Touchstone Grp Share Discussion Threads

[tole] 08/6/2007 15:41

Heres the confirmation update on the rollout from TSE's website today...



Speedy Hire successfully roll-out software solution in Scotland

8 June 2007: Speedy Hire, the UK's number one equipment hire company, is working in partnership with IT Consultancy and software solutions provider, Touchstone Group, to roll-out an integrated Microsoft Hire, Financial accounting and Reporting software solution across its UK Operation....

[tole] 06/6/2007 18:45

Gotta really thank Valuestar earlier for clarifying with the FD ;)

valustar1 - 6 Jun'07 - 12:56 - 223 of 229

Just spoken to the FD at Touchstone.
Not a new contract, I think some over ambitious PR has got out of hand

[welsheagle] 06/6/2007 18:26

Well spotted, Tole

[tole] 06/6/2007 18:02

Welsh - it relates to their original contract from 2005 - see below



And off their recent trading update -

"The Group's Hire & Rental unit has been working on a number of projects
including the original ground-breaking #4.5m Speedy Hire project. The Group is
delighted to confirm that the initial phases of the Speedy project have been
successfully completed with a number of regions now live on Touchstone Rental
Solution (TRS), the Group's Microsoft Dynamics AX-based Hire & Rental solution.
TRS was selected to provide Speedy with a leading-edge, rugged and scaleable
platform for future expansion. TRS is now being rolled-out to all remaining
Speedy regions and is expected to be complete in the next 12 months."

[welsheagle] 06/6/2007 17:59

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Touchstone Group PLC said it has won a software contract worth 3 mln stg from tools provider Speedy Hire PLC.

The contract includes the integration of Touchstone's financial accounting and reporting software across Speedy Hire's UK operations, the company said in a statement.

Initially, Speedy Hire's 32 depots in Scotland will be migrated onto the system but this deployment will eventually enable Speedy Hire to consolidate all of its reporting processes on one software platform and one database, Touchstone said. [e-mail] kkb/faj/ms1

[nurdin] 06/6/2007 13:18

A formal RNS from the company should reveal more...:o)

[tole] 06/6/2007 13:09

Lol...yes looking back actually 09/2005 order....strange news release though through AFX??

[valustar1] 06/6/2007 12:56

Just spoken to the FD at Touchstone.

Not a new contract, I think some over ambitious PR has got out of hand

[darlocst] 06/6/2007 12:27

very bullish to see the price moving up on a general down day. not been much stock around for a while so any buying should push this up.

edit: see someone just paid 7p premium for just 1000 shares.

[tole] 05/6/2007 09:13

Touchstone, the AIM listed provider of business software solutions and
consultancy services, will announce its preliminary results for the year ended
31 March 2007 on Wednesday, 27 June 2007.

[tole] 30/5/2007 12:47

Should only be about 3 weeks now until we get to see these excellent results - hopefully we can start to get a decent run-up and break through this 220p

Recap of last trading statement 10/04 -

Touchstone sees FY profit significantly ahead of last year
Business software provider Touchstone Group PLC said it expects its year-end profits to be significantly ahead of last year and in-line with market expectations due to a buoyant final quarter.
It sees turnover for the year to be ahead of market expectations with year-end order books at record levels, the company said in a trading update.
The AIM-quoted firm added it has won a number of "significant" contracts including CommTrader, its commodity trading solution, projects valued at over
1.4 mln stg and several SunSystems and Proactis projects which together are
valued at over 1.2 mln stg.


MM's here are still happy to keep offering well above the quoted bid-price for your stock, and in decent size too.
Online you can still sell 15k @ 213.5 and buy just 150 @ 218 (Full offer)

[welsheagle] 19/5/2007 19:46

From May's 'Company Refs', when price was 209p:-
a/ Prospective PE ratio of 9.30 (based on two broker forecasts, both recommending 'overweight').
b/ Forecast growth in eps of 23%.
c/ Price to sales ratio of 1.00.
d/ Dividend yield of 2.11%.
e/ Net asset value of 58.8p.
f/ Net cash per share of 26.9p.
g/ Positive cash flow per share of 22.8p per share.
h/ Turnover up from £14.2m to £23.1m in five years.

[davidosh] 18/5/2007 19:19

Nigelpm

The good news is that the share price never quite reaches 13 times forward earnings as it steadily ticks up ....final results are bedded and the 2008 figure become current year and new forecasts to March 09 will probably be near 25p so along with even stronger cash balances £3.25 will seem a reasonable exit price.

With a growing company in a strong position you have to constantly reassess your exit point unless cash is required or some bad news comes to change the business plan.

[nigelpm] 18/5/2007 15:48

17x is far far far too ambitious for a company of TSE's size.

13x would see me out.

[tole] 17/5/2007 12:55

Price ticking back up as we approach the previous high. Looks like they are still happy to take plenty off you @ above 215
Nice and slow up to 300p please MM's :)


As pointed out in Brewins previous buy note -

"The company is winning larger projects and is continuing its transition into the high end consultancy market on the back of its excellent relationship with Microsoft and focus on verticals. As the proportion of revenue derived from large projects increases then we believe Touchstones rating should start to trend towards that of the high end consultants (Axon, Morse, LogicaCMG) trading on over 17x."

Now 17x might be a little way off yet - but as we look ahead to 2008e of circa 22.4 eps - this one still has plenty of upward potential with its lowly PE of 9.5.

Edit though worth noting a 17x 2008e would slap this at 380p - now theres a price target :)

[diogenesj] 11/5/2007 14:48

Topped up today - I seem to have pushed the price up a bit. Not very liquid, is it?

[liarspoker] 08/5/2007 08:34

And here is the pull-back. :O)

[tole] 08/5/2007 08:23

I See the MAY 2007 edition on Techinvest is available as a sample download - heres what they say about TSE :) Still look too cheap to me.

Touchstone 204p
(TSE; AIM, not in FT)

The shares surged to a new high after the Company released a very positive trading update highlighting a number of significant new business wins. Of particular interest is a £2.3m project to implement Microsoft Dynamics AX at a leading building services organisation to replace an aging legacy solution.

The Group's Hire & Rental unit has been busy working on a number of contracts, including the original ground breaking £4.5m Speedy Hire project. And, CommTrader, the Group's solution for commodity trading organisations, has been
chosen by a number of clients in recent months for projects valued at over £1.4m.

Of note also was a £1.0m project that combines Microsoft Dynamics GP, CRM and SharePoint technology for Busy Bees, one of the UK's fastest growing childcare voucher and nursery businesses.

Due to a buoyant final quarter Touchstone anticipates sales for the year will exceed market forecasts with profit significantly ahead of the previous year, in-line with market expectations.

House broker Brewin Dolphin Securities promptly upgraded its forecasts. For the year just ended it is going for 17.7p and has pencilled in 22.4p for the current year, both fully taxed.

The shares are now up 85% since we recommended them at 110p in February 2002,
but still only trade on a prospective PER of 9.3. Shareholders may wish to add on any pull-backs.

[liarspoker] 02/5/2007 13:48

That's what the wife said this morning too. :O)