Uls Technology Share Discussion Threads

[red ninja] 13/11/2021 11:28

The way the share price is reacting it does not look like the market is worried about the Gresham House Strategic stake sell off.

[p1nkfish] 10/11/2021 10:55

I was think that way too sg. ULS need some new blood to pick-up any overhang and at a time there is likely a cooling off in their martket due. Sooner GHS are out the more likely they get a decent price else it's probably heading lower and their return with it.

Unless there is some agreement stopping them I think there could be some reasonable pickings for NAS, OIG in the run-off. I hold NAS as a conviction and Mills/Harwood are very able to exploit opportunities.

GHS discount to NAV also looks insufficient imho.

[simon gordon] 10/11/2021 10:25

p1nk,

Got big chunks in PRES and NBI.

Kestrel almost maxed out so can't buy much ULS.

[p1nkfish] 10/11/2021 10:23

Look like the same for FLO, CAU, RPS, PRES, NBI, VAN.
Interesting to see if Harwood will influence any sales or buys as they run off.

[p1nkfish] 10/11/2021 10:06

GHS will be in run-off shortly.
I think about 4.2M shares to be found a home as they wind down the fund. I don't think they have started yet so there is a chance of 6% or so overhang to be digested.

dyor etc, please check the info.

[aimsurfer] 05/11/2021 13:20

Probably Kestrel back mopping up.

[yump] 03/11/2021 16:13

Someone's buying the dips.

[aimsurfer] 01/11/2021 16:37

That would be a lovely gift. Happy to take more under 65p. Had a buy order sitting there for weeks.

[yump] 01/11/2021 15:16

Chart looks a bit incomplete I reckon there’ll be a few shares going around 60p soon - entering a quiet spell between results perhaps.

[masurenguy] 28/10/2021 09:14

To gauge the potential market for Digital Move, the number of residential housing transactions are projected to increase by 40% over the next 4 years from 1m in 2021 to 1.4m in 2025.

[aimsurfer] 27/10/2021 13:14

Agree although thinking aloud initial income from new services with the addition of growth in Econveyancer you can see YE22 revenue of £25m+ as a target, YE23 £30m+, YE24 £40m? Doubling revenue in 3 years I think is very much achievable and maybe comes a lot sooner depending on new products and their adoption.Either way not much downside and all upside.

[yump] 27/10/2021 12:37

AimSurfer

Agree about the valuations - there's nothing in for anticipated growth and with the cash balance, there won't be any placings to worry about (unless a big acquistion pops up).

Also the business model is proven as they made roughly 10% net profit on continuing operations previously (2.4mln on 20mln) - so should be easily scalable, given they have only made a small dent in the market.

Might be a while before the story overcomes the headline financials.

[aimsurfer] 27/10/2021 09:55

Acquiring Amity law, meaningfully increasing headcount, one off consultancy fees to re architect their products and migrate onto strategic Salesforce and Azure platforms I think is party the reason for increased expenses.All value add imo and it's all about the future here and the pipeline of features they bolt onto DigitalMove and the future revenue they generate from it.

[yump] 27/10/2021 09:21

They previously said their main market at present is first time buyers, but they’ve specifically mentioned growth in remorgaging. That doesn’t involve moving but I wonder if they have intentions in that market - it still involves forms to fill and is a bit clunky.

[yump] 27/10/2021 09:01

If thats a smaller loss than they were expecting, that’s a slight worry, even though they are investing significantly. There was a 2.4mln profit on 20mln revenue from continuing ops - now a 1.7mln loss on 10mln. Theoretically thats a 3mln swing - or 3mln invested I guess. Ties in roughly with the drop in cash.

I think I’ll wait before having any more as we’re now in the quiet house buying period - unless covid has shifted it.

[masurenguy] 27/10/2021 08:05

Trading Update

ULS Technology plc (AIM:ULS), the provider of online digital platforms for the UK conveyancing and financial intermediary markets, is pleased to provide a trading update ahead of its Half Year Results for the six months to 30 September 2021 (the "Period").

Financial Highlights

Revenue from continuing operations during the Period was GBP10.2m, an increase of c.45% over the prior year during which the market was impacted by Covid-19. The underlying pre-tax loss for the period was lower than expected at approximately GBP1.5m as the Company accelerated its investment phase. Net cash remains high - at circa GBP23.0m as at 30 September 2021, with no debt.

Operational Highlights

Strengthened team

The Company's consumer-centric, data driven strategy focused on delivering value across all industry stakeholders by making it simpler, easier and more transparent to buy, sell and own a home progressed well during the Period. This was underpinned by strengthening of the Company's management team with the key hires of Ed Mardell (Chief Technology Officer), Simon McCulloch (Chief Commercial & Growth Officer) and Angela Hesketh (Director of Conveyancing Transformation), as well as adding talent across the business - with employee numbers growing from 95 to 113 during the Period. It is currently a challenging hiring market and we are pleased with the high calibre of executives and staff that we are attracting and who are buying in to our strategy and the significant market opportunity, bringing knowledge and expertise to our strong team.

