Minds + Machines Share Discussion Threads

[waldron] 25/6/2018 10:25

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Minds + Machines' shares higher as vip domain achieves best-in-class renewal rates in China
10:10 25 Jun 2018
In excess of 525,000 registered .vip names reached their annual renewal date in China during the second quarter, of which more than 75% were manually renewed
VIP card
MMX has achieved great success in China

Internet domain names specialist Minds + Machines Group Limited (LON:MMX) saw its shares rise on Monday following news it continues to see exceptionally strong demand for its .vip domain in China.

The second quarter of 2018 is not quite over yet but even so more than three-quarters of .vip domain owners in China on the manual renewal scheme have renewed.
READ: Minds + Machines receives approval to launch four more top level domains in China

The renewal results place .vip in-line with the best-in-class renewal rates of leading top-level domains globally. Domain owners who do not renew by the deadline are given a 45-day grace period before the domain name becomes available to somebody else and the directors of Minds + Machines (MMX) believe the renewal rate is likely to crank up a few more notches before the grace period is over.

MMX directors believe, based on the data available, that .vip is the top performing mass generic top-level domain (TLD) in China, with total registrations in .vip now standing at 888,400.
Lead property

“The key metrics for our lead property in China continue to be exceptional. Standard registrations in .vip, excluding bulk registrations, are up 28% year-on-year, and the usage count - based on the number of live .vip pages showing on China's main online search engine - is up 19% year-on-year. Further, we are very encouraged that the major technology groups in China are now wanting to increasingly promote the extension, most notably Alibaba and Tencent Cloud which has recently expanded its registrar operations in the region,” said Toby Hall, MMX’s chief executive officer.

“The BAT's, China's major technology companies, increasingly see the provisioning of domain names as a key way to bring SME's into their cloud-based universes for the delivery of services. As was the case last year, we anticipate revenues from the region to be H2 [second-half] weighted given the 2018 allocation of .vip premium inventory is only now being released, post completion of its main renewal season. The H2 weighting of Chinese revenues will be further accentuated by the timing of this year's new property launches in China highlighted below," he added.

Talking of which … on June 21 购物 (.shopping) formally entered the general availability phase – which is the phase after the period where domain names are only available to brand name owners (e.g. only Alibaba could apply to register alibaba.shopping) – in China while .law is due to go on general sale in China before the end of the month.
High-value domain names

Both will be marketed by in-country specialists as high-value domain names. As a result, the directors do not anticipate significant registration numbers from these two properties but do expect meaningful revenue contributions from each over the course of the following 12 months.

The directors additionally look forward to updating the market in the next eight weeks regarding the company's first innovation-based project, which will potentially be released in the Asia region at the same time as in the west, in the second half of this year.

"Continuing to build our renewal revenues is central to our business and it is extremely encouraging that.vip renewal rates continue to be market leading. It provides strong cash flow and recurring revenues from which we can further scale the business with innovation and selective acquisition as exemplified with our recent acquisition of ICM Registry LLC," Hall added.

In mid-morning trading, Minds + Machines' shares were 7.8% higher at 6.95p.

In a note to clients, finnCap analyst Lorne Daniel commented: "This update news follows the recent welcome news of ICANN approval for the ICM acquisition and further reinforces our confidence in our FY 2018 forecasts and 17p target price."

-- Adds share price, analyst comment --

[waldron] 25/6/2018 08:55

China update

Minds + Machines Group Limited (AIM: MMX), one of the world's leading owners and operators of Internet Top-Level Domains ("gTLDs"), is delighted to announce that manual renewals for the period March 1 to June 30, covering over 525,000 registered .vip names that reached their annual renewal date in China during the period, have already surpassed 75%. This figure is, the directors believe, likely to increase as the rolling 45 day "at grace" period that follows a registration's anniversary renewal date ends.

The renewal results place .vip in-line with the best-in-class renewal rates of leading top-level domains globally and, the directors believe, based on the data available, makes .vip the top performing mass generic TLD in China, total registrations in .vip now standing at 888,400.

Toby Hall, CEO of MMX, commented,

"The key metrics for our lead property in China continue to be exceptional. Standard registrations in .vip, excluding bulk registrations, are up 28% year-on-year, and the usage count - based on the number of live .vip pages showing on China's main online search engine - is up 19% year-on-year. Further, we are very encouraged that the major technology groups in China are now wanting to increasingly promote the extension, most notably Alibaba and Tencent Cloud which has recently expanded its registrar operations in the region. The BAT's, China's major technology companies, increasingly see the provisioning of domain names as a key way to bring SME's into their cloud based universes for the delivery of services. As was the case last year, we anticipate revenues from the region to be H2 weighted given the 2018 allocation of .vip premium inventory is only now being released, post completion of its main renewal season. The H2 weighting of Chinese revenues will be further accentuated by the timing of this year's new property launches in China highlighted below."

