System1 Share Discussion Threads

[hydrus] 12/4/2023 13:41

Agreed APAD. I imagine the proposed changes though are dead in the water now. The fact they have signed 3/21 too advertising spenders and are profitable then a chunk of the main reasons for change have been dismissed. Would likely be foolish from shareholders to back a completely different approach that means the 21% share holding founder is booted out. 'The improved revenue performance in H2 is expected to bring a return to profitability at adjusted and statutory levels for H2 and also for the year as a whole, based on the unaudited management accounts, and the Board now anticipates that profit for the year ended 31 March 2023 will slightly exceed its previous expectations.'

[apad] 12/4/2023 12:51

Indeed Hydrus, they will have spent days polishing every number they can find.
It is a trading update, so one has to be carefull 😊
I don't want to be part of the issue and its outcome, it's just a question of when to bail out for me.

"Oh, you need timin'
A-ticka, ticka, ticka, good timin'
A-tocka, tocka, tocka, tocka
Timin' is the thing"

I tend to ask myself questions such as 'would I prefer to be in SYS1 or CLX'.
Anyroadup, interesting times.

apad

[hydrus] 12/4/2023 12:40

To be fair to the existing leadership I have to be fair and say these results are encouraging. Presumably this is also ammo to encourage shareholders to reject the new plan/leadership?

[hydrus] 09/4/2023 12:18

Probably sensible APAD. Still plenty of other opportunities out there in small cap world.

[apad] 09/4/2023 12:10

I suspect the 'sell it on' is vote catching strategy, Hydrus. Pretty meaningless predicting that future.
Fortunately I haven't got a lot, so I think I can find better places to be, rather than waiting twiddling my thumbs. Even though it is cheap on a revenue measure.
apad

[hydrus] 09/4/2023 12:02

A strategy to plump it up and then sell up to someone else never works. The strategy should be to create a sustainable, growing company. If someone then happens to wants to buy it because it's so great then well that's a bonus. All sounds a bit desperate to me.

[apad] 09/4/2023 11:14

Good digging Maynard. A bigger separation than I had seen. I hope your article will contribute to Barden's prospects of success.

If management win the vote they will be glued to proving their current approach. Although they seem to be 'true believers' anyway. So, perhaps 'more glued'.

I have been wondering if there is a synergy between d4t4's 'data validity' platforms and the Barden ambition to return SYS1 to its basics. Although a revitalise SYS1 might simply be a customer. Mmmm. Maybe not.

Strategy?
Wait for a Barden success and sell on the rise because it always takes longer and costs more to do this sort of stuff than the market likes? And he will clear out ALL the skeletons in July!
Or.
Wait for a Barden loss and sell instantly, or after the inevitable share price drop and slow recovery?

apad

[tmfmayn] 08/4/2023 23:51

Me again. Spoken to Stefan Barden about his proposed board changes and possibly discovered 'the fundamental flaw at the heart of the company'!

The sales approach based on advert creativity is all wrong.

If the proposed board changes are voted through, Mr Barden will refocus the sales approach back to selling better/faster/cheaper marketing data. He also plans a £100m-plus trade-sale exit within the next few years. Long-ish blog post below!

SYSTEM1: Proposed Board Changes Still Have My Support After Stefan Barden Explains Data-Platform Sales Focus, 5-Bagger Exit Ambition And ‘Now Or Never’ Vote Decision #SYS1

[apad] 15/3/2023 16:02

TMFMayn,

I have been wondering about the semi-automation of the process of assessing adverts.
It could be that it is an experience/skill based process that is not amenable to algorithmic emulation. Good idea, but boring, tick box techniques don't cut the mustard.
Your analysis is nothing short of stunning, but there might be a fundamental flaw at the heart of the company 😊

apad

[velocytongo] 15/3/2023 15:47

Hi Maynard,

Thanks for your post. I was quite angry at the Chair's dismissive treatment at the AGM of your attempts to engage in serious discussion. He struck me as typical of many chairs, who tend to be alpha males with a penchant for the sound of their voice and a limited ability to listen. I will message you directly as we met some years ago through a mutual friend. Good to hear that the current shareholders are not the typical nodding fund managers, who typically are scared to speak out.

[tmfmayn] 12/3/2023 12:01

A (very long!) blog post below. Would be very interested to hear of reasons why the proposed board changes should not go ahead.

