Promethean Share Discussion Threads

[aishah] 19/5/2011 20:33

shed a few on the spike to the 80s a few days ago - these have been a disaster since ipo to say the least!

[gopher] 19/5/2011 19:45

Smart are down 27% to 7.11

[blender] 19/5/2011 19:25

I wonder if some one like Dell would be interested in Promethean World or Smart Technologies. I dont see white boards and addons as a separate purchasing decision to other IT equipment in a school and they could certainly push other sectors. Anyway, nice fall by smart technologies today which is usually mirror for PRW.

[boonkoh] 19/5/2011 10:30

I also can't see the fundamental sales environment getting better over the next few months in the US and in Europe. I will be looking to see that things have bottomed out and that growth in emerging markets have accelerating.

I think the big surge in recent weeks is probably due to a bit of correction after lots of negative sentiment around Promethean, and also with some shorters closing out their position.

Education budgets are still under pressure in many developed countries. As they are often yearly budgets, I have a hunch that 2011-2012 academic year budgets would more or less be set in stone by this time or soon, and it won't make pleasant reading - leading me to wonder if Promethean will still face headwinds until next summer.

[blender] 19/5/2011 08:49

surprised these are holding up given the outlook from smart tech

[masurenguy] 17/5/2011 15:37

Jim Marshall Appointed Head of North American Promethean
Promethean is delighted to announce the appointment of Jim Marshall as president of its education business operations in North America. Jim has extensive C-suite experience in both the education and technology markets and brings to Promethean a wealth of knowledge and expertise in Sales, Marketing and Operations. He was most recently in the post of CEO at Spectrum K12 Schools Solutions, a provider of leading edge personalisation software for schools. Previous senior leadership roles have been with blue chip companies including Apple, Oracle, Burroughs and Tandem Computers.



NB: Smart Technologies results are due tomorrow.

[masurenguy] 10/5/2011 14:13

Very interesting chart from Hornblower. Looks like there first needs to be some consolidation in the 77 - 80 price range before the next potential leg up !

[masurenguy] 09/5/2011 11:51

Todays 22% increase now puts the price rise over the past 3 weeks at 47% !

[mrphil] 09/5/2011 10:16

Actually now back in profit (even without the divi) so will be very happy if this holds or improves further!

[masurenguy] 09/5/2011 09:48

The upward momentum at Promethean still continues. The share price is now up from 58.25p to 80.0p since 18 April - that's a rise of 37% over the past 3 weeks ! :o)

[masurenguy] 04/5/2011 15:55

Some upward momentum seems to be developing here with a 19% rise over the past 3 weeks. Main North American competitor SMT are due to release their Q4/FY results in two weeks time on May 18th, which should provide some further insight into prevailing market conditions.

[masurenguy] 27/4/2011 11:20

Cheers AISHAH. I thought that these were the most interesting key extracts !

I got the sense that Promethean World was finally talking straight by delivering these bald numbers without much puff. The company also claimed that cost-saving measures it implemented to protect profitability in late 2010 have been swiftly achieved, and there was a smidgeon more good news in that revenues from its big Italian schools deal should be booked next quarter.

Promethean World said that it: "continues to believe that the long-term demand drivers remain strong, but that market conditions will remain challenging at least through 2011, due to public sector budgetary uncertainties and constraints, and is planning its business on this basis." The shares have rallied since the update, gaining 14%.

The long-term outlook for US educational spending seems potentially rosy. In January President Obama said his country must boost spending on research and education, describing the challenge posed by China and other emerging rivals as a "Sputnik moment". The administration has set aside some $17 billion to improve schools. American's still-growing population is another positive. On the negative side is of course the country's large and growing deficit -- so problematic that a stalemate between Democrats and Republicans over how to address it almost led to Washington shutting up shop earlier this month. Americans may want to spend more on education. Whether they have the means to do so is another matter.

Promethean World is more of a gamble, but at least it's a cheap one, even after its recent mini-rally. The shares are on a P/E of just over 10, forecast to fall to 8.5 for 2012. Going on analysts' prediction of a trimmed dividend payout, the shares yield 2.8%. Obviously with sales and profits still sliding, any such predictions are hugely uncertain. But the bounceback potential is clear -- a recovery to even 2010's full-year earnings would put the shares on a P/E of just 5.5.

