Uls Technology Share Discussion Threads

[masurenguy] 08/4/2022 07:35

Simon Gordon hasn't posted on the ULS thread for the past 6 months so I thought that I would add a new thread to reflect the name change of the company.

New thread here:

[farrugia] 07/4/2022 13:21

stupid re-brand

to change name to Smoove, a "refreshed, refocused and empowering brand". FFS! Website will be hellosmoove.com. They didn't even get smoove.com!

[masurenguy] 07/4/2022 06:23

Change of name to Smoove plc

Refreshed, refocused brand to reflect ambition to 'simplify & revolutionise the home-moving process'

ULS Technology plc (AIM: ULS), the provider of online digital platforms for the UK conveyancing and financial intermediary markets, announces its rebranding and change of name to Smoove plc. Smoove plc is being launched as a refreshed, refocused and empowering brand. The Board believes that the rebranding amplifies the Group's strategy to simplify and revolutionise the home moving and ownership process, allowing it to increase brand awareness and articulate its long-term purpose. As part of the relaunch the eConveyancer brand will remain, while DigitalMove will be integrated into the wider eConveyancer and Smoove propositions. The Company's website will now change to: hellosmoove.com and this will contain the information required by AIM Rule 26. A further announcement will be made once the change of name has taken effect.

Jesper With-Fogstrup, CEO of ULS Technology plc, commented: "The rebranding highlights the latest milestone in our strategy to develop a consumer centric, data driven product suite and deliver value across all industry stakeholders. The Company is committed to making the home moving and ownership experience better for everyone involved, and we believe that Smoove encapsulates this mission, fostering greater understanding in the Group's services as we continue to scale our platforms and unlock value for everyone engaged in one of life's biggest events."

[yump] 03/3/2022 12:47

I've had a few more - can't find any equivalent online offerings for moving towards automated conveyancing, documentation etc. on a platform that can serve many parts of the housing market. Should be collecting a lot of customers from these agreements with banks etc. and not relying on historic level of first-time buyers.

[yump] 04/2/2022 12:04

Sounds like the new CEO from February has a cunning plan which is quite influenced by previous experience at comparison sites. There's a lot of things being brought together here.

[sidam] 04/2/2022 07:28

It does look quite good news. It looks as though this could get them to around 33% of all privately occupied homes and probably at the more affluent end. So potentially a decent deal.

[masurenguy] 04/2/2022 07:08

Another brick in the wall !

Exclusive Conveyancing Partnership with Moneyfacts

ULS Technology announces that eConveyancer has launched an exclusive conveyancing partnership with comparison website, Moneyfacts. The partnership will enable customers using Moneyfacts to search for and instruct a conveyancer from eConveyancer's panel of more than 50 audited and benchmarked conveyancing firms. Moneyfacts is an independent money comparison site that has provided "best buy" charts to the UK press and media for over 30 years, including titles like The Sunday Times, Financial Times and The Spectator. The site provides impartial financial information to help millions of people every year to make more informed financial choices.

Richard Ward, Head of Marketing at Moneyfacts, said: "Moneyfacts is providing the most up-to-date and impartial financial information possible to over 5.2m unique visitors each year. We are pleased to partner with ULS technology to offer their leading eConveyancer service to our financially savvy customers. ULS shares our passion for helping millions of people to make better financial choices and eConveyancer will make the home moving and ownership process a quick and easy experience."

[yump] 27/1/2022 17:40

I wish Kestrel would stop buying so I can see what the share price "should" be without constant support.

[yump] 07/1/2022 16:26

Didn't see that thanks for posting.

Having been 'caught' by a few placings in the last year or so - (mostly benign apart from DMTR), its nice to see that cash on the balance sheet.

They'd have to be going some to use that. Unless there are other net based related businesses worth taking over. I kind of hope not - they seem to have what they need in terms of strategy already.

On the flip side, hopefully not a takeover target - the more they develop relationships with estate agents, the more that's a poison pill if something like rightmove come nosing around for an add-on.

