Secure Income Reit Share Discussion Threads

[greenlee] 07/3/2004 07:36

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[rambutan2] 02/3/2004 22:34

so, framlington hung on to that half million odd shares and having added a very few more last week, are now back over 3%. good.

[this_is_me] 01/3/2004 20:18

Word will get out and whether they drift down for a while or start up now they will make us money sooner or later.

Some may wait for confirmation of continued good trading in the results RNS in April before jumping in.

[rambutan2] 01/3/2004 14:59

agreed. lets hope there are enough buyers to keep it from drifting all the way back down.

[this_is_me] 01/3/2004 14:41

The slight retracement today was to be expected.

[rambutan2] 29/2/2004 22:59

up 27% on friday and not one post since!

[games] 27/2/2004 13:21

ram. yep, i was expecting the 25th.........phew!

[games] 27/2/2004 13:19

Irres........not so sure about that (so soon), but going forward i would expect more. The way i look at it is that the flavour over the last few yrs has been property, and due to scandals and mkts in general this sector has found it hard, at some point it will turn.......it always does.

[rambutan2] 27/2/2004 13:17

thanks games, i was just going to give them a ring to ask where it had gone. in any case, its got quite an upbeat tone...

2004 Trading Update
Sirius has enjoyed an encouraging start to 2004 with improved levels of sales
activity over the same period in 2003.

It has also benefited from a considerable improvement in revenues generated from its professional services. This in part reflects the focus in 2004 on building visible repeat revenues (which will include the move towards an annual licence revenue model) but also reflects a reduction in research and development expenditure, enabling available resource to move onto chargeable work. This is a direct result of the proven acceptance of its current product range in the market both in terms of stability and functionality. This is further supported by the Group's product suite continuing to win market share.

During January 2004, Sirius completed the move to a new 26000 sq ft office in
the Birmingham Business Park. The benefits to the Group of efficiencies in
marketing and operation are already becoming evident.

The Results for 2003 year will be announced in April 2004.

[irresponsible] 27/2/2004 13:13

Looks good to me.
Might see a rise to near 100 on results.

[games] 27/2/2004 13:05

ram.......here u go.



And considering the bashing the sector has taken of the past few yrs, hopefully an upturn is the only way.

[rambutan2] 25/2/2004 00:00

well, the fairly recent trading update didnt look so bad and yet this is at very nearly an all-time low. would have thought that it would have attracted as least a little support. the next trading statement should be out in the next few days...

22 December 2003
Sirius Financial Solutions Plc
Trading Update For The Year To 31 December 2003

2003 has seen the Group benefit from continued sales of all of its three
market leading products and the expansion of its market share of Insurance
Broking, IFA and Insurer Underwriting customers. This, together with the
successful deployment of a number of large solutions, is ensuring good
underlying growth of the Group's recurring support revenues.

Whilst this growth in recurring revenues is encouraging, in common with many
software companies, the group is still dependant upon the closing of new
licence deals towards the end of each financial period to achieve its expected
revenues and profits. The Group's current prospect list is strong and the
Directors confidently expect to close the year with a healthy order book for
2004. However, due to some unexpected delays and the increasingly lengthy period of time taken in completing contract paperwork, the Group, whilst expecting to report a profit at the year end, does not expect to meet market expectations for profit and revenue for 2003.

With this in mind, and with a view to moving the Group to a more predictable,
sustainable and ultimately more profitable revenue model the Group intends
during 2004 to introduce a more contemporary licence pricing strategy. This will see a move away from higher value initial license fees to an annually renewable fee. The Group believes this will also address the needs of its customers in achieving a closer match of their costs to their business benefits.

The Group intends to announce its results for the year ending 31 December 2003
in April 2004 and to make a further statement regarding trading in February
2004.

[rambutan2] 24/2/2004 14:51

its about par for an aim software co. can be bought at 73 today?

[kael] 24/2/2004 14:32

had a look before - spread put me off.

[rambutan2] 24/2/2004 14:31

hmm.
anyone interested?

[pacman88] 08/11/2003 17:23

Technology Focus - Market Update - Homing in on technology.

