Universe Share Discussion Threads

[boadicea] 07/5/2015 07:59

dealit - Basically double checking my facts and not wanting to attract too much attention before topping up this a.m.

[dealit] 07/5/2015 05:19

boadicea, seem like a good spot to me and very good move for UNG. Do not understand why you have to check facts???

[boadicea] 06/5/2015 15:59

Further to the above, it's interesting to compare the residents companies at post-code HG5_8QB with the list of directorships in the previous link. HTTP://www.endole.co.uk/company-by-postcode/hg5-8qb I'm not sure what to make of it all.

[boadicea] 06/5/2015 15:41

An interesting appointment - http://uk.advfn.com/news/UKREG/2015/article/66727145 I note that he now has a total of 43 directorships, not to mention 3 others in the recent past which may no longer exist. This is a tad above the recommended number but may provide the odd useful connection! I also note one of the past ones was Masternaut BidCo Limited, which may give a clue to possible future events.

[dealit] 14/4/2015 15:53

Downing bought 200,000 more shares on the 10/4/15 they must have had confident in UNG results.

[thepopeofchillitown] 14/4/2015 07:04

Probably bought them for £1

[spud] 13/4/2015 21:56

Assume negligible cost. spud

[russman] 13/4/2015 21:50

Where is Clarity?

[spud] 13/4/2015 07:53

Cracking results & now trading on a very low p/e. We should see an uplift in the price going forward.spud

[boadicea] 13/4/2015 07:50

I am happy with the results today. The increased turnover was bound to follow from the acquisitions but the more interesting performance was the 16% organic increase. My thanks to those that have been digging into the Spedinorcon purchase. Assuming R-S has correctly identified the pertinent facts, my tentative conclusion is that it was likely more about the addition of 1500+ new customers for probable migration on to UNG's own platform than the purchase of valuable IP or personnel. As such the valuation would be minimal and may have consisted mainly of settling the liabilities of an ailing company. The lack of formal information remains curious. Perhaps the main consideration has been to avoid alarming those 1500 customers while a 'rescue' strategy is being arranged. For the moment it remains a post-year-end event and more financial detail should become apparent in the next interims.

[red army] 13/4/2015 07:08

This needs to break through 8p resistance to be really positive and then use 8p as support.

[lanzarote666] 13/4/2015 06:49

Strong cash flow generated. They can afford it. Very encouraging results...

[dealit] 13/4/2015 06:33

Good solid set of results, no explanation of how they are paying for the new acquisition.

[rec0very stock] 09/4/2015 10:18

Spedi burns cash and has negative net worth, it looks like it has always burned cash as net worth declines at roughly £40k per year and the previous company seemed to do roughly the same. I would imagine that what UNG paid for it was very little, but even then they would appear to have added to their net liabilities and taken on a business which clearly is not immediately earnings enhancing. The transaction must have been cash as had shares been issued they would not have been able to avoid disclosing that fact. I think your guess of revenues of £720k is overly optimistic, as very few companies get their bills paid in 30 days, there are more bills outstanding than due. Small convenience stores are under enormous financial pressure, many will put off paying bills they can get away with not paying for as long as possible. I doubt many are looking to upgrade their current system to take a bundle from UNG's other offerings - does a small convenience store need / get anything out of a loyalty scheme? People use them because they are convenient, not because they are loyal to them. I would guess the reason why you can't find full P&L figures is because the company has a small company exemption from filling full accounts and therefore the figures available are only the balance sheet figures, which include nothing for capitalised IP. Software IP has a very short shelf life and if you are not investing to keep it competitive, someone else will be in and stealing all your customers with something that has many more useful features. I do not think the acquisition is in anyway material to UNG and it is simply beyond me why they have released an RNS (which should only be used for materiel and regulatory matters) which is nothing more than PR fluff and excludes key bits of info like the consideration and the financial position of what they have taken on. If there is a material impact of this acquisition then given all that has been discovered, it is more likely to be material in the negative sense as they pay off debts and pump money into a business, which seems incapable of generating cash and could well be losing clients at a significant rate (website says nearly 2000 UNG says over 1500 is this a difference in timing of when those figures were valid?) we just don't know because UNG have not put out a decent announcement that covers all the relevant facts. That announcement should probably have been an RNS Reach, given the apparently non material nature of the acquisition. Anyway at least it has provided something to look into and talk about.

[russman] 09/4/2015 08:59

Lets try another way. Guess Spedi ebitda could be 100k. Strip out directors salaries & other overheads, it could get to 250k. But no positive cashflow; only goodwill & IP. UNG cost of equity is approx. 15%, debt is much cheaper. Quick sale for cash, best guess £250k. Who knows?

[russman] 08/4/2015 20:04

I am fishing for info & not getting anywhere fast. It was eightfourthree Ltd until 2011. They may have some IP but unable to get any turnover figures. Trade debtors are 60k at the year end on average. Best guess 12*60k=720k. 1500 customers = £500 spend per year. I do not think the buying price was significant but they do not say.

[rec0very stock] 08/4/2015 18:11

Something does not add up! The website looks like it is a thriving business that has been around for nearly 30 years. I think it may have started life as this company: HTTP://companycheck.co.uk/company/03585188/STD-RETAIL-SOLUTIONS-LIMITED/financial-accounts#financials Which effectively went bust a few years ago. It was run by David Mendus, who also runs the current Spedinorcon with other members of his family on the board. It was set up in 1998 so 17 years ago, not the nearly 30 claimed on the Spedi website. The website talks about 2000 stores, but UNG say 1500. "SPEDI software has been helping retailers improve their business and increase profits for nearly 30 years. Originally developed for convenience stores, our EPoS is now in use in about 2,000 retail stores throughout Great Britain." There is this rather strange Blog on the site that seems to have been posted on lots by the same 2 people from Oct 2013 to Nov 2014. HTTP://www.spedi.com/about/blog.php This has a rather bad smell about it and it does not help that UNG are being so cagey about what they have said about the acquisition - who ever saw an announcement of an acquisition that did not even say what it was bought for? I keep thinking there must be a simple and innocent explanation, but whenever I have seen strange inconsistencies like this before, it has always spelled trouble.

[spud] 08/4/2015 16:53

Looks like it might have been a Fire Sale buyout. spud

[spud] 08/4/2015 16:51

Checked the address out on Streetview & the registered office is up for let. spud

[rec0very stock] 08/4/2015 11:16

Assuming this is the right company HTTP://companycheck.co.uk/company/07616954/SPEDINORCON-LIMITED/financial-accounts#financials I hope they did not pay very much for it. It does not seem to generate any revenue and has racked up some significant liabilities. The total lack of transparency in the announcement about the consideration and the true state of the business is extremely worrying. The RNS is just meaningless fluff. We do not get many RNSs from UNG, it would be nice when we do that it contained real relevant info. Overall distinctly unimpressed!

[dealit] 08/4/2015 02:38

Finncap also reiterated there 12p hold situation.

[russman] 07/4/2015 21:30

It is very hard to tell whether it is a good deal - for the buyer or the seller. Figures please.

[loganair] 07/4/2015 17:09

FinnCap analysts believe the acquisition will improves the group's share of the convenience store market and widen its customer base and product range. "We believe that this technology can be used to strengthen Universe's existing POS software offering," the broker added.