Total Systems Share Discussion Threads

[rainmaker] 30/11/2008 13:20

Thanks Davidosh- I wholeheartedly agree with your point regarding TTS not paying a dividend. They could and should have paid one which would have been covered by earnings. I think it is fair to say the tone of the Interims was one of cautious optimism yet they chose to ignore investors for the sake a relatively small sum. There's not an acquisitive Company so they have no need to retain such a large cash balance and this is even more pertinent in a low interest rate environment.

The outer for TTS shareholders is growth in eps, albeit from a historically low base and the payment of future dividends. They have retained Customers and the Capita preferred supplier agreement is starting to bear fruit- I believe they are the worlds largest outsourcing Company and the business TTS has so far received has been minimal.

regards

[isis] 30/11/2008 11:43

All that Rule states is that they have to notify of any sales or purchases, which they would have to do anyway!
LOL

[egoi] 30/11/2008 11:39

Isis stop embarrassing yourself for your own sake. I quoted the appropriate rule from the FSA rulebook and you think you know more than them.

Filtered.

[isis] 30/11/2008 11:35

egoi - you've been sussed and are trying to backtrack.
You are definitely thick, perhaps you can show us where Directors buy during a bid?

[egoi] 30/11/2008 11:29

Were I to post more from the GLD thread it would merely further your embarrassment isis as I addressed these points too but am going to save you..
It is clear you are here only to post anti-TTS imho - and given the noted lack of apology, I intend to filter you unless you retract your 'thick' comment.

It proves they are allowed to make purchases - geddit yet??

Back on subject -;)
TTS nav 40p, including cash per share of 29p or so with no gearing and profitable, plus an established product suite in for free. Worth 60p a share to a bidder imho. At 30p these are, in the words of a widely respected and seasoned poster (not me!) on another site, 'insanely cheap'. At 30p or so he is absolutely right imho!

[isis] 30/11/2008 11:20

egoi - that doesn't exactly clear it up does it? That just says that all dealing must be reported.
What if they were procuring another offer and then dealt on the back of that, or they were told by the offeror that they were raising the bid and then they all piled in before the announcement?
That would be insider dealing.

I see your obsession with Director purchases only applies to other Companies and not your own investments.

Where are the TTS Directors buys on this oh so cheap investment?

You are likely to come very unstuck with that Red Herring of an Investment policy I'm afraid.
Director buying rarely helps.

[egoi] 30/11/2008 11:12

Apologies to others interested in TTS but it is time isis left his spin world behind and I must clear it up as he conveniently forgets himself.

From the GLD thread:

egoi - 18 Nov'08 - 10:55 - 1475 of 1622 edit

The Directors as I understand it are perfectly entitled to buy shares during the bid process, just as Constellation are.

isis - 18 Nov'08 - 11:20 - 1477 of 1622

dd - it just shows how thick some investors are.
If they bought during a bid period it would look very dodgy indeed and probably illegal.

egoi - 18 Nov'08 - 11:57 - 1481 of 1622 edit

I'll save Isis too much embarrassment; but Rule 8.1a of the Takeover Code states simply - (brackets mine):

'Dealings in relevant securities by an offeror [Constellation] or the offeree company [GLD], and by any associates, for their own account during an offer period must be publicly disclosed..........'

[isis] 30/11/2008 11:04

egoi - I'm sorry but how did you educate me on the takeover rules?
I think it was the other way around and i also said the bid would fail in it;s current form which you also said it wouldn't.
Only 10% have so far taken up the offer - I think you can work out for yourself that is too low.
Now please get your facts right and stop protecting your own investments with inane nonsense.

[isis] 30/11/2008 10:41

egoi - you reccommended these on the GLD board - we are just putting our view.
TTS has failed to make any real money and is not a market leader. The area in which they deal in is undergoing a lot of pressure at the moment so the outlook and visibility is not too clear.
These are tough times for us all at present so I don't see the point in being picky and pedantic as it helps no one.
GLD are under a bid though and have good profits, they are also market leaders with growing revenues and profits - I can't really say the same here at present.

No Director buying here either. ;-))

[egoi] 30/11/2008 10:22

Hi all Davidosh is another import from the GLD thread so his negativity and posting here does not surprise me- it seems I have upset some people!

If GLD is worth much more than 25p a share because of its cash and assets mainly, then TTS is worth about 60p to a bidder on the same reasoning.

[davidosh] 29/11/2008 16:53

It is not worth spread betting TTS as the spread is generally 10 to 15% wide so a long way to go at say 25% up before a chance of a tiny profit.

I just cannot see the outer at TTS. For many years the operating profits have been tiny and somewhat hit and miss. The cash has provided a windfall gain on the interest payments but that will also now be very minimal in this low interest environment. They really should have returned to paying a dividend to show confidence as this company just trends downwards and shareholders have had absolutely nil return for years.

