Oxford Metrics Share Discussion Threads

[lignum] 03/7/2013 14:49

Gengulphus - yes I can see the general dissatisfaction based on past performance but one of the reasons for the fund raise is to be able to ship the product in more meaningful quantities. They're clearly not up against Apple here as currently they can only ship 1500 units pm at £400 = £0.6m pm inc VAT Margin ? 40% ? = c £2.5m for shipping 18k units across Europe. This is a very niche market and it would have to be poor product to not ship these numbers. It would be very interesting to know what advance orders they already have.

[gengulphus] 03/7/2013 13:45

Just general shareholder dissatisfaction, I reckon, with quite a bit to be dissatisfied about:

* Loss-making interims.

* Dilutive placing.

* Pretence that they're paying attention to shareholders' pre-emptive rights, in the form of a token gesture open offer - only about 1/8th of the number of shares going to the placees, with no clawback if the open offer proves popular. Not that I am expecting the open offer to prove popular, given what the market price is indicating. Dissatisfaction with this will be more to do with the message it sends to existing shareholders about how much attention management will pay to them than any real financial effects.

* A big acquisition (relative to the existing company size, of course!) to integrate just when management should have their attention fully focussed on trying to make a real success of Autographer.

* Autographer still not being sold 10 months after it was 'launched'. If you 'launch' a potentially-exciting new consumer gadget 3 months before Christmas is likely to attract share purchasers interested in the possibility that it will prove a hit and make them a lot of money. Such investors are taking the risk that while the product is released on to the market, it doesn't prove a hit, and most of them probably accept that as a risk of their approach to investing, to be corrected (if possible) by working on their ability to identify products that will prove popular. But if instead you miss the Christmas market by simply not releasing the product, they're liable to feel they've been deceived, resulting in them bailing out and being very reluctant to consider the company again... And the longer you go on not releasing the product, the more of them will do that - most of them will have encountered "jam tomorrow, but never today" companies before and steer well clear once they've formed a definite impression that that's what they're dealing with...

By the way, I'm not saying that all those causes of dissatisfaction are necessarily real arguments against buying the company's shares or for selling them. What I am saying is that rightly or wrongly, for existing shareholders they're likely to build up to a gut feeling against the shares that is likely to affect buying and selling decisions...

Gengulphus

[lignum] 02/7/2013 17:17

£8m raised via underwritten placing at 29p including £0.2m from directors.
£6m used for an earning enhancing acquisition.
£1m additional cash to be raised if share price holds above 29p.
Excess cash to be used for Autographer opportunity - I don't know how real this opportunity is but directors seem to be willing to back it with their own cash at 29p. Price drops to 28p. What's going on?
I'd have thought the underwriters would have picked up any shenanigans eg by using the acquisition as a smokescreen to cover underlying problems.
Someone isn't happy - why?

[jackiewilson] 02/7/2013 16:53

The product that Microsoft dropped is just an idea searching for an application, or have I missed something? It just needs another few £M spent on marketing it and then it'll take over the world?!

Read an article on Quora about Steve Jobs calling by a retail tech outlet opposite the Palo Alto Apple store a couple of times and saying 'you just don't get it do you' ... to a Korean smartphone company that combined a music player with a phone and which is now extinct. In other cases he was more direct 'your product is sh*t'. Maybe someone needs to talk to the increasingly distractible but excited board of OMG:

"As for exploiting our Autographer opportunity, we are excited about being at the forefront of the new and increasingly expanding wearable technology market. The additional funding will help to drive forward the development of Autographer as we look to capitalise on the global interest the product has generated."

[radon] 02/7/2013 16:00

OMG is pleased to announce a share issue to raise up to approximately £9.0 million (before expenses) through the issue of up to 27,586,208 New Ordinary Shares by way of a Placing at 29 pence per Ordinary Share to certain institutional investors and Directors through N+1 Singer and up to a further 3,473,616 New Ordinary Shares to be issued through an Open Offer at 29 pence per New Ordinary Share. The Directors of the business will subscribe £205,000 to the Placing.