New launches

The directors are separately pleased to report that on June 21, . (.shopping) formally entered General Availability and that .law is due to go on general sale in China before month-end. Both will be marketed by in-country specialists as high-value domain names. As a result, the directors do not anticipate significant registration numbers from these two properties but do expect meaningful revenue contributions from each over the course of the following 12 months. The directors additionally look forward to updating the market in the next eight weeks regarding the Company's first innovation based project which will potentially be released in the Asia region, at the same time as in the west, in H2.

Toby Hall added:

"Continuing to build our renewal revenues is central to our business and it is extremely encouraging that .vip renewal rates continue to be market leading. It provides strong cash flow and recurring revenues from which we can further scale the business with innovation and selective acquisition as exemplified with our recent acquisiton of ICM Registry LLC."

-ends-

[waldron] 25/6/2018 08:42

China update

Minds + Machines Group Limited (AIM: MMX), one of the world's leading owners and operators of Internet Top-Level Domains ("gTLDs"), is delighted to announce that manual renewals for the period March 1 to June 30, covering over 525,000 registered .vip names that reached their annual renewal date in China during the period, have already surpassed 75%. This figure is, the directors believe, likely to increase as the rolling 45 day "at grace" period that follows a registration's anniversary renewal date ends.

The renewal results place .vip in-line with the best-in-class renewal rates of leading top-level domains globally and, the directors believe, based on the data available, makes .vip the top performing mass generic TLD in China, total registrations in .vip now standing at 888,400.

Toby Hall, CEO of MMX, commented,

"The key metrics for our lead property in China continue to be exceptional. Standard registrations in .vip, excluding bulk registrations, are up 28% year-on-year, and the usage count - based on the number of live .vip pages showing on China's main online search engine - is up 19% year-on-year. Further, we are very encouraged that the major technology groups in China are now wanting to increasingly promote the extension, most notably Alibaba and Tencent Cloud which has recently expanded its registrar operations in the region. The BAT's, China's major technology companies, increasingly see the provisioning of domain names as a key way to bring SME's into their cloud based universes for the delivery of services. As was the case last year, we anticipate revenues from the region to be H2 weighted given the 2018 allocation of .vip premium inventory is only now being released, post completion of its main renewal season. The H2 weighting of Chinese revenues will be further accentuated by the timing of this year's new property launches in China highlighted below."

New launches

The directors are separately pleased to report that on June 21, . (.shopping) formally entered General Availability and that .law is due to go on general sale in China before month-end. Both will be marketed by in-country specialists as high-value domain names. As a result, the directors do not anticipate significant registration numbers from these two properties but do expect meaningful revenue contributions from each over the course of the following 12 months. The directors additionally look forward to updating the market in the next eight weeks regarding the Company's first innovation based project which will potentially be released in the Asia region, at the same time as in the west, in H2.

Toby Hall added:

"Continuing to build our renewal revenues is central to our business and it is extremely encouraging that .vip renewal rates continue to be market leading. It provides strong cash flow and recurring revenues from which we can further scale the business with innovation and selective acquisition as exemplified with our recent acquisiton of ICM Registry LLC."

-ends-

[jeevsje] 25/6/2018 08:14

Very positive RNS this morning. Only way to buy is through buy orders at nominal market size (NMS).

[transhoneyqueens] 25/6/2018 05:21

Hjb1 great - first we had Dweil talking the share up as he sold and now we have another clown talking the share up as he wants out lol - maybe 5p will be the new low as bo one buying into this jam next year stock.

