Venn Life Sciences Share Discussion Threads

[buywell3] 14/5/2017 00:37

Re the drop below 18.5p support ( mentioned some time back by me ) in Oct 2016


Update for newbes

A key member of the VENN BOD departed after only 5 months tenure



Kees Groen was the founder (owner) of Kinesis , called Cornelius in the VENN latest report ( same guy)

The praises of Kees aka Cornelius were sung here in the guise of 'the owner' of Kinesis


But he didn't last long and now there are several Dutch vacancies


It would seem that several members of staff in the Netherlands have deserted ship

Certainly Kees AKA Cornelius Groen is going to be missed plus his adherents

Is he selling down his VENN holdings ? ( he is mentioned as a major shareholder in the latest annual report)

Why did he go after only 5 months in the job ?

Is he starting a new company in The Netherlands with other ex Kinesis employees ?

[cocker] 11/5/2017 06:26

Hard to tell whether trades were sell orders just being filled Riv. At the end of the day you shareholders are now sitting on a 3 year low with regards to the s/p. Not exactly what one would have expected given the very good TU. Perhaps the market knows Venn's true value?

[rivaldo] 09/5/2017 10:44

Good to see a tick up and some healthy-looking trading going on. About time :o))

[meganxmas] 26/4/2017 10:50

dont know ... but could be that had requested authority to issue up to 12% ... now reduced to 10% of share capital. I have seen similar elsewhere where existing investors dont want more than x% issued as could dilute them below a certain threshhold and therefore ability to access tax benefits such as ER or EIS reliefs on eventual exits. dont think is anything particularly negative.

[lbo] 26/4/2017 09:27

The only thing this crowd is qualified to do is sell fivers for a pound at shareholders expense! Just like at Alltracel they will keep raising money for as long as they can get away with it and then when shareholders realise what's going on and no more fools can be found to buy what they selling they will sell the whole lot out at a fraction of what was put in by shareholders and walk off into the sunset with their salaries and cash from options they managed to dump also.

[battlebus2] 25/4/2017 18:05

I take it they can't issue shares more than 10% of today's shares in issue.

[cocker] 25/4/2017 17:57

Could someone please explain today's rns in layman terms , as not 100% sure I fully understand it. Many thanks

[mulligut] 19/4/2017 17:41

On a point that LBO raised, If the company he continues to mention was bought for 31m euro, surely management were doing something right as most of the disasters on AIM blow the cash and are diluted to oblivion. If they achieved an exit before then it seems they are qualified to achieve the same again. Just making a point, not seeking to argue why you obviously gambled and lost in such a small company. I have very few SME investments other than through EIS participation in a fund. I would not risk more than 5% on high risk companies on AIM.

[mulligut] 19/4/2017 17:36

Don't forget to consider that just as Venn acquire smaller companies it too is a target for any larger CRO. I am purely speculating but wouldn't it be a positive step to spin out any non-core business and reduce losses associated with them to leave a clean EBITDA positive company? So long as the company is cash generative and under valued, even by listed company standards I can't see any risk of downside here at all.

[yump] 19/4/2017 15:23

imo its progress on the core business here that matters. There's probably a market aversion to loss-making biotechs, so not holding out much hope for SKIN. Integumen was affecting VENN's main business with its losses. Removing it one way or another can't be anything but positive.

Experimental biotech doesn't fit with Venn's service model.

We'll see in a few months, whether Venn starts producing PBT. If it does, SKIN will be even more irrelevant. If it doesn't, the performance of SKIN won't help unless they R&D something truly remarkable that transforms the world of medicine as we know it.

[rivaldo] 19/4/2017 13:57

At VENN's current m/cap there's absolutely nothing in the share price for the SKIN spin-off, especially given VENN's cash pile. There's only upside if or when SKIN's share price moves up. IMO anyway.

[cocker] 19/4/2017 13:40

Jeep. Disastrous? It's only down some 30% . Some posters on here will say the big boys are happy to hold. Somehow I doubt many are very happy.

