Phoenix It Share Discussion Threads

[ged5] 22/5/2006 13:01

Main changes from post 104.

UBS 19-5-06 now Pretax 19.24m eps 22.19 both slightlty up

Numis 19-5-06 Only change is Buy recommendation up from Hold

Altium 18-5-06 Pretax 18.7 EPS 20.6 DPS 4.8 All slightly up

Panmure 19-5-06 Pretax 21.53 EPS 24.6 DPS 4.7 All slightly up

As expected Tole all upgrades are slightly up. I think this will be my only summer holding again this year. Taken a break thankfully from most of my others but kept my long term speculative resources companies. Ouch! They'll be back soon hopefully.

Schwartz on teletext this morning noted the long term statistics suggests we'll get a pointer today and tomorrow. Looks like the bears have it at the moment. Let's see what this week brings. Still think it's a market correction and as usual an over correction.

[brakoll] 18/5/2006 23:03

So what causes a stock to quickly appreciate in value? Fundamentals? News? Management? Well yes, to a degree. But what REALLY moves a stock price northward that you just purchased?
Answer: A Huge volume of buyers having been directed to the emergence of that stock by a qualified service which has a reputation for doing so. THIS service does:

[ged5] 18/5/2006 22:33

Certainly Tole. And thanks for the reports.

[tole] 18/5/2006 22:29

Yes lets hope so - just get this general market corretion out the way (though still feel the markets have alittle more left to fall yet) - so we can move forward towards that 380p. Not sure what Altium upgraded forecasts to today. Can you let me know if you find out any upgrades.

Anyway last summary -

Phoenix IT Group publishes annual results: business continuity earnings strong
Phoenix IT Group plc, the parent company of NDR, the UK-based business continuity services provider, has announced its preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2006 . Altogether, the company's turnover was up 23.3 percent to £108.9m, including £16.0m from NDR (2005: £88.3m). Profit before tax was up 61.9 percent to £17.9m (2004: £11.1m). Commenting on these results, Nick Robinson, chief executive of Phoenix , said: "We are pleased to see the benefits of our strategy of focusing on niche markets coming through in these results, in particular the focus on smaller, more complex and higher margin IT service contracts and our NDR business which continues to perform strongly."

[ged5] 18/5/2006 22:20

I think they'll do rather well over the next few months. Those reports and broker statements suggest we will rise just like a ph.....

[tole] 18/5/2006 22:17

Lol still here - just a shame, in normal market conditions reckon these would do rather well.

[ged5] 18/5/2006 22:13

Looks like I was a little premature with my no comment statement.

[tole] 18/5/2006 22:11

Phoenix IT Group PNX 18-May Panmure Gordon Buy 287.00p 380.00p - Reiteration
Phoenix IT Group PNX 18-May Altium Capital Buy 287.00p 360.00p - Upgrade

[ged5] 18/5/2006 22:10

Cant believe there was no comment all day.

Altium were the nearest and beat me cos I went with the concensus.

Yes results were slightly above expectations and slightly above Altiums forecast.

Bit of a warning about the pensions contract kicking into the next set of results because of lower margins. There again we already knew that. What we didn't know was the new significant contract after the year end. We also have stability because of renewable contracts not coming for 3 years.

All in all a healthy set of results with plenty of good pointers for the future.

[tole] 18/5/2006 22:07

Phoenix jacks up profits
Considers acquisitions to speed expansion

Phoenix IT Group is on the lookout for acquisitions this year as it looks to build on a solid financial performance in the 12 months to March.

The services group reported turnover of £108.9m, up 23.3 per cent on the year, with pre-tax profit of £17.9m, up 61.9 per cent. Its order book stands at £148.7m, up 19 per cent.

Chief exec, Nick Robinson, said market conditions were competitive, particularly in "the increasingly commoditised desktop and field services market."

However, he said, the flood of companies – from telcos to BPOs – getting into the IT services market, "We are finding more potential partners, providing us with further revenue opportunities."

Robinson said the firm was looking to continue its growth organically, but also seek to expand its services and markets "via selective acquisitions."®

[tole] 18/5/2006 22:05

Phoenix IT reports tasty profit hike
Thu 18 May 2006


LONDON (SHARECAST) - IT services group Phoenix IT cheered a big rise in full year profits today despite competitive market condition and said it remained on the look out for selective acquisitions.

Profit before tax for the year ended 31 March leapt 62% to £17.9m on turnover more than 23% better at £108.9m, including £16m from NDR, acquired in April 2005.

The contracted order book increased 19% to £148.7m, including £23.6m from NDR, with a major five-year contract win since the period end.

"Market conditions remain competitive with customers demanding a high standard of service with a keen focus on price," said chief executive Nick Robinson.

"However, with the increasing number of telecommunications providers and vendors, software companies, Business Process Outsourcers and off shore players entering the IT services market, we are finding more potential partners, providing us with further revenue opportunities."

Bosses remain confident of the continuing long term organic growth of the group, he added, while they continue to explore opportunities to expand the firm's range of services and markets via selective acquisitions.

