Uls Technology Share Discussion Threads

[cestrian71] 23/6/2021 22:27

Let's hope we get an RNS explanation in the morning

[simon gordon] 23/6/2021 20:34

Investor Meet email this evening:

Please be advised that due to unforeseen circumstances ULS TECHNOLOGY PLC has had to cancel the meeting Results for year ending 31 March 2021 and prospects scheduled for 30th Jun 2021 at 4:00pm BST. A further presentation invitation will be issued in due course.

[simon gordon] 23/6/2021 09:37

Mortgage Solutions - 22/6/21:

ULS Technology signs three-year contract with L&G Mortgage Club

The agreement will give L&G Mortgage Club access to its subsidiary Econveyancers’ panel of 50 conveyancing firms and access to features including DigitalMove and Rapid Remortgage.

DigitalMove reduces transaction times by digitising the homebuying and selling process. Rapid Remortgage is a feature that aims to make remortgaging as quick and easy as a product transfer.

ULS Technology’s sales director, Karen Rodrigues, said: “In a competitive marketplace, this continued partnership is testament to the level of investment that ULS technology puts into the ongoing development of Econveyancer and cutting-edge services like DigitalMove and Rapid Remortgage.

“It also demonstrated the quality of the Econveyancer panel, which is closely monitored to ensure unwavering high standards.”

L&G Mortgage Club’s head of broker relationships and propositions, Craig Hall, added: “The high demand seen in recent months has proven why it is crucial that brokers have access to reliable and digitally-enabled conveyancing partners.

“That is why it is so positive to have ULS technology as a trusted provider on our SmartrRefer platform. Providing advisers with access to innovative conveyancing partners will undoubtedly help them to better navigate the challenges of today’s demanding environment.

[simon gordon] 22/6/2021 13:17

Cheers AimSurfer. Finals next Wednesday. Go on the Jesper!!

[aimsurfer] 22/6/2021 12:15

ULS mentioned here, Gresham House seem very excited by the new CEO and his plans. Looking forward to his presentation next week.https://youtu.be/Ppt16lTCZ9g

[lomax99] 07/6/2021 11:05

I bought in today, hopefully not late to the party....

[sidam] 07/6/2021 07:37

The big questions concern strategy and what they intend to do with the cash. Are they going to give some of the cash to shareholders or are they going to spend it. In the second alternative, are the going to spend it on marketing and product development, or on acquisitions, or a mixture of the two. In the case of the former, unless revenues explode, the expenditure of £24m would lead to substantial losses.

So the presentation will be all important for shareholders to get some clarity. I will be listening.

[masurenguy] 07/6/2021 07:11

Result due to be announced on Wednesday June 30 followed by an investor presentation. A recap of the May Y/E trading update.

The Board expects financial results for the Period will exceed management's expectations. The 2nd half of the Period was strong as the housing market materially improved following the easing of lockdown restrictions and a significant recovery in volumes from our broker channel following management focus on this area. Given the volatility of housing market transactions during the Period, the Board is pleased with the overall level of revenue generated and the very strong recovery in the second half.

Revenues in H2 2021 were c.£10.6m versus £6.3m in H1 2021 resulting in total revenues of £16.9m for the year (2020: £20.7m). Due to these lower revenues and a significant investment in DigitalMove, the Group expects to make an underlying pre-tax loss for the Period of c.£0.8mn (2020: underlying pre-tax profit of £2.4m). IFRS reported pre-tax profit for the Period will be substantially higher as it will include the profit from the sale of CAL. As a result of the CAL sale, the Group retained cash balances as at 31 March 2021 of circa £24m with no debt.

[masurenguy] 28/5/2021 07:13

Another positive partnership.

ULS Technology plc
28 May 2021

Partnership with MPowered Mortgages

ULS Technology plc, the provider of online B2B platforms for the UK conveyancing and financial intermediary markets, has agreed a partnership with MPowered Mortgages to provide an integrated panel management service to the recently launched lender. The integrated service will provide MPowered Mortgages with access to ULS Technology's full solicitor panel, enabling the lender to deliver electronic Offers and Certificates of Title to customers in line with its digitally-focused approach to lending. This is the latest lender partnership announced by ULS Technology which provides full back-office panel management services for lenders to better manage the risk, security and speed of their transactions. Existing partnerships include Principality Building Society, Hodge, Habito and, most recently, Foundation Home Loans.