[aishah] 27/4/2011 08:44

Pearson and Promethean World are sending mixed messages.

[masurenguy] 27/4/2011 08:38

Steady upward progress, on comparatively light volumes, has moved the shareprice up 17% over the past couple of weeks. We probably need a close above 72p to indicate a breakout here.

[masurenguy] 20/4/2011 13:40

Lot of small Buys today continuing the upward momentum. I wonder whether this has been tipped somewhere !

[masurenguy] 19/4/2011 16:03

Interesting - it looks like a Buy of 305,000 @62.12p went through at 15.45 this afternoon !

[masurenguy] 19/4/2011 14:47

AGM approved final dividend of 1.35p making a total for the year of 2.4p which represents an annual yield of 3.9% at todays midprice of 62p. XD date was March 23rd and dividend payment is due on April 28. Company also received approval to repurchase its ordinary shares although no scheme has been proposed at this time.

[masurenguy] 19/4/2011 12:48

Some low volume but consistent buying following todays IMS !

[masurenguy] 19/4/2011 06:22

Promethean World Plc
19 April 2011

Interim Management Statement: Trading in line with expectations

Ahead of its AGM to be held later today, Promethean, a world leader in the global market for interactive learning technology, publishes its interim management statement for the three month period ended 31 March 2011.

Trading Performance

Overall trading for the first quarter is in line with expectations. First quarter group revenues were GBP41.9m, some 22% lower than the GBP53.9m revenues in the first quarter last year (20% lower on a constant currency basis). The 2010 comparator period was particularly strong and also included a significant tender to install 4,550 interactive display systems in Andalucia, Spain. Excluding revenues from the Andalucia contract, group revenues were 15% lower than the first quarter of 2010, or 13% lower on a constant currency basis.

By product segment, first quarter interactive display system revenues were GBP36.6m and learner response system revenues were GBP5.3m, a reduction of 20% and 35% respectively, compared to GBP45.8m and GBP8.1m respectively for the first quarter in 2010. In volume terms, Promethean sold approximately 32,000 interactive display systems and 172,000 learner response system handsets in the first quarter of this year, compared to 41,000 and 268,000 respectively in the same period last year, lower by 21% and 36% respectively than the same period last year.

The resizing of the cost base aimed at protecting profitability, which Promethean announced in the fourth quarter of last year, was completed on track during the first quarter of this year.

The contract to supply 8,000 ActivBoard+2 interactive display systems to around 4,000 schools in Italy began shipping at the end of the first quarter, and Promethean anticipates that the majority of the revenue relating to this tender will be recognised in the second quarter of 2011.

Promethean continues to believe that the long-term demand drivers remain strong, but that market conditions will remain challenging at least through 2011, due to public sector budgetary uncertainties and constraints, and is planning its business on this basis. Promethean expects to release its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2011 on 28 July 2011.

[gopher] 18/4/2011 18:30

Negative note by Numis triggered Fridays fall, pressure on US education budgets given as the reason.

[masurenguy] 18/4/2011 13:22

Q1 IMS due tomorrow !

[masurenguy] 14/4/2011 09:02

Gradual rise leading into next weeks Q1 trading update. Share price is up by 12% over the past 3 weeks after touching this years low of 56.5p last month. US competitor SMT is also up 8% over the same period.

[masurenguy] 07/4/2011 06:08

RNS Number : 4525E. 07 April 2011
Promethean World Plc will be releasing its Interim Management Statement for the three months ended 31 March 2011 on Tuesday 19th April 2011.

[masurenguy] 05/4/2011 17:15

Prometheans main competitor SMT - who is also carrying a lot of debt - seems to have bottomed out and is now gradually rising again. This would be good news for PRW on the macro front too. Dan Fitzpatrick thinks that the TA looks promising.

"The daily chart of Smart Technologies shows a stock that popped out of a multi-month volatility squeeze and continues to find bids. While the original move from $9.50 to $11 briefly pulled back, the stock remains strong and appears likely to move to new highs. I'm staying long. If Smart Technologies starts closing down near $10, then I'll reconsider but this stock seems to have more upside from here."