[hjb1] 23/6/2018 11:19

INTRODUCTION. Stuart Lawley

Having joined the ranks of individual MMX shareholders today like you chaps I thought I would pop my head into this board and give you the viewpoint that I have on this company. I understand that I will likely be the largest MMX shareholder in due course with some 140MM+ shares by January. ICM has been a high margin cash producing company since inception with industry leading numbers, for its size. We first engaged with Toby back in June 2016 when he was new in the job following the recent “changing of the guard”.
We saw the obvious benefits, cost savings and synergies of a merger or acquisition at that time but to be honest Toby had inherited a mess and had a huge job in front of him so we didn’t progress any detailed negotiations at the time as it was seen as too risky to insert our stable cash producing machine into the uncertainty and lack of clarity and direction that MMX had at that time.
We watched from the sidelines for the next 18 months or so as Toby and Michael wrestled the business around and made some tough but very needed decision to refocus the business and trim the ridiculous costs the prior management had burdened the business with. We also saw the successful launches of some of the TLDs in the pipeline most notably .VIP and .work.
ICM had in the meantime during 2017 received approaches to sell its business to other credible portfolio TLD operators of similar scale or larger than MMX in ALL CASH transactions. As a seasoned entrepreneur who has built up and exited 3 or 4 major technology businesses over 30 years and acquired almost 35 companies in “roll up” strategies in other industries I was acutely aware of the attraction of our enviable profit stream into a larger group who would also eke out further enhancements with cross fertilization offers with their other TLDs and also the cost savings to be made via elimination of the duplicated overhead.
The nature of our adult related niche TLDs also meant that our company was valued at a substantial discount to a similar registry with more “mainstream221; TLDs but in truth this sort of discount was not justified but more a case of sentiment , as if you compare the names registered in our TLDs almost all of the same words/names are registered in .com, .co.uk and most other TLDs including those of the leading portfolio operators but that is a fact that no one really talks about but the names are there and registration fees are being taken annually for those names.
We began negotiations with MMX in early February and both parties then carried out detailed due diligence on each other over the next several weeks as our desire was to consider a predominantly share based deal with just enough cash thrown in the settle any tax liabilities arising from the sale ( CGT roll over relief is NOT available under the US tax code sadly). We were VERY impressed in the way that Toby, Michael and the MMX advisors handled this as they asked all the right question
and turned over every stone as part of the process, as, I must say, so did we in reverse.
It became very clear very early on that this deal made huge sense for both parties. For MMX it gave them a reliable and predictable cash producing revenue stream with a good geographical spread and it also gave the ICM holders the chance to enhance the value of their holdings in the long term based on our observation that the MMX business was undervalued (even at 10p, although I think when we started the negotiations the shares were 8p) and that the MMX management had the chops to deliver a growing stable profitable combined business with a good dividend stream. The ICM holders had been used to multi million dollar dividend payments for several years so income was also very much in mind.

I see there has been much comment about the price of the transaction and whether it was going to be altered in light of the varying share price. That misses the point entirely and was never going to be the case. I believe both parties view this as ICM being valued as a proportion of the overall value of the enlarged combined businesses. We are willingly subject to various lock in provisions and the intent of most of the ICM vendors, myself included, is to strive for long term enhancement in value as Toby and Michael deliver on the plan. It is my hope and belief that the ICM income stream added to the turn into profit of the rest of the MMX business will lead to the introduction of a healthy dividend policy before too long. I am in the same boat as the rest of the shareholder register in that regard.

With regard to the strategic review from what I understand there were various offers on the table but once we entered the fray in February I believe it became very clear that integrating ICM and going on the acquisition and innovation route would be far the best way to maximize shareholder value and returns in the long run which is the duty of the directors.

Again I must stress , I have been very impressed with both Toby and Michael and they are seasoned and smart business managers with no misconceptions about what needs to be done and how to do it, but combined with , particularly the case with Toby , suitable vision and the ability to look “outside the box’ in terms of innovation that many long term domain folks just don’t seem to have.

Michael and Toby deserve to be commended for the steely way they have turned the business around and done so with good grace and a smile.
They have also inherited some skilled senior managers from ICM who we believe will help MMX in the long term across the board. To that end 5 of them are being rewarded by the ICM vendors with 750,000 shares each out of the total consideration as a thank you and a future motivation , which helps ensure that their interests are aligned with all of ours..


Also for the record , once I was informed by the companies advisors that I was no longer an insider after the deal was announced I have been picking up shares in the market at these current super low prices.

I don’t intend to visit this board very often but I did think it may be useful to clear up any confusion or misinformation about the nature or rationale of the transaction and to let you know that 225MM shares will be in the hands if the ICM vendor group whose goals and intentions are exactly aligned with the rest of you and that our view is EXTREMLY positive for the long run.

Thank you for you time reading this post

[waterloo01] 23/6/2018 09:16

Stuart lawley post from iii.