[simon gordon] 27/5/2021 12:28

Digital Move advertorial in Raconteur which was distributed in the Times:

Pages 2 & 7



Good to see them branding hard.

[simon gordon] 26/5/2021 17:49

Mortgage Finance Gazette - 26/5/21:

MPowered Mortgages expands solicitor panel with ULS partnership

Recently-launched lender, MPowered Mortgages, will be able to deliver electronic offers and certificates of title to customers thanks to a new partnership with ULS technology.

The deal, which gives the lender access to ULS’s full solicitor panel, underpins its digitally-focused approach to lending.

ULS already provides the full back office panel management services for lenders such as Principality Building Society, Hodge, Habito and Foundation Home Loans. It said this service helps these businesses manage risk, security and speed of transactions.

Emma Hollingworth, distribution director at MPowered Mortgages, said: “We’re incredibly excited to be expanding our solicitor panel with ULS technology today and to offer advisers more choice in serving their customers.

“Certainty and control over the mortgage process for advisers and customers alike is critical to us at MPowered Mortgages and integrating with ULS technology’s full solicitor panel enables us to offer just this.”

Meanwhile, Paul Saunders, director of lender services at ULS technology, said: “We’re really pleased to have been selected by MPowered Mortgages to manage its solicitor panel and integrate our services to deliver customers with an enhanced homebuying and remortgaging experience.

“MPowered Mortgages has launched to market promising customers a more automated, digitised and dynamic process and our partnership will enable the delivery of electronic Offers and Certificates of Title to help it deliver on this promise.”

[simon gordon] 19/5/2021 18:34

Let's hope Jesper is doing something similar....

“The secret to my success is that we've gone to exceptional lengths to hire the best people in the world.”

Steve Jobs

[aimsurfer] 19/5/2021 12:11

Certainly is exciting to see how they develop the DigitalMove production, plenty of hits out there on what they are aiming to achieve. They also made some really strong technical hires this year. The industry certainly needs a disruptive platform that's being proposed here.Very much looking forward to future updates here.

[simon gordon] 19/5/2021 11:08

Good to see Jesper getting out there as a 'thought leader':

Mortgage Finance Gazette - 18/5/21:

Conveyancing: What I’ve learned since joining ULS


One hundred days into his role as CEO of ULS, Jesper With-Fogstrup reflects on the strides made so far in conveyancing and how, going forward, transparency will be crucial

It’s now around 100 days since I joined ULS as CEO, which makes it an excellent time to take a step back and consider how my experience has differed from my expectations, and what I’ve learned from my first couple of months within the home moving world.

Part of my motivation for joining ULS was my passionate belief that there is a real opportunity to introduce true transparency to the conveyancing world, to help buyers and sellers understand why conveyancing is important for their house deal and to use that transparency to make the process more customer focused and efficient.

One of the most gratifying parts of my first few months has been the validation of that viewpoint – that the ingredients are there to deliver a much better experience for our customers.

If I’m being completely honest, I did have some nagging doubts about how receptive certain elements of our own team, and those in our partner firms, might be.

Sure, I knew there would be some who had long since recognised that tasks could be carried out in a more efficient way, making the process of buying or selling a property far less stressful, but equally there are always going to be those who are happy with the status quo and are resistant to change.

Customer-focused

It’s been a really pleasant surprise to see that actually there’s an appetite for a fresh approach virtually across the board. That’s not just unexpected, it’s also enormously encouraging.

It shows that we are all singing from a similar hymn sheet, and want to see the industry move in a more customer-focused direction. That is a really positive thing.

As an industry, we aren’t great at putting ourselves in the shoes of our customers. It’s so easy to forget that people don’t move house all the time, and so the process of conveyancing is absolutely alien to them.

