Ncc Share Discussion Threads

[jontyone] 22/10/2016 15:19

More to the point with the latest RNS, I'd be interested to know who, if anyone, is picking up the lost contracts from NCC.

[gopher] 22/10/2016 10:37

A definite setback but we are now talking of a stock with a PE in the teens and a 5p dividend, so some value has appeared.

[ilovefrogs] 21/10/2016 14:36

I've continued to buy at 2.15 and again at 2.11 today. Another fall towards £2 and I'll buy more. Rarely you can buy a stock of this quality at these levels. Nothing wrong with the core business, but they've clearly hit some landmines on acquisitions - easily done, and will have taught them something. However, the outlook in their area for growth is so strong, they'd have to be unbelievable idiots to screw it up from here. Keep buying for the medium term.

[rivaldo] 21/10/2016 14:35

"NCC can survive contract cancellations, says Jeffries

Although IT and support services group NCC (NCC) saw three of its large contracts cancelled this year, Jeffries remains bullish.

Jefferies analyst Milan Radia retained his ‘buy’ recommendation and target price of 320p on the stock.

‘The disclosure...of a handful of contract cancellations and deferrals may impact sentiment in the short term, but full-year guidance has been reaffirmed, albeit with a greater second half profit weighting,’ he said.

‘Three material contracts have been cancelled in the early part of the year, while a large Dutch government contract at Fox-IT has been deferred and a couple of managed service renewals in the Accumuli business have proven problematic. Management emphasises that these are all unrelated matters and that the clustering of the issues is simply bad luck.’

Radia added that the company ‘still continues to grow strongly’ and management is ‘confident it will be able to fully mitigate the impact [of the cancellations] and hence full year 2017 guidances remains intact’."

[igoe104] 21/10/2016 14:24

this will get dragged down to £1.80.

Why did they issue a RNS if they claim everything will be in line anyway.

[wigancasino] 21/10/2016 14:11

Easy money for mm's. Fear and panic the name of the game. Only a paper loss unless you sell.

[igoe104] 21/10/2016 14:04

some fund must be selling out and creating some overhang, it looks all buys to me but the share price keeps dropping.

[abcd1234] 21/10/2016 10:23

yes, i saw it smoky.
someone's confident ;O)

[andrewbaker] 21/10/2016 10:20

My view, for what it is worth, is that the drop is much overdone: this is a sound business, trades in a good area, and is likely to have a solid and profitable future. Being in the business it is and the size that it is, it is always a potential takeover target too, and that's thrown in for free! :)

[smokybenchod] 21/10/2016 10:18

Anyone else notice the humongous single trade just now?
10:16 - 21/10 5353095 228.50p £12,231,822.08
Wonder who that was...

[rivaldo] 21/10/2016 08:38

Shore Capital say Buy with a 340p target:



"Shore Capital today reaffirms its buy investment rating on NCC Group PLC (LON:NCC) and set its price target at 340p"

[masurenguy] 21/10/2016 08:32

Cybersecurity service’s troubles spook investors

NCC, the cybersecurity consultant, was the latest to feel the wrath of investors for issuing numbers that came up short of expectations. The company based in Manchester suffered setbacks in its cyber division with three large contracts cancelled and others delayed. NCC, which said the issues were unrelated and still posted double-digit revenue growth, held its full-year profit forecasts, but the market was spooked.

The shares slumped 122¾p to 223p, unwinding a strong rally over the past couple of years that has been supported by the rising threat and high-profile cases of cyberattacks. The consensus among City analysts was for adjusted profit for the year to May of £47m, but Canaccord Genuity said it now expected that to fall by 10%. Sophos, the security software company that is due to post half-year results early next month, fell 10¾p to 229½p.

[tsmith2] 21/10/2016 08:19

The growth is despite the contract losses..cumbersome drafting of release didn't help

[tudes100] 21/10/2016 05:26

NCC can survive contract cancellations, says Jeffries
Although IT and support services group NCC (NCC) saw three of its large contracts cancelled this year, Jeffries remains bullish.

