Themutual.Net Share Discussion Threads

[septemberclues] 14/2/2009 21:28

if this hits 2p i'm buying bigtime

[kenatbabken] 11/2/2009 15:45

Yes IBG element now below 1p that puts a value on IBG of less than £750k,You
could,nt make it up how the value of a decent company has been trashed.As a standalone company I just could not of seen IBG falling that low.

[the analyst] 11/2/2009 15:14

Meanwhile, IPH has been suspended.

If they go into administration, I wonder who will buy the assets?

Or, if they stop trading, who will pick up the contracts?

Funny fact - IPH have described themselves as "the UK's leading online direct marketing company", whilst TMN has in the past called themselves "the UK's premier online direct marketing group"

[the analyst] 11/2/2009 15:14

Maybe I got it wrong, but I don't think so

In TMN money, the IBG share price has dropped from a peak 136p two years to 3.5p today

In old IBG money that is equivalent to a drop from 36p to less than 1p :(

Who would have thought that possible two years ago?

[niggle] 11/2/2009 14:36

you mean 36p?

[the analyst] 10/2/2009 22:28

Meanwhile, for ex-IBG holders, they see their share price go from a (peak) equivalent of 136p down to 3.625p...

I wonder if the (ironic?) final outcome will be that this company becomes almost identical to the old IBG?

That is, with the main asset being Affiliate Future, bolstered with a few smaller 'bolt-ons'.

For IBG, that used to be e-commerce, web hosting, web commercial services, media etc.

For TMN, that is media, email, display, research etc.

One big difference, though, is that IBG used to be cash rich, whilst TMN has debt to pay down.

[septemberclues] 10/2/2009 22:02

telecom plus is an awful company if you hit hard times...they cut off your mobile without warning...so i now owe them £150 which they will not be getting...calls overpriced too

[valustar1] 10/2/2009 20:47

Not sure they offer the cheapest gas and electricity just cheap. happy to stand corrected

Met Charles W a few times, very clever man and I am a big fan of telecom plus. really like their model especially they way they designed it from the start to offer multiple products off one platform

[scr00ge] 10/2/2009 17:44

Hi Valuestar1

Telecom Plus is a utility firm which rewards its members in a Pyramid style fashion. They do not spend money on advertising but they reward people for introducing friends and new customers (% Commission of their monthly bill). Thus they offer the cheapest price on gas electricity (no TV spend). TMN are a media owner (email) who also have an affilate platform (AF) which manages micropayments. Urrrr am I missing something or are you...

Humbug

[valustar1] 10/2/2009 17:37

telecom plus is a utility firm, not really the market TMN work in

[scr00ge] 10/2/2009 17:34

I called this puppy! The management simply got it wrong and their egos were bigger than their growth rate. It is going to catch you up in the end as tech firms need organic growth not acquisitions. The question is can they service their debt now. I suspect yes they can as the online market is still buoyant - their main problem is that they just have too many staff and a massive burn rate. Looks like they are addressing it but I think someone is going to scoop them up at this level. They have a P/E of ~1 which does seem cheap. As a 6 month punt I think it is worth it at this level and hope someone makes an offer at 5p+

One stock I fancy at the moment is:
TEP - Telecom Plus - the highest growing firm in the UK last year, FTSE 250 listed. V sweet business in the utility market - If TMN had a brain they should have done something like this 5 years ago.

[tickler2] 09/2/2009 19:58

Will this ever go up again?
And when? 2010,2011. Who would give us an guess?

[ashleighp] 03/2/2009 10:40

For those who remember the offer from Tangent last year..........here's their trading statement today -

They appear to be suffering too.

[bonio10000] 03/2/2009 08:56

Just change the C to a G.

imho.

[valustar1] 02/2/2009 13:58

Could be time to change the title of this thread, the cash rich bit is a bit misleading!

[the analyst] 02/2/2009 13:56

bonio,

As far as I can remember, Maz sold over 1 million at around 54p last April, back when he left the company and then I think he sold some more when they were trading around 30p in September - I think that sale took him below 4%

It still leaves him with a huge number of unsold shares.

[bonio10000] 02/2/2009 09:49

Someone tell me Maz actually sold some of his shares at a higher value?

[azamdotbiz] 02/2/2009 03:53

Sad to see this happen to a company with so much potential. But things will pick up I'm sure as there's some talented people and clever new technology in the business.

[the analyst] 30/1/2009 17:02

Yup, a very poor show indeed. I think that for most people that attended the AGM, this profit warning doesn't come as a surprise. I'm glad I went to the AGM - the board convinced me to start selling out as soon as I got back home after the meeting

The only surprise for me is that AF continues to do well. Although to be honest, I'm taking the bullish comments about AF with a pinch of salt. I expect AF to be adversely affected as the down-turn continues, especially if holiday bookings are affected

The worrying thing here is that if there is further deterioration in the business performance as the year goes on, then they will struggle to keep up with the debt repayments. That could be very serious, as they would have to either re-finance, sell-off assets or close the business down entirely.

Does anyone have any idea what "management" expectations are? I didn't get any pointers on what they could be at the AGM. I presume that they are completely different from "market" expectations.

It's just so very sad to see the demise of IBG, especially after seeing Buy.at sell their business for £75m. Oh to have had people on the IBG board capable of such things...

[hirschnathan] 30/1/2009 14:21

No, I want to know why he has decided to move them, is it because there is some fighting going on, or something else. It doesnt make sense, to throw away years of building affiliates, just like that

[baheid101] 30/1/2009 14:19

not really a big deal in the context of the company's challenges Hirsch?

Interesting to see the best idea Maz's venture capital company can come up with is to buy weak online retail operations in very competitive markets (gadgets, fitnesss) with unattractive gross margins. Given that he showed little interest or appetite to manage these businesses effectively under IBG's ownership its quite a surprising move

In terms of Squeeze holidays, I have no idea how successful this business is but potentially consolidation the affiliate operations of the portfolio of brands under one roof was the overriding factor.

[hirschnathan] 30/1/2009 14:11

closing merchants

Sweatband
Sweatband Fitness
Gadget Hub
Assured Trade
Squeeze Holidays

I am not sure if you notice wh they belong to, maz and his co team.

Why as he taken all 5 and moved them from af to por

1) He probally has many established affiliates on af, who will not change links so quickly
2) Even if por are cheaoer, they do not focus on travel merchants, so why move squeeze to por?

I was going to email mark, but he doesnt seem to reply to emails