Universe Share Discussion Threads

[sharestriker] 13/2/2008 07:10

RNS Number:8656N
Universe Group PLC
13 February 2008


13 February 2008


Universe Group plc
("Universe" or the "Company")

Director / PDMR Shareholding


The Company has been informed that certain Directors and Relevant Employees of
the Company yesterday acquired a total of 615,000 Universe shares all at a price
of 6.5 pence per share as set out below:


Name Number of Total new % Holding
shares acquired beneficial
holding

John Scholes 250,000 940,000 0.82%
Paul Cooper 25,000 240,000 0.21%
Malcolm Coster 250,000 500,000 0.44%


In addition to the Directors' share purchases, certain members of the new senior
management team have acquired shares in the Company as follows:



Name Number of Total new % Holding
shares acquired beneficial
holding

Darren Graham 30,000 30,000 0.03%
Charlie Goulding 30,000 30,000 0.03%
Jeffrey Dakin 30,000 30,000 0.03%


For further information please contact:

Universe Group plc Charles Stanley Tavistock
John Scholes, Chairman Securities Communications
Paul Cooper, Chief Executive Nominated Adviser John West
Russell Cook Andrew Dunn
Carl Holmes
Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone]




This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

[sharestriker] 12/2/2008 16:37

This seems to happen all the time now on aim for me anyway.
A surge in the morning following news then falls back to what it was at the start of that day or over the next few days.

[brando69] 12/2/2008 16:05

that was all too predictable...

surge and slump...

[tsmith2] 12/2/2008 13:45

not at all brando, news did come

[brando69] 12/2/2008 11:48

i'm here... so tsmith you reckon that the fact this is up 13% today suddenly makes you a prize tipster, and we should heed your other hot hunches? I think not.

[howdlep] 12/2/2008 11:30

A positive update imo, one that will see the share price bottom and allow forward projections to be made with far more certainty. Lets see if we can close over 7p today.

[tsmith2] 12/2/2008 11:29

where's that brando - u may wanna take a look at SOGP

[loganair] 12/2/2008 08:15

Seems positive news. Still a long way to go, especially for the share price

[sharestriker] 12/2/2008 07:59

Universe Group sees FY results in line with mkt estimates, units win new orders




LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Retail and loyalty systems company Universe
Group PLC said it expects full year results to be in line with the latest market
expectations and said it sees continued growth in 2008 and beyond.
The company said its HTEC unit has won a new contract in excess of 500,000
stg with Murco Petroleum while its car valeting division signed a new contract
win with Co-Operative Group and made two acquisitions all of which are expected
to make a significant contribution to earnings from the current year.
Universe said its car wash and valeting services company Jet Set Wash
Services Ltd has acquired certain assets of AIB Services Ltd, a family owned
business based in Bedford for a maximum cash consideration of 584,000 stg of
which 434,000 stg will be paid on completion with a further performance related
payment of up to 150,000 stg over three years.
The car valeting unit also acquired Edinburgh based WSF Services Ltd, an
established vehicle cleaning equipment provider and will extend Universe's jet
wash and valeting services into the Scottish market.
The company said the car valeting unit's contract with the Co-Operative
Group is for installation of air and vacuum dispensing equipment at its 165
sites, with a total installation of over 330 units.

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[sharestriker] 12/2/2008 07:22

Pre Close Statement




RNS Number:7803N
Universe Group PLC
12 February 2008


Immediate release: 12 February 2008


Universe Group PLC
("Universe" or "the Company")

Pre close statement


New Contract wins, Acquisitions and Expansion of car valeting division


Universe, (AIM: UNG.L), the retail and loyalty systems company, announces that
its results for the year to 31 December 2007 will be announced on 15 April 2008.
The board anticipates that the results will be in line with the latest market
estimates. The board is confident that the progress achieved by the new
management team through 2007 will lead to continued growth in 2008 and beyond.


The board is pleased to report that HTEC, its principal trading subsidiary, has
won a new contract with Murco Petroleum ("Murco"). Also, Universe has
strengthened its car valeting division with two acquisitions and a new contract
win with Co-Operative Group. Further details are given below.


The contract wins and acquisitions referred to below are expected to make a
significant contribution to earnings in the current year. The addition of
in-house fabrication and service within the car valeting division adds to the
return on the business and allows for better control of equipment roll-out
requirements.


New Contract Win for HTEC

The Murco contract is for the installation of HTEC's HydraPOS software into
Murco's "Costcutter" branded stores. The contract value is expected to be in
excess of £500,000 during 2008. Murco currently operates over 160 sites in the
UK which will now be able to carry out on-line credit card transactions using
Murco's own linked network.


Jeremy Clarke, Murco's Marketing Director said: "This new solution has given
Murco a very stable platform enabling us to take our business forward."


Paul Cooper, CEO of Universe, commented: "This new contract, with a company of
Murco's stature, emphasises HTEC's position as a leading supplier of retail and
loyalty systems to the petrol forecourt industry, where modern, robust and
common platforms are required, supported by on-line managed service backup. We
are delighted with the progress HTEC is making in becoming the number one
provider of a total managed service retail solution for these markets."



Acquisitions and expansion of car valeting division

Universe announces that it has formed a new subsidiary company to focus on the
provision of its car wash and valeting services. The new company is called
Jet Set Wash Services Limited ("Jet Set"). Jet Set will comprise the Company's
existing car wash and valeting services, details of which were announced in
August 2007, together with two new acquisitions announced today.