All too often homemovers have absolutely no idea what they are paying for, or why it matters to them. As a result they perceive conveyancing as a more complex issue than it really needs to be.

We all need to do a much better job of recognising just how abstract conveyancing can seem to our customers, and take strides to not only be clearer about why it’s a crucial element of the house buying process, but also be far more transparent about how cases are progressing and what is happening at each stage.

By demystifying conveyancing, we can not only provide our customers with a higher level of support, but we can also ensure the process is far more efficient.

Getting that customer buy-in means that they may take a more proactive role, realising when a case is delayed by an issue that they can rectify, for example by providing certain forms of documentation.

Demystifying conveyancing

What has been particularly enlightening during my first 100 days at ULS has been that the conveyancers actually do a fantastic, and important, job for buyers and sellers alike.

The lack of clarity around the service provided isn’t borne from a desire to befuddle our customers, to get them to look the other way while corners are cut.

No, across the board the conveyancing industry is actually providing a remarkable service. Yet the ambiguity means that the value provided by conveyancers is not properly understood, and may even act as a barrier for some customers.

There is clearly lots of work to be done in addressing this particular shortcoming. Also, as conveyancing becomes more efficient, conveyancers will arguably have more time available to spend with movers explaining the process and making it more customer-focused, making conveyancing real to movers.

Progress

When I first took this job, I wrote out some objectives and targets for what I wanted to achieve at ULS, and it’s exciting to see how much progress has already been made on meeting those.

We’ve started testing new systems and ways of working across the business, and the early results are particularly promising.

As someone who gets a lot of energy from talking with my colleagues in person, having to set out my expectations and have those key dialogues with the team remotely has been a new challenge; the positive reception and dialogue shows that we are all pulling in the same direction.

It’s been an excellent start, and a lot of work remains to be done. We are just getting started making the process of buying, selling and owning a home more transparent and simpler.

Inevitably there will be learnings along the way, and I’m positive that through the sensible and sensitive integration of technology, we can not only demystify conveyancing but deliver an all-round more satisfying experience to our customers. My experience over the last three months has only made me more determined to deliver that.

Jesper With-Fogstrup is chief executive officer, ULS Technology

[simon gordon] 11/5/2021 10:33

Could be Octopus selling the remainder that keeps it sub 100p as each time it's take a run in recent months it eases back as they offload.

Maybe all the new PI interest will take them out and it can make a move toward 120p?

[its the oxman] 11/5/2021 08:42

Should climb through 100p now. All looking pretty positive here.

[masurenguy] 11/5/2021 07:27

Trading Update and Director Change

Trading ahead of management expectations

Following the GBP27m sale of Conveyancing Alliance Limited ("CAL") in November 2020, all financial information in this announcement relates only to the Group's continuing operations.

Financial Highlights

The Board expects financial results for the Period will exceed management's expectations. The second half of the Period was strong as the housing market materially improved following the easing of lockdown restrictions and there was a significant recovery in volumes from our broker channel following management focus on this area. Given the volatility of housing market transactions during the Period, the Board is pleased with the overall level of revenue generated and the very strong recovery in the second half.

Revenues in H2 2021 were c.GBP10.6m versus GBP6.3m in H1 2021 resulting in total revenues of GBP16.9m for the year (2020: GBP20.7m). Due to these lower revenues and a significant investment in DigitalMove, the Group expects to make an underlying pre-tax loss for the Period of c.GBP0.8 million (2020: underlying pre-tax profit of GBP2.4m). IFRS reported pre-tax profit for the Period will be substantially higher as it will include the profit from the sale of CAL. As a result of the CAL sale, the Group retained cash balances as at 31 March 2021 of circa GBP24 million with no debt.

