Ssp Hold Share Discussion Threads

[mudbath] 19/5/2008 15:21

Just bought,although the MM's limited me to 5000 @ current quote.This was a bit surprising in view of the sale,into the market of 50,000 shares @ £1.30 earlier today.Unless they run away over the next few days I will accumulate further.Thanks for your comment WJCCGHC.Hopefully there is life in this thread yet.

[wjccghcc] 19/5/2008 15:05

Well I added quite a few at 118-122p. They're market leader in the UK with a large proportion of revenues as recurring maintenance income. Debt is 38mm after the acquisition of Sirius but that should start paying down quickly as they're very cash generative. Also, insurance system spending is pretty unrelated to the credit crunch.

[mudbath] 19/5/2008 14:49

++no less than 13 --THIRTEEN--separate bullish chart signals over recent days.Like many AIM shares this is potentially a sound investment that has drifted down in price to a particularly attractive level.Seriously thinking of adding this to my current portfolio of RHL,FLO,ARTA and THPW.This is one quiet board!!

[tole] 15/4/2008 12:52

Techinvest tip last month.
2008 New Buys
SSP Holdings Mar 08 119.50

[nick of the north] 16/11/2007 15:59

Half year result due 5th December.

Will expect a slow walk down of share price upto and beyond this date before another rise.

[nick of the north] 30/10/2007 08:40

Nice rise yesterday based on low volume. Half year results due?

[nick of the north] 27/9/2007 11:44

SSP (SSPH) – Competitor acquisition – EST: no change, REC: Corporate
Towergate, the insurance intermediary, has acquired Open International Group for £276m. The transaction has very favourable ramifications for the comparable valuation case for SSP. We are reiterating our positive stance on the stock following yesterday's AGM statement.



Open International supplies broking and underwriting systems to Towergate and has c.40% share of the UK broker market. The acquisition price Towergate has paid £276m cash which represents a valuation of over 7x current year revenues and over 14x operating profit. This roughly equates to an exit P/E of 22x.



This acquisition is notable because it reflects a growing trend of insurance intermediaries in-sourcing their IT platforms. This comes in light of rising data volumes and the necessity to improve platform efficiency levels.



We believe this acquisition could yield an excellent opportunity for SSP to pick up additional market share. The acquisition also has favourable implications for the valuation of SSP. If we apply the Open International's exit P/E to SSP we arrive at a comparable valuation of 240p per share, 65% above the current share.

[stegrego] 29/7/2007 16:34

SSP on growth path

SSP Holdings has been in business for more than two decades, but joined the Alternative Investment Market only last October. The company provides call centre technology, back office and admin services to more than 1,000 insurance industry clients.

This month, it delivered its first results since flotation, with sales of £38.6m and pre-tax profits of £7.3m. Over the next two years, sales are expected to top £70m while profits are forecast to more than double.

SSP has acquired Sirius Financial Solutions, which should help in the UK and overseas.

Priced at 98p last October, SSP shares have risen to 145½p. But it still trades at a discount to its peers. Brokers have been concerned about whether SSP can integrate Sirius, but these fears seem overdone.

There is a growing need for IT in the insurance industry and established players with expertise are few.

• Midas verdict: In a jumpy market, share prices are less predictable than usual. But SSP Holdings is a sound business in an interesting field. Buy

[wjccghcc] 10/7/2007 08:41

Good point. Missed that.

[skyracer] 10/7/2007 08:12

Not quite as good as they first appear. Tax will eventually bite hard into profits.

[wjccghcc] 10/7/2007 07:50

Results look pretty good with recurring revenues at 78% of total. Wish they'd do an adjusted EPS adding back the amortisation. I make it 13.3p but that would be nearer 10.2p if you took account of the total # shares if they had been listed for the full year, putting them on a historic PE of 13.5.

[diogenesj] 08/7/2007 18:46

Yes, that's what's never clear, unless you have the original note, WJC. Fair enough I suppose if it includes the exceptionals.

[wjccghcc] 08/7/2007 18:21

Diogenes, that forecast only includes Sirius for 8.5 months as the acquisition isn't completing until this week. May also include the rationalisation/acquisition costs.

[diogenesj] 08/7/2007 15:18

That sounds a little uninspiring, Steg. For 2008, SSP was expected to make £9.91m and Sirius £3.28m, a total of £13.19m. Putting them together, with all those synergies, earnings enhancements, and cross-selling opportunities, you would be surprised to find that the real result is a 20% drop in the combined ptp.

Jarvis don't spell it out, but if I have worked it out correctly, £10.5m ptp means
eps of only 8.95p, quite a bit less than the 9.79p previously forecast for SSP on its own in 2008.

[stegrego] 08/7/2007 09:48

SSP Holdings PLC, a provider of business critical IT systems and services to
the UK general insurance industry, will be a changed animal following the 43.4
mln stg acquisition of Sirius Financial Solutions PLC - a deal that recently got
the green light from the UK Office of Fair Trading.
In the meantime, results for the year to March 2007 are anticipated to be
in line with market expectations, with strong performances in particular from
the group's Distribution and Insurer Systems divisions. Cash generation remains
strong.
During the course of the year, SSP won a number of new contracts, which are
substantial in size, and several major existing contracts were renewed as
expected.
The Group's recent Insure+ and Sectornet acquisitions were successfully
integrated during the year, and earlier this month the board announced the
further extension of SSP's international capabilities through the acquisition of
the African based INSURE/90 business, systems and assets.
KBC Peel Hunt analyst Alex Jarvis looks for year to March 2007 pretax
profits of 7.7 mln stg, up from 4.7 mln, for EPS of 13.9 pence. A 0.1 pence
dividend is expected. With Sirius chipping in for 2007-08, Jarvis expects pretax
to rise to 10.5 mln on the back of 61.7 mln stg of sales.

[wjccghcc] 15/5/2007 09:10

I've also doubled up.

[lomax99] 15/5/2007 08:47

Surprising how quiet this board has been considering all the activity of late. I bought in just before the Sirius acquisition was announced and view the move positively. Consolidating the two entities and exploiting synergies should flow through to enhanced earnings - the stock is on an undemanding multiple, and the combined company's increased scale should improve their strong standing in this niche market.

[nick of the north] 18/1/2007 19:35

19 mil shares sold today at 2p above bid. That is 25% of the issued shares and no movement in price !!

[avonmore] 09/10/2006 12:50

This type of Co is a long term bet. If they get sufficient grip with Insurer Clients and the reveue model is on a "per Click" basis then it could take off. Insurers very slow to change systems. Current trend to net transactions for insurers is creating Ryanair models within Insurance sector and threatening established players (with high legacy overheads incl staff and outdated IT systems) - Change or die will force insurers to change to more modern systems and if SSP can get a good portion of action then good for them. Interesting to see that Aegon Insurance have taken a 4% share. Significant slow structural change for Insurers will be good for SSP but only if they have the killer applications for market and are not swamped by likes of Accenture who also have a net based proccess product for Process change market in Insurance Market. Any change of of Insurer company systems probably requires a board approval as the garve yard of failed business change attempts is already fairly full. The maxim of "no one gets fired for Hiring IBM" may mitigate against SPP. Good idea - interaesting to see how IPO funds are used.

[simon gordon] 04/10/2006 14:10

'We have more than doubled turnover in the past four years and we want to do the same again.'