Proactis Share Discussion Threads

[eggbird] 14/5/2019 13:31

It's pretty much all sells and then an unexpected tick up. I'm guessing we have another insti buying in? Questions are;

who and How much do they want and what price are they willing to pay up to?

Positive signs though for the long termers

[p1nkfish] 13/5/2019 08:07

Intesource taken to the cleaners by Topco. Can see why.

Those of us remembering the Intesource acquisition can remember the idea was to move into service at a higher level. It more than paid for itself but obviously not sustainably. Will that be the case for anything else in the group?

I want to see this turn. At least new CFO looks very capable.

The Piworld presentation didn't fill me with confidence.

[p1nkfish] 12/5/2019 22:46

Notice the slide with market size. Sykes reckons Coupa think it 25Bn. Notice consolidation mentioned/written on the slide but I don't remember any mention of it in the verbal.

I've watched it 3 times, sad to say I'm beggining to think the job they have on their hands is beyond them to handle and this is begging to be taken out through acquisition.

Targeting debt in low to mid £30m's in a year, if all goes well, with reduced op-ex and cancelled divi. Intesource hit the skids in US, was once upon a time a good acquisition.

No wonder the share price didn't bounce.

[p1nkfish] 11/5/2019 19:08

Hope Rodney Potts thinks PHD is taking the right actions now. Watched the Piworld video and although I'm all for the AFP function there were some good pointed questions towards the end concerning focus.

[tomps2] 10/5/2019 08:37

Tim Sykes, CEO presents H1 2019 results.



Tim covers the financial highlights, the challenges, debt and cashflow, and the strategy going forward. An authentic presentation where he owns up the problems, but equally indicates the solution.

[p1nkfish] 08/5/2019 06:29

Sobering reading, PPC gets a good mention, an efficient AFP solution will be pushing at an open door.

[p1nkfish] 07/5/2019 09:23

My concern is if clever PE are able to work to keep the price down for a while and then offer a 20% premium to the previous number of trading days.

There were 18.4M change hands approx on one day, weird, few notifications.

My paranoid android antenna are twitching.

[durthur] 07/5/2019 08:41

It’s not all small players. There seems to have been quite a bit of movement in the 2-5% range in March, both new holders and shareholders adding to their stakes, but few have triggered reporting requirements.

Not got a clue re: which PE firms, but given the current trading of the business you’ll be looking at the operational turnaround specialists, none of who will want to pay much in the way of a premium.

[kirk 6] 06/5/2019 21:12

Roll on a good week. A 10p positive move would be a good Friday close

[p1nkfish] 06/5/2019 17:24

Durthur, any clues as to the PE groups that were/are sniffing?

If any offer comes I think it will be once AFP is shown to have traction. Proactis as is, with the addition of AFP, will be a real asset.

Without AFP it's a reasonable little business but in a maturing market that will come under increasing margin pressure.

So, if AFP is running by Nov Rethink UK it might set some expectations of the window for a bid.

I'm still baffled by the lack of notifications given the churn we've seen. It can't all be small players?

[p1nkfish] 06/5/2019 16:43

I remember this, Francis Maude, (at the time Minister to the Cabinet Office, Paymaster General)  promising he would "plug" the business into central government. Proactis have had a plan about payments for a long time and their own capabilities wouldn't have been developed quickly enough. Hubwoo should have accelerated that but it is still taking an age and a big acquisition cost.

I think the recent roundtable is part of that "plug" in and is not to be under estimated.

[p1nkfish] 06/5/2019 16:29

If the AFP gains traction quickly, and the business network justifies itself, then we could start to move sooner but otherwise its 2020/1 at the earliest, would totally agree.

The way they have handled the roundtable with all stakeholders does look very well done. I dont think they missed a trick.

Something changed as Rod Jones exited. Until then management was tight, it relaxed, boo-booed on Perfect, and the rest is history.

I think management can redeem itself, it can come good, just not quickly. A slow trudge.

