Ncc Share Discussion Threads

[a2584728] 08/3/2018 16:44

Sopheon Sir

[markth] 08/3/2018 15:19

Sophos is a product company, with a mix of largely shrink-wrapped low-end solutions for small and mid-tier business and retail consumer. NCC is a service-led company, focussed on consultancy and high-end bespoke solutions for larger enterprise and government segments. The two companies have different offerings into separate markets, and a hugely dissimilar business model. If they came together, there'd be no synergy premium, little savings on duplication (apart from one board) and hardly any cross sell or channel consolidation between the two sets of customers. Not sure why they'd be interested? I don't disagree with the idea of a bid at some point. More likely though to be a company whose capabilities and customers overlap, who would remove the diddy management team at NCC and improve execution in the business.

[rivaldo] 07/3/2018 08:52

Shore Capital yesterday raised its rating to Buy as follows: "NCC Group Has Reduced Staff Turnover Concerns: Shore 1238 GMT - Cybersecurity company NCC Group has allayed concerns over staff turnover rates, boosting prospects for margin recovery, says Shore Capital. The brokerage says figures from NCC show that net staff levels at its key assurance division are broadly steady at 25 leavers and joiners a month, indicating that the unit is operating in a sustainable manner. "As the margin begins to rebound and the long-needed enterprise planning improvements take hold, we believe NCC's valuation credentials in the high-quality end of cyberservices will emerge," says Shore, raising its rating on NCC stock to buy from hold. Shares are up 0.1% at 199.30 pence."

[a2584728] 07/3/2018 08:25

Yes. I agree. He will be buried in trying to rekindle shareholder value I suspect. This is a giant of a company and is capable of so much more under the right stewardship. He will also be talking to sector players as well to see if any opportunities lie out there

[boadicea] 06/3/2018 22:51

Nearly everything fell back a few days ago, the good with the bad (except for a few that managed to issue some good news) and especially those like SOPH that had doubled in the past year. It was due to profit protection. Anyway, not a good time to draw specific conclusions. For the past two years the NCC update has been on the last Thursday in April (26th) but given the management changes the pattern this year may be different. If a bid were on the way a common pattern would be for NCC to be sold down aggressively in advance to make any offer look more generous. There is no sign of that yet.

[jerseyman1] 06/3/2018 09:58

Having said SOPH share price looking better I should have noted it fell back from c540 a few days a ago to c495, so what do I know!!?Needs to make a bid to get it moving!

[jerseyman1] 06/3/2018 09:54

SOPH share price on the up again, so could make sense to add another string to their bow. I know that public profile is not necessarily a good thing for a CEO, but there has been no presence from NCC new guy, and no apparent progress on disposals that were trailed last year. Last year was a bit messy what with Cottons departure so it's hard to compare news flow but I would have thought we were due a Q3 RNS around now....Just very quiet

[a2584728] 06/3/2018 09:18

Mmmm still think we will see a bid at some point, all of the clues point to SOPH but who knows huh?

[jerseyman1] 27/2/2018 11:38

Seems to be a bit of sustained upward momentum in price this last week. Maybe because it was oversold post the Wall Street correction early February. Still no news re disposals, and next corporate news a month or two away.Scene was set for a strong second half performance at the H1 and Q3 update....wonder if bid coming as turnaround starts to register and be demonstrable. Timing could be interesting.

[a2584728] 14/2/2018 11:29

Bid 220p????

[markth] 12/2/2018 13:52

Well there's 187 again, if it goes under 185 then it will drop another 4 or 5 percent more I feel. Then it may be worth a further look through the long term glasses!

[markth] 12/2/2018 11:56

Not that I'm a chartist - but if I were I'd be fretting at the Head and Shoulders pattern this is now forming. Sold my position again for a very modest gain.