Positive market conditions and continued product roll out

Overall, it was a positive period for the housing market, although there was some disruption due to the various stamp duty holiday deadlines, which encouraged transactions but also concentrated volumes in particular months. The eConveyancer business grew with a number of new contracts won across a range of channels: broker, lender and B2C, and the Company continues to focus on growth in this area.

Importantly, the Company made significant progress in developing DigitalMove, which has now handled more than 60,000 Instructions. We expect further strong traction with the planned launch of a pilot of the first phase of the DigitalMove product for Estate Agents later this year. This will be the first of the Company's products to be built on the Salesforce.com platform, which has reduced the timeline to get the product to market.

The Company is also conducting a pilot enabling consumers to self-serve and start their conveyancing earlier, which is producing very encouraging results both in terms of take up by the consumer and time saved for the conveyancer.

Outlook

Demand for housing remains high and the market shows no sign of slowing particularly as interest rates remain low and employment levels high. Remortgage volumes are also on the rise as a lot of people are coming to the end of their fixed rate deals. The Board believes that the considerable opportunity for DigitalMove to disrupt and enhance the home moving experience continues to grow, with the Company well placed to develop the platform, routes to market and revenue streams.

Jesper With-Fogstrup, CEO of ULS Technology plc, commented: "This has been my first complete half-year in the business and I'm delighted by the significant progress 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 are currently at an exciting stage where we are building and testing a number of products that we will be looking to launch into the market in 2022."

[aimsurfer] 26/10/2021 19:17

Based in that sale Econveyancer can probably fetch £30m, add existing cash balance and I don't see much downside. I expect revenue to start growing meaningfully next year and share to double from here.I was seeing the same thing when EQLS was under 30p, was an easy investment decision given their revenue and expected growth. See the same here and have reallocated my funds accordingly.

[yump] 26/10/2021 18:51

I was curious about the split of profitability between the sold CAL and the remaining business and found this from the sale announcement.

"Cash consideration of GBP27.3m for CAL which made GBP2.5m EBITDA in the year to 31 March 2020.

-- Proceeds from the Disposal will be used to repay all of the Group's existing debt facilities, leaving c.GBP25m of pro forma cash on its balance sheet.

-- The Group's main operating brand post the disposal, eConveyancer, delivered c.GBP5m of EBITDA in the year to 31 March 2020."

Admin. expenses were running at about 8mln annually, so be interesting to see what they are like now, after CAL is no longer part of the group.

[yump] 26/10/2021 18:13

Drat, too late for me to do a startup and float with a load of PR and buzzwords then
;-(

[cestrian71] 26/10/2021 13:51

Its called Coadjute, a blockchain enabled data transmission service for homemovers. It doesnt have a lot of traction right now but its out there. I am not saying it will work or impact ULS. I am only saying some bright spark has done it.

[yump] 26/10/2021 12:58

I agree re blockchain. Sector is not exactly at the forefront of technology yet !

Of course, some bright spark will no doubt float something called "blockchain house move" and get the crowd buying into the story, but ULS is a bit more realistic.

[aimsurfer] 25/10/2021 13:47

I'm aware the land registry did small scale trial with Blockchain but to get to sector wide adoption I'm thinking we're talking 5-10 years away and needs government regulation to drive change. https://hmlandregistry.blog.gov.uk/2019/05/24/could-blockchain-be-the-future-of-the-property-market/I'm sure ULS will be involved but imo its too soon to be focusing solely on Blockchain technology. A lot of existing workflow and communications in the sector can be automated and monitized to hopefully offer better value for all stakeholders involved.

[yump] 25/10/2021 12:57

Yep got some now and then more after interims, barring any shocks. Can't imagine it will fly for a while yet, but I can't think of anyone I know who hasn't complained about needless delays, complications, emails not being read promptly etc. etc in conveyancing. Massive latent demand surely and hopefully resistance from the legal profession is futile.

Not blockchain yet, but a step towards it. I read a massive article a couple of years ago about the various possible uses of blockchains and this was one.

Wish I could filter out all the Kestrel RNS's to see the independent holding ones.

[aimsurfer] 25/10/2021 11:42

IMO current trading update has no great significance to the upside here, that all comes down to DigitalMove development and product rollout, once on the market I expect Econveyancer to benefit from DigitalMove growth. Naturally I would expect increased case flow into Econveyancer due to their adoption of DigitalMove and it's competitive advantage. CEO indicated long term DigitalMove revenue should exceed Econveyancer, plus expanding beyond UK borders. All in good time. Get them while cheap.

[yump] 25/10/2021 10:50

Not sure what to expect - finals seemed to have mixed comments about the state of the market after March this year.

Interesting that having experience at comparethemarket, the CEO has mentioned a potential earnings stream from providing broadband, energy options at some point.

So the order seems to be digitising conveyancing admin./forms/communication first (currently often done by a secretary in a solicitors office but charged at a high rate), then legal, then add on services.

Its pretty easy to visualise a significant future business here.

No idea about price to pay for shares yet.