1,963 words
7 November 2003
Professional Broking
4
English
(c) 2003 Professional Broking. All rights reserved

The insurance industry is slowly but surely coming round to the internet-led way of thinking and software houses are building on their client bases. Nicolle Farthing says brokers still have a long way to go, however.

The insurance sector is still years behind other industries when it comes to information technology. And brokers that have still not updated their systems are now facing more pressure than ever to shape up.

The forthcoming Financial Services Authority regulation is encouraging the intermediary sector to consolidate, with the most dramatic estimates predicting that their numbers could halve. Brokers are, therefore, having to reconsider their technology.

Accounting firm Mazars' survey, published in conjunction with the British Insurance Brokers' Association, found the majority of brokers surveyed are investing in new technologies.

As a result software providers see consolidation as an an opportunity, not a threat. Relative newcomer insurE-com says it is signing up 10 new customers a week, and now has more than 2000 users.

Jim McGuinness, chief executive of insurE-com, says: "Consolidation raises the need to review back-office solutions and identify the best software for day-to-day jobs. We have seen a rise in the number of companies enquiring about insurE-com back-office software solutions."

Fundamental standards

Although the final details of FSA regulation are still to be agreed, transparency of work and standardised procedures will be fundamental issues, according to McGuinness. He says: "Intermediaries will require better audit trails and systematic gathering, storing and retrieving of data.

insurE-com products have been designed to help the industry. For instance, each activity performed on insur-E.tam 7.1 is recorded and stored, together with all documents generated."

Meanwhile, more than 250 companies, 6500 users, have now adopted Sirius for Broking technology. In 2002, Sirius Financial Solutions saw a 31% increase in turnover, reaching £22.7m.

Sirius launched an FSA software module earlier this year, designed specifically to handle regulation requirements. Mike Dodd, chief executive of Sirius, says: "We are finding brokers that had been using other software packages are moving over to Sirius for Broking. Our customers tend to be the larger provincial and national brokers, so consolidation has not hit us particularly hard."

CDL supplies personal lines systems and is developing its commercial offering. It currently turns over £10m and has 5500 users but, like Sirius, expects these numbers to go up with consolidation.

Rick Slater, general manager of CDL, explains: "The company focuses on entrepreneurial, national intermediaries and they are likely to acquire more seats via acquisition."

Nicky Stanners, marketing manager of Sectornet, says her company has seen a 24% growth in profits since last year. She also puts this down to customer consolidation. "Our brokers are the leading large commercial brokers. Although the number of customers has not increased dramatically, the number of users has," she says.

Misys has the largest market share, with 2300 broker sites and 25,000 users. It also claims to have benefited from consolidation in the market and says it is now dealing with larger brokers that have more staff accessing the system.

James Gamble, sales and marketing director of Misys, says: "Misys has the largest market share, so when it comes to mergers and acquisitions we are likely to continue to absorb the largest number of brokers into our customer base. Despite consolidation there is the same volume, if not more, insurance business to be underwritten."

Misys has already secured new customers in light of forthcoming FSA regulation and says its strength lies in recognising that every broker is different.

Gamble says: "We don't compel customers to stop using one system and move to another. Some brokers may want Windows-based quotation products, such as OASys, while others may simply want updates to their existing BROOMS system."

Misys also offers a range of services, including business consultancy, project management and network services. Gamble says: "It is a competitive market and one that has a history of new entrants, which are not always successful. Only those with a proven product, robust technology, quality customer support, financial stability and insurer product availability will survive."

Software Solutions Partners currently has around 1600 businesses operating from 2500 branches. It saw turnover from UK sales hit £18.5m last year, earning a profit of £3.6m. It predicts turnover will grow by 30% during the next 18 months as it expands its compliance services and takes more of its competitors' sites.

Nick Southan, marketing director of SSP, believes there will be an upturn in demand as regulation gets nearer. He says: "Some brokers still think there is time left or are trying other software companies because there is less of an outlay. Brokers are attracted to us in the long run because we are financially secure and profitable."

Southan says: "We offer 10 commitments and 10 guarantees so our customers can judge us by our performance. If they are not happy things will be changed and if they are still not happy they can get their money back."