Jefferies analyst Milan Radia retained his ‘buy’ recommendation and target price of 320p on the stock.

‘The disclosure...of a handful of contract cancellations and deferrals may impact sentiment in the short term, but full-year guidance has been reaffirmed, albeit with a greater second half profit weighting,’ he said.

‘Three material contracts have been cancelled in the early part of the year, while a large Dutch government contract at Fox-IT has been deferred and a couple of managed service renewals in the Accumuli business have proven problematic. Management emphasises that these are all unrelated matters and that the clustering of the issues is simply bad luck.’

Radia added that the company ‘still continues to grow strongly’ and management is ‘confident it will be able to fully mitigate the impact [of the cancellations] and hence full year 2017 guidances remains intact’.

The shares slumped 35% or £1.22 to close at 223p yesterday.

[igoe104] 20/10/2016 19:09

If profits aren`t in-line like the company says, Rob cotton will have to walk.

I`ll have to get in touch with him myself, let him know what is expected from holders.

[sharw] 20/10/2016 18:43

The fall was merited because at yesterday's close of 346p and a forecast of 13p EPS for this year the shares were on a pp/e of 26.6. That's a figure that assumes that everything is perfect including the ability to retain and renew contracts. At today's 223p that is still a pp/e of 17.2

[tsmith2] 20/10/2016 17:08

Don't think the updates merits the fall at all. Will be looking to get in early door tomorrow

[tsmith2] 20/10/2016 17:07

Think the wording of the RNS is tad confusing and unhelpful

[ilovefrogs] 20/10/2016 16:43

Yep. Not sure who the small/mid cap UK equity manager is at Aviva, but he's had a really bad day today!!

[kaushd] 20/10/2016 16:23

I should have waited for the price to settle, (I made the same mistake with CRAW) but this was niggling at me all day. Management appear to be confident of maintaining results, but the market has priced in a big downgrade.

In the end I went for a small position £4k @ 221, and will look to build on it, pending further news.

Aviva purchased 1.5m shares at the start of this month - yikes!

[igoe104] 20/10/2016 15:10

looks like a acquisition in the pipe-line soon.


Despite this, we will continue with our measured acquisition strategy and anticipate acquiring additional boutique cyber security consultancies over the next few months

[rivaldo] 20/10/2016 14:50

Analyst comment from N+1 Singer below FYI - about right methinks, as the shares were very highly rated, as was appropriate for a company doing so well in such a growth sector.

Following the investment write-off last year and today's news NCC might take time to attract a similarly high rating again.

However, if the confidence in meeting forecasts is achieved, and damage from the contracts is mitigated, then the recovery should be sharp:

"We are not making any changes to our forecasts at this stage but now expect a significant second-half weighting to profits," N+1 Singer analyst Oliver Knott said.

"We continue to believe that NCC group is extremely well placed to benefit from the attractive cybersecurity theme but, with the shares priced for perfection, we downgrade to hold from buy. We reduce our target price to 353 pence from 384 pence."

[meganxmas] 20/10/2016 13:40

yep bought £5k at 224p. right market right place right time ... need to get to grip with new acquisitions and maybe consolidate before running too fast. thought was bit toppy b4 today anyway. but really like the company.

[kemche] 20/10/2016 12:23

I have taken an initial nibble at 221. Gulp!

[ilovefrogs] 20/10/2016 12:12

Thanks SB, good article and accords with my thinking - problem with the acquisitions. . Basically we're going to see bunch of speculation now about what this really means for earnings this year and longer term which means the price could certainly go lower on uncertainty. I think this is an excellent long term buying opportunity, but certainly not without risk (they never are) and I'm poised to invest more if we push down to 215p. I've been a holder from 130p, and fortunately top-sliced around a quarter of my holding (but still have 3/4!!) in the 340s. Anyone else taking the plunge today....??