Share price down to 27.4. The institutional investors could pick up some shares for less than 29p at present!

I guess retail investors aren't too pleased? If OMG can get the share issue off safely I suppose that would suggest decent institutional support and hence be a _good_ thing...

[masrscb9] 24/5/2013 09:07

Thursday 30 May - as per RNS.

[condom2] 24/5/2013 08:22

thanks ,its odd that there is still no news !!!!

[cleverinvestor] 22/5/2013 15:16

valstar1

Sharescope

[valustar1] 22/5/2013 15:08

what is your source for that

[cleverinvestor] 22/5/2013 14:34

Condom2

Probably tomorrow -23/5/13

[bbonsall] 22/5/2013 08:18

It was 15 May last year and 19 May previous year. Can't find any announcement stating when it will be this year.

[condom2] 21/5/2013 15:54

does anyone know when these boys are going to report ???

[boros10] 17/5/2013 17:46

No wonder I did not meet them. Wrong city!

[davidosh] 17/5/2013 09:32

Cambridge ? I thought they were based in Oxford which is how they got their name !! Traitors moving over to the Varsity rivals lol

I will give them a ring.

[boros10] 17/5/2013 09:01

DavidI'd also be interested in meeting management. I get the feeling they are not too shareholder friendly given the AGM was late afternoon on a Friday in Cambridge! At least Autographer now has a firm release date. I'm sure the IMS will explain more about the delays.

[davidosh] 16/5/2013 22:17

For some reason I thought the interim results would be out today. Does anyone know when they are out ?

I would like to set up a presentation with these guys as they have not got a very high profile and very few investors have met the directors or seen what potential the company may have.

[valustar1] 16/5/2013 14:13

Autographer will start shipping in volume from July 30 2013

[boros10] 18/3/2013 08:24

Anyone make it to the AGM ?Decided not to make the trip given the awful timing. The AGM statement told us what we already knew but in rather coded language. Further investment is needed in Autographer to ensure its commercial success suggesting the delays go beyond logistics. Additional investment has also been needed in 2t3.Strong performances elsewhere mean management believes it is on track to meets its expectations.

[boros10] 07/3/2013 22:10

Friday 15th March at 4pm in Oxford. OMG has certainly gone out of its way to encourage shareholders to attend its AGM! Low key seems to be the order of the day. Take its new consumer product Autographer. Originally launched in September. Shipment promised for the end of 2012 but it is still not available and we are in March. Take a look at one of its cheaper rivals which is looking at release for April 2013. www.memoto.com. Priced at $269.

[valustar1] 21/2/2013 15:52

Still can not see news on Autographer being on sale.

Dragging out a bit after the companies excitement over the product.

anyone going to the AGM on the 15th March.

I can not make 4pm?! in Oxford

[skyracer] 10/2/2013 14:29

I think the Autographer and the i-phone attachment are quite different devices and will appeal to different market segments. The "obvious weakness" in the attachment is a pretty fundamental difference. If the Autographer reduced in price a little I might just think of getting one. The autonomous operation and programmability are very useful features. A large bird comes to my window in the morning to get fed (feathered variety!). If I had an Autographer sat there triggering to the movement/change of light I would get some spectacular pictures. Security applications are also interesting.

[boros10] 06/2/2013 17:02

Ruffer is a fund manager with an excellent track record. He played the 2008 financial collapse very well and the subsequent recovery. Cautious and smart. We should see it as a positive.

Having said that did Ruffer look at the Autographer website. The camera is still not available but there is a 2:30 minute video of well known photographer John Rankin using the Autographer for a whole day. Sadly, the result, in my view, are poor quality images, poor content and I got bored at about 10:30am.

Encouragingly, some of the young people in my office liked the product until I pointed out the price tag. One of them said will.i.am is behind a company with a much neater idea at only £199. It connects physically to an iphone, has a fish eye lens and others and looks really cool. I know which one I would prefer to own and you ae left thinking OMG! (it has one obvious weakness though which I will let you work out for yourselves).

[broadwood] 06/2/2013 16:15

Its off to the races for this one on that news.