Acturis is now in its second year of live operation and has fully implemented its software in 22 sites with around 575 users. Acturis' ASP model makes it ideal for expanding brokers, according to Simon Ronaldson, Acturis sales and marketing manager.

He says: "The ASP model means brokers do not have to install new servers if they go from 30 users to 60. The ASP model also makes it easy for brokers to manage multiple offices. Consolidation is good news if it encourages brokers to look for more appropriate IT solutions."

Product update

Software providers constantly update their products but this means the technology they use can be unproven. As systems require a significant outlay, it is perhaps not surprising that brokers are cautious.

Despite this, software houses offer a constant stream of new software.

This month Acturis will launch the third release of the Acturis Broker Platform, for example, and has added another integrated commercial insurer.

It will go out instantly and free of charge to its users. CDL has a number of launches in the pipeline, including FileStore, DVLA Lookup, Rebroke.net and the next generation quotation system CDL Strata.

Sectornet recently launched the latest version of its Sector software, Level 7.3, which supports FSA regulations. Its Sector Level 8.0 is due for release at the end of the year and includes a new customer relationship management system. The latest version, insur-E.tam 7.1, was recently rolled out to all users and an ASP version, insur-E.tamCentral, will be launched later this year. Misys, meanwhile, is pursuing a range of product and service initiatives, which are being highlighted at its roadshows. Misys has teamed up with Premium Credit and Benfield to enable the electronic reconciliation of premium finance data.

The Mazars survey showed that brokers see the internet as an important tool, with most respondents considering conducting more business online.

However, the majority did not believe the internet would become their key distribution channel, emphasising the need for face-to-face contact with clients.

Dodd has a different explanation. He says: "The key factors for people not adopting new technologies are apathy and the ageing broker population.

Older brokers have no intention of investing further in their businesses, which is why many of Sirius's customers tend to be the younger brokers who are driving their businesses forward through technology."

But Southan argues online quotation facilities are taking off for both personal and commercial lines. SSP has around 200 users for its automated system, Commercial Connect, and Southan claims the Icons personal lines system is also popular. He says: "We are doing much more business on the internet and are integrating the facilities with our back-office systems."

Ronaldson says: "Online personal lines quotes have always been part of the Acturis broker platform and we have a large panel of motor and household markets via Polaris. Commercial lines integration has been completed with three insurers (Axa, Allianz Cornhill and Fortis) a further insurer will be added this month. Our brokers now get integrated commercial quotes from these markets."

Misys has developed a range of new products that allow brokers to quote over the web and which will integrate with the Misys back-office system.

OASys e-Quotes, for example, allows brokers to trade personal lines online.

Dodd says insurer issues are holding back online personal lines. He says: "While we can update our rates as and when we receive them from insurers, they are still working to ensure they are able to turn around their internal processing times. Until these issues are resolved, the personal lines market will not be fully geared up to go online."

Dodd believes the commercial lines market is different. He says insurers have invested heavily in their extranets during the past few years, changing their internal processes to allow them to trade in this way.

He says Sirius's Stargate technology will help brokers take advantage of this investment. Stargate eliminates the need to re-key data, as information and quotation data passes directly from the insurers' extranet into the Sirius back-office system. The system thereby provides a single point of entry into all of the various extranets, eliminating the need for brokers to use multiple access points.

insurE-com, Acturis, Sirius, SSP, CDL and Sectornet are committed to the imarket project, and Polaris ultimately plans to operate with 10 insurers.

insurE-com is piloting electronic data interchange insurance products on behalf of insurers for introduction later this year. McGuinness says: "By their very nature all commercial line quotations are bespoke and insurE-com has a growing number of insurance companies that can provide real-time quotations online to commercial brokers using insur-E.tam."

Misys is not convinced there is demand for online commercial quotations but says there is demand for more efficient ways of processing commercial risks. It has developed OASys Commercial, which allows brokers to electronically transmit risk information to insurers. The software house is also in talks with insurers about connecting the electronic data to quotation systems and is agreeing pilot sites.

Commercial opportunities

Misys believes insurers' extranets offer a wealth of opportunities within commercial lines and is talking to leading insurers about connecting brokers' risk information to their quotation systems, via OASys Commercial. In addition to the transmission of risk information, a quotation could be calculated with an automated response sent back to brokers. The main benefit to brokers is that risk information is only inputted once but can be sent to several insurers.