The final dividend of 2.76p per share is a 15% improvement on last year, taking the full year payout to 4.14p versus 2.4p a year earlier.

[tole] 16/5/2006 15:26

See Altium making up for it today - putting out there BUY Rec.

Reiteration
Phoenix IT Group PNX 16-May Altium Capital Buy 280.00p 360.00p - Reiteration

[ged5] 15/5/2006 20:00

Talk about history repeating itself. Almost identical to what happened last year. Just hope the part after results is the same. :)

As far as I remember Altium haven't changed their estimates for some time and as you say Tole, they are quite a bit lower than the concensus. I'll go with the higher estimates given that the trading statement suggests as much.

[tole] 15/5/2006 16:35

Market sentiment turns just when you dont want it lol.
Still a 7% drop on just 7284 shares traded does make you laugh.

Also worth pointing out that Jon Imlah and Altium estimates look somewhat below what the 4 other brokers are suggesting - will see come Thursday.

[tole] 15/5/2006 07:33

OUTLOOK - UK smaller companies results for the 2 weeks to May 26

Revenue growth at Phoenix IT Group PLC is forecast to slow to a modest 2 pct in the year to March 2007. However, Altium Securities' Jonathan Imlah is confident that his estimates , broadly in line with consensus, represent a floor and that further contract wins will lead to upgrades to these numbers. He looks for 2006/07 turnover of 115.6 mln and pretax of 18.2 mln. Back to the just ended, the company said in March that profits will be slightly ahead of previous expectations.

The UK IT services business said its core business continued to develop and its NDR acquisition performed strongly.

During the year, the group also saw the successful conclusion of contract negotiations with EDS Global Field Services, resulting in revenues of around 8 mln stg in 2006.

The board said the business was, therefore, well positioned for the forthcoming year.

Meanwhile, Imlah predicts a rise in year to March 2006 pretax profits to 17.7 mln stg from 11.1 mln, for EPS of 19.6 pence against 15.4. The dividend total is expected to go up to 4.0 pence from 2.4.

[kolgab11] 10/5/2006 13:25

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[tole] 10/5/2006 13:17

300p bounce imo.And with results coming in ahead - should only be going one way.

"Phoenix IT Group said it had enjoyed "another successful year" in a trading statement. The services firm said it expects profits to slightly exceed expectations"

[m5artin] 10/5/2006 10:02

Tole, do you think it will go lower yet, also what effect do you expect the results to have on the price.

[tole] 09/5/2006 16:36

Watching this nice dip to add a few more before the results next week :)

[ged5] 07/5/2006 09:23

A small insight into the type of work done by NDR. Interesting comment about the charges.

"On that Sunday afternoon when Hamlett had been watching his television and trying to judge the state of Fulcrum's offices, employees of another local business had no doubt that their premises had become off limits. Printer maker Epson's UK offices were just 800 yards from the oil depot, and by 9.30am that morning Epson UK was already preparing to switch over its IT applications to work with the systems of business continuity services supplier Network Disaster Recovery (NDR), which is a division of the Phoenix IT Group.

The next morning, around 150 Epson employees arrived for work at a temporary location: NDR's BC facilities in Uxbridge, around 15 miles from Buncefield. Epson's IT staff had worked throughout Sunday and into the early hours of Monday configuring VPN links on 150 NDR desktop machines, which linked into Epson's servers in Holland.

IT was actually the only tested part of the Epson DR plan, which was first created in 2004, and had been reviewed only three months before the fire. Overall, however, Epson survived the disaster well. "We thought we did pretty well to be up and running with everybody there by 10.30am the next morning. There was disruption to some people's routines, but there was also a Dunkirk spirit," says Nick Harwood, Epson UK's inventory planning manager, and the person responsible for the company's disaster recovery plan.

"NDR's services weren't cheap, but there was probably less than an hour of lost sales, so they saved us a lot of money. Not having to turn away just one customer ordering 50 printers and we covered our disaster recovery costs for the year," Harwood says. "

[hectorp] 05/5/2006 12:06

yes that's true Ged5, and upside is not 40p but more like 60p or 20% from here if the brokers' average estimates are realised. So I may purchase some for the sipp folio.

[ged5] 05/5/2006 11:56

PNX kept dropping last year in the run up to results but soon recovered quite drastically. The recovery went through to August.

There were also concerns about the Pensions Contract which was up for renewal. That concern isn't with us this year.

[hectorp] 05/5/2006 08:53

May be worth buying for that 360-370 ( only another 40p!) in coming months.
Thouhg I still temd to 'sell in MAy'. That addage seems to be becoming outdated, eg last year.

[tole] 04/5/2006 14:43

Yep Ged - looks cheap in sector comparison - slap it on that average per of 17 and we get a price target of circa 370p. Pretty much in-line with Altiums 360p target and Panmures 380p.

[ged5] 04/5/2006 14:28

Thanks Tole,

The overall concensus is that the PER of PNX for 2006 is 14.05 and 13.8 for 2007. Growing dividend as well.