Operational Highlights

-- Disposal of CAL for GBP27.3m
-- Growth of broker channel with 21% growth in the number of active users to 1,998 from 1,653 at the end of FY 2020
-- Slower recovery in our lender channel
-- Conveyancing completions in the second half of the Period were 18,667 compared to 15,100 in the first half
-- The rise of the home mover as the main market driver taking over from the first-time buyer
-- Strategic reorganisation with Jesper With-Fogstrup joining as CEO in January 2021 and a number of other new senior hires
-- The decision to accelerate digital customer experience delivery of DigitalMove including using third party cloud based environments
-- Significant increase in opex investment in DigitalMove in the last quarter of the Period

Although undoubtably a difficult start to the Period for the country as a whole and for the housing market specifically, the housing market demonstrated its resilience by bouncing back quickly and demonstrated its importance to the overall economy, with the Government keen to introduce measures to stimulate activity.

By the end of the Period, over 40,000 instructions had gone through DigitalMove making the legal process of buying and selling a home much easier for the consumer. Feedback from consumers continues to be excellent and, following Jesper's appointment in January, we have decided to use a cloud based third party environment to speed up the roll-out of our DigitalMove roadmap. We have undertaken thorough evaluation and research projects using third party specialists and have started a significant recruitment plan as we expand the capacity and range of capabilities in the Group. We will continue to improve the end-to-end home moving process for everyone involved, placing the consumer at the centre of everything we do.

Director Change

Andrew Weston, Co-founder and Innovation Director, has decided to resign as Director with immediate effect. He will continue working for the Group in a part-time advisory capacity. With the strategic reorganisation referred to above having happened, Andy feels that he is leaving the Company in good hands to ensure that Group goes from strength to strength.

Outlook

Our flagship eConveyancer product had a particularly strong second half last year, recovering to above pre-Covid levels, and current levels of business as well as the pipeline remain buoyant, continuing the momentum that we saw in the last quarter of FY2021. The Board believes the business has considerable further potential and is investing to develop this business by securing new routes to market.

Lockdown has made people re-evaluate where they live and work and has helped stimulate the housing market. It is also helping to accelerate digital adoption. The Board believes that the opportunity for DigitalMove to disrupt and enhance the home moving experience continues to grow.

We will make the home moving journey truly consumer-friendly, and the processes more efficient through further streamlining and automation. Importantly we will improve communication across all the stakeholders. Strengthening of the Company's technology stack will help it to take advantage of this opportunity more quickly and in a broader way.

Jesper With-Fogstrup, Chief Executive of ULS Technology plc, commented:"Since joining the Company I have been hugely excited by the significant opportunity that exists both in our existing eConveyancer business and with DigitalMove to make the home moving and owning experience better for all those involved, in particular, the consumer. We have significant cash funds and we intend to invest them efficiently in rapidly building solutions for the housing market and legal conveyancing community, improving the home moving experience, unlocking efficiencies and revenue earning opportunities across the process. I would like to thank Andrew Weston for his huge contribution to the business and for the welcome he gave me when I joined. Andy has been instrumental in getting DigitalMove to where it is today and I am confident that we are in a position to maximise the opportunity that DigitalMove represents."

[gary1966] 10/5/2021 13:08

More evidence of a strong housing market.



Hopefully the trading update will come out this week but stock seems to have good momentum presently.

[simon gordon] 10/5/2021 12:39

120p looking a good chart base if it can break 100p and the imminent TU is bullish.

[aimsurfer] 06/5/2021 20:59

ULS sold CAL for 3x revenue. Using the same multiple surely Econveyancer is worth £60m?Add in cash balance and DigitalMove this is very undervalued, should rerate accordingly once they fully articulate their DigitalMove strategy.

[simon gordon] 06/5/2021 15:36

Red,

Cheers for that.

If Jesper brings it all together and the City starts to see Digital Move catalyse then like the R&M guy says it's not in the price, giving the opportunity for the rating to explode.

[red ninja] 06/5/2021 15:23

Copy over from Lse board.

ULS briefly discussed on V O X Markets (Paul Hill interview with River & Mercantile Portfolio Manager, George Ensor) 51:35



Also earlier brief discussion of ULS Tech with Andy Burrows of Shroders

[red ninja] 06/5/2021 11:36

hatfullofsky
Looks like your buy was well timed.

[tole] 06/5/2021 11:26

Looks like that 500k and 150k block has cleared a bit of stock. Moving up.