Having joined the ranks of individual MMX shareholders today like you chaps I thought I would pop my head into this board and give you the viewpoint that I have on this company. I understand that I will likely be the largest MMX shareholder in due course with some 140MM+ shares by January. ICM has been a high margin cash producing company since inception with industry leading numbers, for its size. We first engaged with Toby back in June 2016 when he was new in the job following the recent “changing of the guard”. We saw the obvious benefits, cost savings and synergies of a merger or acquisition at that time but to be honest Toby had inherited a mess and had a huge job in front of him so we didn’t progress any detailed negotiations at the time as it was seen as too risky to insert our stable cash producing machine into the uncertainty and lack of clarity and direction that MMX had at that time. We watched from the sidelines for the next 18 months or so as Toby and Michael wrestled the business around and made some tough but very needed decision to refocus the business and trim the ridiculous costs the prior management had burdened the business with. We also saw the successful launches of some of the TLDs in the pipeline most notably .VIP and .work. ICM had in the meantime during 2017 received approaches to sell its business to other credible portfolio TLD operators of similar scale or larger than MMX in ALL CASH transactions. As a seasoned entrepreneur who has built up and exited 3 or 4 major technology businesses over 30 years and acquired almost 35 companies in “roll up” strategies in other industries I was acutely aware of the attraction of our enviable profit stream into a larger group who would also eke out further enhancements with cross fertilization offers with their other TLDs and also the cost savings to be made via elimination of the duplicated overhead. The nature of our adult related niche TLDs also meant that our company was valued at a substantial discount to a similar registry with more “mainstream221; TLDs but in truth this sort of discount was not justified but more a case of sentiment , as if you compare the names registered in our TLDs almost all of the same words/names are registered in .com, .co.uk and most other TLDs including those of the leading portfolio operators but that is a fact that no one really talks about but the names are there and registration fees are being taken annually for those names.
We began negotiations with MMX in early February and both parties then carried out detailed due diligence on each other over the next several weeks as our desire was to consider a predominantly share based deal with just enough cash thrown in the settle any tax liabilities arising from the sale ( CGT roll over relief is NOT available under the US tax code sadly). We were VERY impressed in the way that Toby, Michael and the MMX advisors handled this as they asked all the right questionand turned over every stone as part of the process, as, I must say, so did we in reverse. It became very clear very early on that this deal made huge sense for both parties. For MMX it gave them a reliable and predictable cash producing revenue stream with a good geographical spread and it also gave the ICM holders the chance to enhance the value of their holdings in the long term based on our observation that the MMX business was undervalued (even at 10p, although I think when we started the negotiations the shares were 8p) and that the MMX management had the chops to deliver a growing stable profitable combined business with a good dividend stream. The ICM holders had been used to multi million dollar dividend payments for several years so income was also very much in mind.

I see there has been much comment about the price of the transaction and whether it was going to be altered in light of the varying share price. That misses the point entirely and was never going to be the case. I believe both parties view this as ICM being valued as a proportion of the overall value of the enlarged combined businesses. We are willingly subject to various lock in provisions and the intent of most of the ICM vendors, myself included, is to strive for long term enhancement in value as Toby and Michael deliver on the plan. It is my hope and belief that the ICM income stream added to the turn into profit of the rest of the MMX business will lead to the introduction of a healthy dividend policy before too long. I am in the same boat as the rest of the shareholder register in that regard.

With regard to the strategic review from what I understand there were various offers on the table but once we entered the fray in February I believe it became very clear that integrating ICM and going on the acquisition and innovation route would be far the best way to maximize shareholder value and returns in the long run which is the duty of the directors.

Again I must stress , I have been very impressed with both Toby and Michael and they are seasoned and smart business managers with no misconceptions about what needs to be done and how to do it, but combined with , particularly the case with Toby , suitable vision and the ability to look “outside the box’ in terms of innovation that many long term domain folks just don’t seem to have.

Michael and Toby deserve to be commended for the steely way they have turned the business around and done so with good grace and a smile.
They have also inherited some skilled senior managers from ICM who we believe will help MMX in the long term across the board. To that end 5 of them are being rewarded by the ICM vendors with 750,000 shares each out of the total consideration as a thank you and a future motivation , which helps ensure that their interests are aligned with all of ours..Also for the record , once I was informed by the companies advisors that I was no longer an insider after the deal was announced I have been picking up shares in the market at these current super low prices.

I don’t intend to visit this board very often but I did think it may be useful to clear up any confusion or misinformation about the nature or rationale of the transaction and to let you know that 225MM shares will be in the hands if the ICM vendor group whose goals and intentions are exactly aligned with the rest of you and that our view is EXTREMLY positive for the long run.

Thank you for you time reading this post

[hotaimstocks] 22/6/2018 19:26

Maybe CNIC will buy out MMX soon & I'm expecting a 1/2p dividend to be paid this year.

[waterloo01] 22/6/2018 16:48

Well I'm happy to accumulate. They are now at 1.5m names. .work is up to 320k and .vip still growing. .shopping update next week, ICM inventory and maybe some bright ideas to get more out the portfolio. Profitable and looking forward to a healthy dividend.

[jeevsje] 22/6/2018 14:31

The price action here looks very dodgy. Marked down on no trades this morning and marking it down on literally no sell volume. Looks like shares being accumulated for a spike in coming weeks. Could bounce hard to teens.

[waterloo01] 21/6/2018 16:43

Very interesting post on iii from Stuart Lawley (ex ICM) and now MMX largest shareholder.

[waterloo01] 19/6/2018 16:16

sunrise wnds today so should get an update next week? Will coincide with us pre ICM to 1.5m names

[chimers] 18/6/2018 11:58

schoolboy.xxx is probably for sale on the companies web site!!

[waterloo01] 18/6/2018 08:34

Well that's done and because of the share price fall the total cost is $10m lower. Next up ,shopping update.