The first acquisition is of certain assets of AIB Services Limited ("AIB"),
which trades as "Jet Set". AIB is a family owned business based in Bedford and
has manufactured and installed petrol forecourt carwash, vacuum and air
equipment for over 30 years. AIB has a national service team, employing 19
people. It produces and installs a range of car wash, jet wash vacuum and
valeting systems.


Universe will acquire the stock and certain assets of AIB, for a maximum cash
consideration of £584,000 of which £434,000 will be paid on completion with a
further performance related payment of up to £150,000 over the following three
year period.


Additionally, Universe announces that it has signed heads of terms for the
acquisition of Edinburgh based WSF Services Limited ("WSF"). WSF is an
established vehicle cleaning equipment provider and will extend Universe's jet
wash and valeting services into the Scottish market. The acquisition of WSF is
expected to complete before the end of February.


These acquisitions have been complemented by the award of a new contract with
the Co-Operative Group to install air and vacuum dispensing equipment on all of
its 165 sites, with a total installation of over 330 units. The contract is on a
shared revenue basis over the life of the equipment.


Paul Cooper, CEO of Universe, commented: "The acquisition of AIB together with
WSF will give us an excellent platform from which to build the new valeting
business line. Jet Set will operate from a modern 22,000 square foot factory in
Bedford formally occupied by AIB and will provide the manufacturing and service
capability for the new business. WSF gives us immediate access to the valeting
market in Scotland, and a strong northern service base. More than 20 staff will
transfer to Jet Set to create a significant operating subsidiary."


"We are also delighted with the new agreement with the Co-Op, which represents
further traction with our growing customer base. We look forward to working with
them as we continue to drive the business forward."

[brando69] 11/2/2008 17:33

thing is boadicea, i thought exactly the same when it was 7p.

i ended up selling at 7.5p for a v small loss, as i needed the funds elsewhere. i now consider myself lucky - not clever.

[boadicea] 11/2/2008 14:48

brando - lol

Joking apart, as gambles go this is probably as good as any at this price. However, initial reaction to awful results (predicted) may give another (or better) entry point later.

[extrovert] 11/2/2008 13:22

Be nice to get a bid of 30p (he say's! dream away)

[brando69] 11/2/2008 12:30

exciting stuff. £7k... looks like someone's launching a takeover bid....

[brando69] 11/2/2008 10:16

tsmith how do you know

[boadicea] 11/2/2008 09:49

Why this week?

The company's strategy seems to be to forecast and return a poor H2 (and FY) for 2007, while forecasting a substantial improvement in 2008, helped by delayed completion of 2007 orders. As such, I would expect the results to be delayed until an optimistic 1H08 can be fully justified. That could put them in late March.

[tsmith2] 11/2/2008 08:35

news expected this week

[loganair] 09/2/2008 09:59

As Anyone notice something about companies on AIM.

When there is a take-over approach, the directors often say that the potential bid undervalues the company.

WHY?

Because these Directors are usually the ones who founded and started the company or being a small company are too inexperienced to know how to handle a take-over situation.

The bidder walks away.

Then the share price of that particular company often falls to 50% or more below the take-over offer.

Remember last year and the take-over approach (sp rose to 16p) and how the directors stated that it undervalued the company. Now look at the share price of Universe.

I wonder how long, if ever, will it take for the share price to get back up to the 16p level again, the 20p+ of 2005 and 30p+ of 2003.

[tsmith2] 06/2/2008 14:45

re close period - thats from the co

[boadicea] 06/2/2008 14:16

We had the tu at the end of November and being over one month into their current year without any statement they should already be in close period imho.
What we are waiting for is confirmation of the JAV launch promised 'in the coming weeks' in the aforementioned tu.

The subject is not mentioned on their web-site which does not appear to have been updated this year.

[tsmith2] 06/2/2008 13:51

mate had a chat with the co and everything is going fine and no reason for the morning fall. Company should be entering the close period very soon so I would expect a trading statement ahead of the close period. IMHO time to buy

[boadicea] 06/2/2008 11:51

Not necesarily.
The share price fall might not have anything to do with either fundamentals or prospects.
If mm's want to keep a level book in the face of insistent sellers and a very general absence of buyers in the market, they will quote and deal at 'silly' prices. This is when the real bargains are found - as long as one is reasonably confident of underlying value.

SKYSHIP ..... whether to ditch or buy back?
Fuel and forecourt sales are unlikely to collapse even in a recession but car-wash/valeting etc may suffer disproportionately as a non-essential. I would have thought that was largely taken account of in the present price.

There is, however, one particular query on progress. The company's last announcement included the following -
"The results will also be affected by a refinement to the revenue-share model
that we announced in August in connection with the Jet Wash, Air Tower and
Vacuum system ("JAV"). We have increased costs and deferred revenues in 2007
ensuring a greater contribution from JAV during 2008 and beyond. We look forward
to updating shareholders in more detail about the JAV operations when the system
is publicly launched in the coming weeks."
That was in November and the subsequent failure to follow up as indicated may be casting a long (or perhaps 'short') shadow.

All imho/dyor.

[brando69] 06/2/2008 10:29

you can by for less than that can't you?