advantage of doing it now is that you are buying companies that have at least survived the awful downturn of the past few years, and should therefore have decent businesses that would benefit from being part of a larger organisation.

Bicknell and Harrison seem to know what they are taking on and have the right experience. They have assembled a board that is also geared up for making acquisitions and put a middle management layer in place to carry out due diligence, plan integrations and make them happen.

To get to the £50-£100 million turnover target in the next three or four years will take a lot of work and no doubt some pain along the way. Still, Seymour Pierce is looking for earnings next year of 14.3p per share, which puts the business on a reasonable 9.4 times earnings, particularly for those who like the consolidation story.

[tech] 07/2/2005 13:04

Nice write up on Citywire today

[currypasty] 07/2/2005 13:02

mentioned on 'whatshot' again.. seems quite keen!

[tech] 07/2/2005 12:47

Wonder how the presentation to analysts went today?

[currypasty] 07/2/2005 11:21

setting off again

both MM's on 1.40 - 1.45

[tech] 07/2/2005 10:45

Excellent results today. Should hear more news over coming months to move price much higher as the statement says "Progress is being made in building a pipeline of further acquisition opportunities."

[sheeneqa] 07/2/2005 10:23

Looks good, had to have some.....

Read something this morning re tip can not remember where.....