Touchstar Share Discussion Threads

[rivaldo] 18/12/2019 08:15

Agreed. The miss this year is due to external factors including stock delivery, whilst the new orders will boost 2020 performance nicely. The m/cap is just £2.5m after the initial markdown.

Importantly, cash generation is good, and the group has net cash now. And the "augur well" comment re 2020 given the strong order book etc reads well.

I've topped up with just a few more this morning.

Stock is now EXTREMELY scarce - I can't even buy 100 shares online now.

[cocker] 18/12/2019 07:20

A decent HONEST update where Brexit has played a major part in customers decision making. Forward order book 800k and without doubt I believe 2020 will be the year when those who dare take a risk at these levels will see fantastic returns.

[jeevsje] 06/12/2019 12:43

Dropped the price yesterday but won't allow buys online for even £400 without NT.

[fillipe] 06/12/2019 11:53

Well said,PA.

f

[pavey ark] 06/12/2019 10:34

Yes everything looks to be in order and on plan.This is a micro cap and as such the price is very volatile.The mms hold very little stock and the spread is vast.When it moves it will really move and at this price one would hope/assume that move can only be up.

[davde] 05/12/2019 20:10

Undervalued in my view. With a bit of luck second half will be in profit, or thereabouts. Next year TST should be in profit as think most restructuring costs now out of the way. Its been a long time, but hopefully a significant uplift in share price in next 3/4 months.as turnaround plan comes to fruition! I remain positive but several years older!

[pavey ark] 05/12/2019 13:36

Don't know what they're up to today but MMs have none to sell.
Bought more on this drop but can't buy any more than 1000 now without going over 33p.

[cocker] 05/12/2019 12:31

Mrk cap is ludicrous for what is on offer. Even if tst doesn't make numbers for year end surely it can retrace much more

[jeevsje] 28/11/2019 19:13

Another contract signed with Avon Freight. Wish they showed more respect towards us by advising the market about these deals. They raised money at 60p last year, are making good progress but wish to stay quiet about it.

hxxps://www.rugged-mobile-computers.co.uk/blog/leading-3pl-selects-touchstar

[cocker] 28/11/2019 12:57

Trakm8 on the move over the last week or so. Guess this bodes well for tst as similar operator

[cocker] 22/11/2019 15:52

Jeevsje has pointed out today that another contract has been done with leading textile supplier "Primer Ltd" from Bingley , west Yorkshire.

[jeevsje] 13/11/2019 22:08

Arthur, back in 2017, the share price was between 80p and reached almost 120p, with turnover of 7.8million and dropping. Forecasted revenue for 2019 is weirdly the same 7.8million but the trend has reversed, with revenues finally growing following the introduction of the new products. The only difference is that we have around 25% more shares. Accounting for the latter, we should be in the 60p to 90p region, with no premium attached to the fact that the business is now finally growing. They manage their costs extremely well; hence, the top line increase should translates into bottom line profits.

Major shareholder has been buying and Ian Martin, current chairman and ex-Avesco, holds 8%. He bought 200k at 60p just last year. This is just not on people's radar and current holders are not keen to buy further, due to the illiquidity associated with the share.

[arthur_lame_stocks] 13/11/2019 20:42

I just don't see these as cheap myself. With the turnover they've got even if they return to a reasonable level of profit they're not going to be worth much more than they are now imo.

[jeevsje] 13/11/2019 20:28

Rivaldo, do you think a change in broker (currently WH Ireland) will help these guys?

[bio_tango] 07/11/2019 21:36

This is a case of buy and hold. Once there is volume, it will be impossible to buy.

[jeevsje] 07/11/2019 16:14

The last statement is particularly pleasing:
"We look forward to working closely with TouchStar on future projects we have in the pipeline.”

[jeevsje] 07/11/2019 16:05

Contract with Persimmon (Two divisions):

THE COMPANY
Founded in 1972, Persimmon is one of the UK's most successful house builders, committed to the highest standards of design, construction and service.

The group is made up of a network of 31 regional operating businesses, offering nationwide coverage.

With brick availability subject to change and many builders turning to Europe for their bricks, Persimmon became the first UK volume house-builder to build its own brick factory in 2017, with construction of a rooftile factory following shortly afterwards.

Persimmon’s 1,900m2 facility at Harworth, South Yorkshire, can turn out 80 million bricks a year.

Now the brick factory is fully operational it has the capacity to provide around 60% of Persimmons current total requirement for bricks, the tile factory once operational will provide 100% of the total requirement for roof tiles.

CHALLENGES
As part of the new brick and tile manufacturing project, Persimmon initially required a rugged mobile solution to provide truck mounted devices for the vehicles used on site.