Why do they need to retain so much cash ?

What is going to kick this one upwards in these horrible markets ?

The worry for me is if they cannot at least match the H1 or indeed H2 last year. If they slip then confidence will go and sellers will appear with no buyers in this market. So any move up is likely to meet resistance and a possible fall later. A dividend would at least give me a reason to hold on until the economy improves or an outer comes from somewhere but I cannot see it on the horizon in all honesty. If they wanted to take it off market then it could have been done many years ago and a price now would not benefit holders who have held for years.

[rainmaker] 29/11/2008 14:39

A further thought anybody buying at the current price will be buying towards the bottom end of a trading range, 25/50p and won't have had to endure watching the share price do nothing for three and a half years!I'm not a spread better but if I were I would be placing an up bet on TTS first thing Monday morning.

regards

[rainmaker] 29/11/2008 14:23

Total Systems(TTS)currently at 29p is officially a Bargain as defined by Ben Graham as trading at less than Net Working Capital-a proxy for it's minimum liquidation value.Buy them here and the Company's net cash covers your purchase value so you get the Business and future earnings for nothing plus a lovely free prime Central London "City"location, worth the current share price.Who said there's no such thing as a free lunch!

They should have paid an interim dividend which would have been covered by earnings.They're already said that the possible deferrment of existing Customer's orders should be offset by new contract wins. The thought crossed my mind that they may wish to take the Company private.

Nice to reasonable spread of just 6.6%

regards

[sussexseagull] 29/11/2008 12:30

The TTS interim report dropped through my letterbox this morning, and as amt says it's a "no brainer at this level"

I'm too busy dealing with 'no brains' tilehousetrotter on the IMG 'Let your imagination run wild' thread to post on here more often.

I'll leave it to amt to give TTS a worthy plug.

..........Meanwhile. :-)

[isis] 28/11/2008 08:16

But £2m profits and market leader. :-))

Oh and a bid!

[egoi] 28/11/2008 08:14

Bit like GLD then eh isis, which has less than half its market cap in cash! -;))

Assets here 40p share price 29p, all in cash, no debt and profitable, over 5p profit year on year.

GLD would be below 20p imho without a bid, which in the current climate fairly values it. TTS equivalent share price for cash would be over 60p, without a bid, equivalent, without accounting for product suite and property, bid which of course could happen anytime here imho! -;)

GLD say their market slowing; TTS forecasting profit increase. -;)

[amt] 28/11/2008 08:06

No brainer at this level, shows how distorted the market is. Worst case scenario share price should be 40p+, upside if goes to plan say 60p next year. DYOR No advice

[isis] 28/11/2008 08:06

No Directors buying though!
LOL

[egoi] 28/11/2008 08:02

28p share price trading below cash; profitable no debt as this morning's results show. 28.96p per share cash 40p per share assets and second half likely to be better.....

Something for nothing! -:))

'During the first six months of the financial year the Company has continued to improve operating performance with a 31% increase in revenue and a profit for the half year, mainly due to the Capita project. The sales and marketing team continues to identify new prospects in the market and is pursuing a number of sales opportunities. Ultima and the development of the skills of our staff remain our key investment areas.' 1.39p profit first half (tradtionally much stronger second half last year was 4.17p). So year on year 5.56p.


Regarding the Company's current trading and outlook, Terence Bourne commented:

'The trading outlook for the second half of the financial year suggests an improvement over the first half. We continue to see a reasonable level of business from our existing clients and although there is the risk that in the current business climate they may temporarily freeze expenditure, the probability of new business wins outweighing the effect of any such actions is reasonable. We remain optimistic about future orders.


The Company's finances remain robust with no debt and strong cash balances but the Board will continue to initiate all measures necessary to ensure the long-term prospects of the Company.'

[hugepants] 25/11/2008 12:52

I think TTS are focussed mainly in general insurance and warranty. Pensions I dont think they are involved in.

I was probably a bit naive earlier to assume the TTS business was recession-proof. If people stop buying cars or flat screen TVs there is going to be less demand for insurance.
However TTS have a bomb-proof balance sheet so a recession may ultimately work in their favour if weaker competitors go out of business.

As an aside I noticed yesterday several new vacancies on their website for Insurance Systems Consultants.
So hopefully current trading is going well.

[egoi] 21/11/2008 10:24

Of course they do 9 degrees, but poor isis (a new poster here) is upset with me and others because we had the audacity to have an opinion that GLD might find it hard to get an alternative bid to the 25p one on the table currently, which isis doesn't care for and now it seems he/she is posting inaccuracies in companies others have an interest in.

Had isis done even a modicum of research he might have got the message as to why HP's post was indeed relevant to TTS. -:)

[9degrees] 21/11/2008 10:16

Why none of it isis? Don't TTS supply the platform on which to manage these contracts ?

[isis] 19/11/2008 14:24

None of it.