[durthur] 06/5/2019 14:03

I expect someone to buy them. The product is pretty good, but management don’t seem to have a clue. It’s obvious what garbage they bought (perfect commerce) if you just look at Hubwoos filings. Revenue has been falling there since 2013 as a large part of the business was defunct after SAP bought out Aruba.

Only way for shares to rerate is either an acquirer or wait for 2020/2021. Management are guiding FY20 to be flat in terms of revenue growth, despite the investments they’re now making into their sales team, so even if they hit their plan I don’t expect material recovery until calendar year 2020.

[p1nkfish] 06/5/2019 11:31

Doubt anywhere near that fast imho.

[kirk 6] 06/5/2019 11:11

I was hoping for atleast £1 plus after the summer. If we return to strong growth again surely this could be £2-£3 a share

[eezymunny] 06/5/2019 08:20

Spouting off about a bit of basic, quickly reproduced, software functionality. If it's really unique and people want it, bigger players in the industry will simply copy it and do it better IMO (if they haven't already). That's simply what happens in the software industry I'm afraid. So long as revenues are tumbling I'll be minded to believe that PHD have an inferior offering to their competition. Unlike you I'm prepared to change my mind if the facts change and they start producing some cash flow to justify the enterprise value...

[p1nkfish] 05/5/2019 21:48

Potential is very real, not in the current price, debt is the fly in the ointment.
New non-Exec is next appointment expected.

[p1nkfish] 05/5/2019 21:26

Finally, Proactis buy-side customers are allocating around £250Bn of spend and the HSBC £20M is for EARLY ADOPTERS only, already VALIDATING A FUNDING SOLUTION.


"The business has been validating a funding solution that will deal with the cash flow disconnect felt by buyers and suppliers and has received widespread praise for this. The new funds will enable Proactis to support early adopters of the technology.

Wayne Shadlock, Global Relationship Director at HSBC UK, said: “We began working with Proactis over 15 years ago and this is yet another example of its innovative thinking. We have a keen understanding of the benefits of accelerating payments through the supply chain and the new technology is both scalable and unique to Proactis. The business is well positioned to drive widespread access to liquidity for SMEs, which will ultimately boost cash flow and support economic growth.”"

[kirk 6] 05/5/2019 21:16

So what's your target price this year mate ?

[p1nkfish] 05/5/2019 21:01

Hopefully even the single level thinker that hangs about this PBB can see the linkages and potential.

[p1nkfish] 05/5/2019 21:00

The PPC is rolled out by both Gov & CICM and SUPPORTED by HSBC.
Who is supporting Proactis APF: HSBC - TICK.
Who was at the roundtable on the video: HM Gov, CICM, CBI - TICK.

Look - all on here -

Naming and shaming has already started and one way to avoid it will be to look to Proactis when the offering is tailored to satisfy HM Gov, CICM, CBI with HSBC funding.

From April 29th, some big co's further down the page named and shamed -



HSBC - just to get the message across -

[p1nkfish] 05/5/2019 20:41

3 related that should lead to news:

1) This was the round table and will relate to the future APF offering. Some useful names took part.

2) Here is a brief summary from contributors as a video - Roundtable from 27/3 for ReThink Cashflow -

3) Lastly, it was referenced in Spend Matters on March 29th with a comment of bringing the kew takeaways a week later - no update was forthcoming from what I can find.

Now, listen to the statements on the video (not Anthony Persse) and the formation of a taskforce and the UK Commissioner for Small Business involved. It is "brewing".

[p1nkfish] 05/5/2019 00:07

Important for future PHD service offerings and 27th went well.

"Paul Uppal, Small Business Commissioner, said: “Late payments can be devastating to small businesses. My office has recovered more than £3.4 million in late payments for small businesses so far, and I welcome working collaboratively with organisations and membership bodies in a bid to tackle the cashflow disconnect and make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a small business, as well as create a stronger UK economy”."