[1r0n1cer] 09/2/2018 11:51

Sold 20% of my holdings a couple of days ago. As much as I believe this share should be trading above 250.00, it looks like the rest of the market is not buying it. Keeping my 80% in hope of better weeks to come, if it keeps dragging between 180 and 190, I'll move my portfolio to different products until the eve of full year results when the announcement will definitely be a very strong one.

[markth] 08/2/2018 14:10

Bought a small slice at 187. I think it may dip so 30d limit order placed just in case.

[a2584728] 05/2/2018 15:18

Ripe to be taken over

[mazarin] 29/1/2018 11:19

I posted my reference to AIVD (Post 1625 above) because last year NNC had some issues with Dutch Government being concerned with non Dutch Companies handling data. I think NNC have now resolved the matters but have Contract with Dutch Government.

[markth] 29/1/2018 10:26

Yes everyone knows that Ivan is a very naughty boy in the hacking world. There is also a growing awareness that they lean on commercial companies to help them - see recent press about Kaspersky for example. This is a trend that favours trusted sovereign companies, should NCC come to be considered as one such this would be to their benefit.

[mazarin] 26/1/2018 17:34

Dutch Computer intelligence Agency (AIVD) has disclosed long-term evidence of Russian Hacking operations, it having penetrated a computer network of a Russian University Building next to the Red Square in Moscow. Russian interference with US elections is an attempt to undermine the democratic process intended to create tensions between opposing US factions. This has been denied, of course by Russia and accuses (AIVD) of fuelling anti-russian sentiment.....! Yeh, well they would, wouldn't they......! For details, see : http://tinyurl.com/ya7la9ka

[boozey] 19/1/2018 20:57

Did anyone listen to the webcast on IBM's results last night? A company that has had 22 quarters of consecutive revenue decline. Sales in its strategic imperatives grew double digit. Along with Cloud analytics and mobility, Cybersecurity is one of their four strategic imperatives. In the 4th quarter of 2017 this dinosaur of a company produced an impressive growth rate in their cyber division. Did you see it - and compare it to NCC? The answer: 132% hxxp://www.mesalliance.org/2018/01/19/ibms-schroeter-strength-cloud-security-helped-ibm-return-revenue-growth-q4/

[markth] 19/1/2018 17:34

There y'go, 200p, I was mistaken about it being hit by Christmas though. I think I'll hold off for a bit, seeing how steep the trend is now. It might go as low as 185p, at which point I might buy back in. I say might because a better opportunity elsewhere might pop up in the meantime.

[whatever13] 19/1/2018 13:37

This time last year Group revenue grew organically by 18%, Escrow organically by 14%, Assurance by 42% and Consulting (ie without the Software and web businesses) by 44% and that was their bad year!! Group operating profits grew by 15%? So which bit of this year looks good? It is little wonder the price has declined. Let’s hope a buyer is in the wings.

[1r0n1cer] 19/1/2018 11:30

14.3% organic growth in Assurancd is not bad, is it?

[whatever13] 18/1/2018 18:24

These are the worst ever numbers from NCC Group since they joined the market which the market has spotted. They always produced 15-20% organic growth year in, year out. Revenue growth was pathetically low in Escrow and not even double digit in Assurance where the market is the strongest it has ever been. Along with an expanded cost base delivering “strategicR21; change that was in play long before the change of management it is clear the company is not being run well but is full of ego and in fighting. The best hope is PE or another IT services company take them over quickly.

[jerseyman1] 18/1/2018 16:40

Mazarin, looks to me like some shareholders have taken the view that this is six months plus away from decent recovery in financial performance and have decided to go elsewhere. I agree the H1 numbers were OK, but management were playing down the second half performance in the presentation, and some investors believe them! Or maybe the one to one presentations from Messrs Stone and Palser left the recipients as underwhelmed by them as individuals as I am!Think it will drift back up in a week or two once those who wish to have rearranged their positions. It's still a very strong market and sensible actions have been taken resulting in increased revenues, improved margins and contained costs.