Stanners does not see extranets as a viable option. She says: "We do not see linking with insurer extranets as a workable method of providing our brokers with electronic quotations. The need to re-key information in a different form for each insurer makes the process time-consuming and administratively impractical."

Stanners adds: "We have established iSector to deliver to brokers comparative quotations for the commercial and personal products they want from their panel of insurers." iSector uses a single form, which provides quotations from the panel, and is fully integrated to the broker's Sector software.

insurE-com is working with insurers to link to their extranets so insurE-com intermediaries will be able to submit commercial risk data and receive quotations from single data entry.

Acturis, meanwhile, has integrated its system with Axa's Business Risk website. As a result, brokers only have to input the risk information once onto their Acturis system and electronically send it to Axa's website.

All in all, investing time and money in technology can bring extra efficiency and customer service and help with acquisitions, mergers and compliance.

Brokers that want to stay ahead should choose their systems carefully.

[rambutan2] 25/9/2003 09:41

irresponsible, i think that they upset some holders with their move to aim. it wasnt done very well. once those folks are all out and a new lot have come in, then this has to rise strongly.

[irresponsible] 25/9/2003 09:26

Over 800,000 shares have changed hands in 2 days at 87.5.
I wonder who bought them. What Sirius shareholders need is a takeover offer!

[irresponsible] 25/9/2003 00:21

My guess is that Throgmorton Trust has taken the opportunity of reasonable results to ditch its remaining 500,000 shares.
I notice that 200,000 went yesterday and 200,000 already gone today.
Hopefully, this seller will be out soon.
If the last 100,000 are at bargain prices, then I'll be getting some more.

[irresponsible] 23/9/2003 08:43

Shares looking a bit weak despite solid enough looking results.
Don't know why!

[pacman88] 23/9/2003 07:26

Interim Results23/09/2003 07:00:21

Sirius Financial Solutions PLC
23 September 2003




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 23 September 2003




SIRIUS FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS PLC
2003 INTERIM RESULTS


CONTINUED UNDERLYING REVENUE GROWTH



Sirius Financial Solutions, the specialist supplier of software and services to
the insurance and financial services industry worldwide, today announces its
interim results for the half-year to 30 June 2003.



HIGHLIGHTS

• Total revenues of £10.4m (2002: 10.7m), which represent
underlying revenue growth of 7.3% after adjusting for revenues deferred
from 2001 into H1 2002

• Recurring revenues of £3.3m representing 31.3% of turnover
(2002: £3.1m and 28.5%)

• Operating profit before goodwill amortisation £486,000
(2002: £1.8m)

• An interim dividend of 1.0p per share (2002 interim: 1.0p)


• Gearing* remains low at 5.6% (31 December 2002: nil gearing)

• The Group's applications are now used by five of the top 10, and nine of
the top 50 of the UK's Insurance Brokers

• All three key products have continued to achieve run-rate license sales
in the period and each of them has a healthy prospect pipeline

• Completion of the development of a high-end version of Sirius for
Underwriting, which meets the requirements of the larger insurance
companies worldwide

• Transfer of stock market listing from the Official List to the Alternative
Investment Market (AIM) in June 2003


* Gearing is defined as debt net of cash reserves divided by net
assets excluding goodwill



Stephen Verrall, Chief Executive of Sirius Financial Solutions, said:


'We believe Sirius is well positioned within a sizeable and long-term market,
and our business model of combining significant recurring revenues with upgrade
and new business revenues provides a strong foundation for continued growth.
We are looking to achieve a strong second half sales performance, combined with
continued successful deliveries. A trend we will endeavour to continue
throughout 2004.'



Enquiries:

Sirius Financial Solutions (0121 355 3567)
Stephen Verrall
Richard Bowser


Citigate Dewe Rogerson (020 7638 9571)
Martin Jackson
Daphne Claude

[irresponsible] 15/9/2003 11:16

Results due Tuesday, 23 September

[irresponsible] 11/9/2003 00:04

Nice to see continued buying. Results soon. Looking good.