SYSTEM1: Proposed Board Changes Have My Support After H1 2023 Cash Outflow Of £2m, Underwhelming Strategic Review And Frustrating Management Q&A #SYS1

"Fresh executive leadership seems needed to maximise SYS1's 'superb, proven suite of products' and re-establish worthwhile levels of profit. I support the proposed board changes and continue to hold."





Seems to me Stefan Barden as former board adviser and CEO knows the real potential of SYS1's products. He helped drive through the transition to Data services, backed that up by buying 6% of the company, then left John K to follow through... and then it all fell apart. Pretty sure Mr Barden is also the architect of SYS1's £1billion market-cap ambition revealed the other year, which is why he is going to all the trouble of the requisition to (finally!) get SYS1 to create proper value for shareholders.

[tmfmayn] 12/3/2023 11:48

Hi VelocyTongo

I think they can count, as the AGM last year saw 3.3 million votes (26%) against the re-election of certain non-execs and suggested some shareholders were already unhappy. The strategic review then promised to assess the board's composition, but the (poor) H1 results simply revealed John K moving to the States to generate extra sales, and the COO becoming CEO.

Among the top 8 institutional shareholders, two are German and two are American, who may not follow City protocol when casting their votes. The rationale for the requisition seems clear to me -- despite good products that have been validated by partnerships with ITV and LinkedIn, SYS1 has underperformed over time, is currently losing money and fresh leadership is required to fully exploit the group's products for shareholders.

Maynard

[velocytongo] 10/3/2023 11:07

Very interesting. I hope they can count because John Kearon has 22% of the shares and if he votes against them, they will have their work cut out. Moreover, UK institutions rarely vote against the incumbents. I'd also like to see the reasons for the requisition notice.

[longshanks] 07/3/2023 07:42

Oh dear. Trouble at t'mill.Interesting to see two such prominent previous employees seeking such significant board changes.

[velocytongo] 28/2/2023 15:03

This looks like it's completing the transition to a data business, just as YouGov did 10-12 years. The key for You was a US acquisition that has hugely driven growth and led to the share price rising from 37p to 1000p. With so many so short form internet adds coming out the whole time (as opposed to just testing TV adverts) the market is getting bigger the whole time.

[topvest] 30/11/2022 20:41

Unfortunately, the data business is eating the consultancy business and so they are replacing the previously profitable consulting work with loss making data revenue. Whilst the data business is interesting, volumes need to increase much faster than they currently are. It all looks a bit of a mess.

[apad] 30/11/2022 12:29

So the strategic review is kicked down the road to 28 Feb Capital Market Day.
Also, it seems to have gotten more vague - quite an achievement.

One of my mantras is that rapidly growing revenue in a small cap gives the management options about where to introduce change. Stagnation in revenue is a pair of handcuffs.

Yours looks to have been a good decision, longshanks.

apad

[apad] 30/11/2022 11:46

Doing an AI project with Warwick Uni doesn't inspire confidence.
apad

[eezymunny] 30/11/2022 11:23

Ultimately, success will depend on quality of the automated testing stuff. Do they have enough investment power to be best-class. Compare with a giant like Kantar

hxxps://www.kantar.com/marketplace/solutions

Bigger=bigger R&D budgets=better products=winner. You'd think...

SYS1 too small=loser?

[longshanks] 30/11/2022 09:22

Looks like they haven't investigated a sale of the business as part of the strategic review.The process seems to have simply concluded that JK should be promoted to salesman in chief and move to the US to focus on raising revenue there.This seems more like a gut reaction than something thought through. I am not overly impressed.I completed my selling out earlier this month. I still like the business but think it will get weaker before it gets better.

[simon gordon] 30/11/2022 08:27

Reading that RNS the Founder just comes across as erratic. Chopping and changing. There is an underlying strategy but he looks like a juggler who keeps dropping his balls. The balls look interesting but the juggler erratic.

[topvest] 22/11/2022 21:25

Share price dropping badly doesn't bode that well. It doesn't look good.

[longshanks] 26/10/2022 20:26

Thanks for your YouTube post Maynard The AGM sounds shocking. I attended last year's virtual one and was frankly far from impressed with how they treat shareholders: it is almost like we are an undesirable relative.The tie in with ITV does appear to be one good thing that make this worth holding but it seems a trade sale may be an inevitable end for this company if it can't build further traction in the near term.

[topvest] 25/10/2022 16:10

Another poor update today. Odd the share price went up.