[masurenguy] 07/1/2022 16:02

ULS was tipped by The Motley Fool last month as a penny stock for 2022.

"I’m focusing on penny stocks today and the first one I’m looking at is ULS Technology (LSE: ULS). The share price is 72p as I write, but I think this could rise considerably from here.

The company provides software and services in the property, legal and financial industries. Its flagship offering is eConveyancer, which is an online comparison tool for residential conveyancing quotations. It also owns DigitalMove, another online platform that centralises and streamlines the conveyancing process. It released its half-year report last week that showed revenue growing 48% to £10.2m. The gross margin also improved, reaching 40% and up from 38.8% in the same period one year ago.

However, the business remains loss-making. The underlying loss before tax was £1.48m, which increased from £0.64m and does make this penny stock higher-risk. The firm said this was due to continued investment in eConveyancer and DigitalMove. I think this is the right thing to do as these platforms have the potential to streamline the house-moving process. This is an area that’s ripe for disruption from a technology-led company, in my view.

However, what derisks this penny stock is its net cash position. As I write, the company’s market value is about £50m, but there’s cash totalling £23.1m on the balance sheet. This provides the management team with considerable flexibility to invest in its digital platforms. There’s never a guarantee of success, particularly if the housing market slows but with a new CEO in 2021, and a robust balance sheet, I think ULS Technology could be a much larger business in 2022. It’s a buy for my portfolio."

[yump] 07/1/2022 15:55

Is it just persistent buying by Kestral that has driven it up ? Not seen any tips - which is a bit surprising.

Had it on a watchlist until recently. I think its one of the few internet stocks that might have a big future ahead of it. Its not all been invented yet - just the clothes and shoes retailers, which all keep trying to copy ASOS success with variable results.

Other internet one I've got is MOON, which is surprisingly high given its rating.

Just possible that both of these might justify a premium rating - certainly if the funds want to have a proportion of net-related stocks for growth, they're both possibilities.

[masurenguy] 07/1/2022 15:34

Kestral have now added a further 649,000 shares, which takes their stake up to 29%.
The shareprice is now up 18% over the past 3 weeks.

[the count] 07/1/2022 15:33

--->MASURENGUY

Hope so. I have finally seen my holding move into the blue, which is the first glimpse of it in quite a while.

I hope we are currently near rock bottom... let's see how quickly people start to take up Digital Move.

TC!

[masurenguy] 31/12/2021 12:49

The shareprice is up 14% over the past 4 weeks on fairly modest trading volumes. This brings it back to circa 80p which is where it was at the begining of this year. Hopefully we should see some rerating in 2022 as Digital Move starts to achieve greater market penetration.

[red ninja] 24/12/2021 14:50

I'm hopeful for these long term, but in the week before Christmas shares are thinly traded and Christmas rallies are par for the course.

[yump] 23/12/2021 17:32

Might have made a mistake not buying more around 70p - thought it would get close to 60p at some point given the current iffy small co market.

Mind you if digitalmove becomes a major online portal then a few pence won’t matter.

Perhaps the cash is seen as a massive safety net that is seen as easily being able to carry them through to whatever they have planned.

[yump] 08/12/2021 17:35

With cash at 20mln plus, there's certainly no likelihood of placings, even if more investment is needed. I wonder if there are any possible acquisitions that would accelerate the customer adoption of Digital Move.

One hint of blockchain and the share would suddenly become interesting to a lot more investors. Ultimately that must be the aim of online conveyancing or at least a big chunk of it, even if only a small proportion of transactions happen using it to start with.

It will be interesting to see what the first add-ons to the moving process will be: energy / broadband etc ?

[sidam] 03/12/2021 08:09

I thought the presentation was quite good. My take was that E - conveyancer was probably worth more than the current market cap and that DigitalMove had huge potential. I also got the impression that they had too much cash, but it would be some time before the surplus would be returned to shareholders. All in all my view was that it was a strong hold/possible buy.