The rugged devices would need to use information from Persimmon’s Microsoft Dynamics ERP to ascertain what stock to pick for collections or where to put stock from production.

To enable the trucks to travel the entire site and stay updated, a Wi-Fi solution would also be required, and this naturally progressed into CCTV requirements to monitor the site and map out the location and infrastructure for both.

Persimmon’s site has cutting edge automation requiring little or no human intervention for collections or deliveries and with up to 80 vehicle movements per day running 24/7, so the CCTV requirements were to cover all areas at all times.

SOLUTIONS
TouchStar ATC installed a full CCTV solution with public address horns to cover the new brick factory, which is in the process of being expanded to also cover the tile factory.

This included the installation of thermal cameras on columns around the site in order to create a ‘thermal curtain’ around the area. An additional three pan, tilt, zoom (PTZ)cameras from the BOSCH IP5000 range allow further investigation and identification of any entrant to the site that breaks through the initial ‘curtain’;

The expansion of the site simply involves opening the thermal curtain and adding more camera columns to expand its reach.

The entire system can be monitored from one point of control backed up by TouchStar technology.

Meanwhile, TouchStar Rugged Mobile Computers, a sister company to TouchStar ATC introduced the TS7000 (truck-mounted) rugged hardware and Wi-Fi infrastructure.

This offered a number of advantages for users on the site, such as backlit wipe-clean keyboards that allow for gloved usage, high resolution screens and various data entry options.

TouchStar also pre-configured the devices before usage and installed the vehicle-mounted devices.

Following thorough analysis of the site to determine the number of access points required for optimal Wi-Fi coverage across the site, TouchStar installed 10 internal points and four external with all necessary cabling and testing taken care of. TouchStar also advised on the type of antennae required to ensure full connectivity and installed wireless controllers.

Tom Chidler, IT Project Manager at Persimmon, adds:” The implementation was very successful, we had spent time mapping out the exact requirements and getting the infrastructure in place so that TouchStar could come along and install the systems with little or no disruption or downtime. Once installed we did have a small issue with networking which was soon resolved by TouchStar we then linked all the equipment together and everything fired up straight away. We ran a number of tests during our test phase and everything passed as required.”

RESULTS AND BENEFITS
The benefits to Persimmon staff using the vehicles on a daily basis are significant, as they have no need for any paper-based information as everything is displayed on screen in the cab and managers are able to see output from production in real time.

Persimmon can also track, review and playback all of the CCTV footage instantly and provide any related footage as required, providing peace of mind across the new site and also helping to prevent theft.

The single system solution has proven to be easy to use and ensures that managers have an overview of the entire site. This helps with the protection of staff working in the area and visitor safety.

The solutions met the scope for the project that Persimmon had set, with everything working as needed with zero downtime on the Wi-Fi infrastructure in over two years of operation - one of the key objectives promised by TouchStar.

Persimmon is now working on new notification systems and has started work on the tile factory phase of the project. TouchStar has continued to provide guidance to help Persimmon define the requirements.

Tom Chidler concludes: “We felt that TouchStar was a stable and reliable partner based in the UK with a wide range of technical knowledge and experience in the fields that the project required, the people we had dealt instilled confidence that TouchStar could meet our requirements. We would also look to TouchStar on other projects where we could utilise their service.

“Since we went live TouchStar has always been there to assist with any questions or changes we have had to the systems we have put in place. We look forward to working closely with TouchStar on future projects we have in the pipeline.”

[bio_tango] 04/11/2019 22:47

If the company continues on the current trajectory, it will only be a matter of time before this re-rates. Key points to note:

1/ Pleasantly surprised how they were able to increase revenues by 15%, despite the discontinuation of the onboard segment. This growth was achieved despite the Brexit issues.
2/Recurring revenue contribution and profit margin are heading in the right direction.
3/ Heading towards major upgrade cycle with discontinuation of Microsoft support for mobile products.
4/ Only matter of time before they land a major deal for PODstar.
5/ Major shareholders have been adding.

If only the management team agreed to present at Investor's shows like Mello.

[jeevsje] 01/11/2019 14:49

20k of buys, yet share price unchanged

[sammyshares] 01/11/2019 11:47

well well 32

[varies] 01/11/2019 11:25

jeevsje
I have held my shares for many, many years and must be nurturing a 60% loss.
There is no point in grumbling about the managing director's salary. It is on the high side but not extortionate. If it were, there is little we could do about it.
Nor, in my view, is there any point in trying to sell one's shares unless one really needs the money.
I believe that TST is in a much better state than it was 3 years ago and hope to see the share price double within the next couple of years. I do not, however, have enough confidence to increase my stake.
I suggest you consider all the successes you have had, so I hope, with your other investments and stop depressing yourself about this one.