[masurenguy] 02/12/2021 07:21

Half Yearly Report

Robust financial performance with continued focus on revolutionising home moving and ownership

ULS Technology plc (AIM: ULS), the provider of online digital platforms for the UK conveyancing and financial intermediary markets, announces its half year results for the six months to 30 September 2021 (the "Period").

Financial Highlights

-- Revenue increased by 48% to GBP10.2m (H1 2020: GBP6.9m)
-- Improved gross margin to 40.0% (H1 2020: 38.8%) due to changes in business mix
-- Underlying Loss before Tax(1) increased to GBP(1.48)m (H1 2020: GBP(0.64)m) reflecting increased investment in eConveyancer and DigitalMove
-- Adjusted basic EPS(1) declined to (2.28)p (H1 2020: (0.69)p)
-- Cash balance of GBP23.1m as of 30 September 2021 with no debt
(1) Before exceptional costs and amortisation of acquisition intangibles.
Operating Highlights

e - Conveyancer - renewed focus on our strong and well-positioned B2B brand, with increased investment in people and technology to expand footprint in both existing and new channels, further growing routes to market. We have seen a 10% increase over twelve months in active Introducers using the platform, which has resulted in 28,865 conveyancing instructions. We have now helped circa 835k consumers buy, sell and refinance their home.

DigitalMove - significant progress with more than 90% of eConveyancer cases now enabled on the platform, resulting in DigitalMove handling more than 60,000 instructions to date. Additionally, the Company is focusing on generating increasing traction outside of eConveyancer, underpinning a higher margin model.

The imminent pilot of an offer for estate agents is one of a number of strategic initiatives that will also service consumers and is showing positive preliminary results.

Strengthened team - a strategic reorganisation has taken place with key hires across the management team and in specialist roles, with new capability helping to build a high-performance culture.

Technology and Platform - all infrastructure and technology are now in the cloud following successful completion of the cloud migration project. The new cloud-based home moving platform is ready to pilot the first product in the new year and is expected to facilitate an accelerated roll-out of DigitalMove.

Jesper With-Fogstrup, CEO of ULS Technology plc, commented: "I have now been in the business for almost a year and I'm delighted by the significant progress we have made. I am now even more certain that there is considerable opportunity to make the home moving process better for everyone, and we have the strategy and roadmap in place to be able to achieve this.
We have established a new senior management team and recruited talent that will help us execute our ambitious delivery plans. We continue to invest in the technology we need to radically transform the home moving market and make it faster, simpler and easier for everyone involved. I am particularly pleased in the number of brokers who are actively using our platforms.
eConveyancer performed strongly in the B2B channel and we continue to see strong flow to DigitalMove with over 60,000 cases now instructed. We are currently at an exciting stage where we are building and testing a number of products that will be launched in early 2022."

[techno20] 13/11/2021 15:34

One of ULS’s key competitors PPL suffered a serious cyber attack earlier this week which has led to completions not going through and quite a lot of negative publicity. They are sole supplier to Purplebricks which won’t improve their already pretty woeful performance. Wouldn’t wish an attack on any business, but suspect it won’t do ULS any harm.

[p1nkfish] 13/11/2021 15:30

Change of major notifications and then Harwood tasked with running down the portfolio (selling down) over about 24 months.

[red ninja] 13/11/2021 13:38

Masurenguy
I may be wrong, but as I understand it Gresham House Strategic is changing manager from Gresham House to Harwoods and that is what the 2 holding RNSes indicate.

On the investegate RNS they have "Change in investment manager" in the Comments box.



It is also my understanding that the new GHS manager Harwoods will be changing the share holdings as in the conversation above and ULS is one holding that GHS under Harwood will be removing from GHS. Is that not correct ?

PS
similar thing is happening to FLO, if you look at the below RNS is states "Change in manager for Gresham House Strategic plc"


I have not checked other holdings.

[masurenguy] 13/11/2021 13:05

That's because Harwood is buying up the Gresham stake.