[jeevsje] 19/4/2017 13:24

Expecting VENN to tick down following SKIN's disastrous start following their IPO.

[yump] 19/4/2017 13:14

... and so posts the person who ramped Alltracel and defended it against criticism.

Again.

You should be ashamed of yourself. More so than anyone who is the target of your criticisms. You must be plain stupid to continue to post while demonstrating complete double standards. Or you've lost the plot, which I guess losing a load of money can do to people.

[lbo] 19/4/2017 09:54

based medical equipment specialist has agreed to pay around €31m to acquire Alltracel, the stock market listed manufacturer of oral care and first-aid products.Under the terms of the offer, Alltracel shareholders will be entitled to receive 14p in cash for each Alltracel share they hold.As a result, the independent board members, who were advised by Davy Corporate Finance, said they recommended the offer to shareholders.

[lbo] 19/4/2017 09:52

Yes Davy did a great job on Alltracel too!https://www.irishtimes.com/business/alltracel-turnover-rises-61-in-2003-1.1136736?mode=ampThe company listed back in July 2001 at 89p. Since then the stock has been very volatile, dropping below 20p in the second half of 2002. The price recovered somewhat in 2003 and yesterday it stood at 32p. Davy said it believed the stock based on expanded uses of m-doc could "re-approach" its IPO price level over the medium term.

[rivaldo] 19/4/2017 06:43

Davy Stockbrokers issued a positive update on VENN last week. It's client-only, but there's a summary here:



"Post FY 2016 results forecast update; valuation remains attractive

Apr 13 2017, 11:45 IST/BST Company Report 4 page(s)
Sectors: Pharma and healthcare COMPANIES: Venn Life Sciences
DAVY VIEW

Venn is a small, fast growing Contract Research Organization (CRO) that is strategically positioned to take advantage of structural drivers in the outsourcing market. Near-term execution will be pivotal for company profitability as it seeks to leverage its full clinical service capability across Europe. We believe there is plenty of upside in the current share price. Venn is trading on a forward two-year P/E of 11x and an EV/EBITDA of 4.3x."

[cocker] 18/4/2017 19:26

Anyone able to give an update on April's techinvest position. Have they sold any of their stake?

[rubberbullets] 18/4/2017 13:09

Something nasty to come here

[rivaldo] 18/4/2017 09:40

FYI here's Hybridan's summary and new forecasts from 2 weeks ago:

"Continuing growth not recognised in current price. Underlying fundamentals remain strong.

€m 2015A 2016A 2017E 2018E
Total Income 11.64 18.24 19.29 21.22
PBT* 0.72 0.27 1.27 1.57

Update
31 March 2017

Venn’s full year results last week highlighted some of the growing pains associated with high growth companies and bedding down significant acquisitions. The impressive 57% top line growth was tempered by a fall in EBITDA and the market has not reacted favourably, with the shares down 17% since the results and 28% on a
three-month view.

Fundamentally the growth drivers remain in place and increased levels of business and new systems in place should help to overcome some of the issues seen with resource allocation during 2016. With year-end cash of €3.4m, the balance sheet remains strong.

We have reintroduced forecasts and see this as a year where profit growth can outstrip revenue growth, as the Company uses its human capital more efficiently reducing the need for contractors. However, we are applying more conservative margin and revenue growth assumptions than previously, reflecting the lower profit base from 2016. We see little need to expand headcount in the short-term allowing Venn to benefit from an operational gearing effect. We estimate that the Sedana contract announced in November 2016 and the €5.7m contracts won in January and February this year will contribute €4.3m in fee income in the current year.

With the five-year backlog (€23m in September) typically being front end loaded, it is reasonable to assume than VENN has visibility on another €9 to €10m in this year. Business wins should accelerate now that the full R&D lifecycle proposition, and depending on timing, a double digit(€m) performance in contract wins could generate in the region of €4m in fee income in total. Adding on an estimated 6% in pass through costs and leaving ‘other income’ (mainly grant income) flat,
brings us to a to a total income of €19.3m.

Our 7.3% EBITDA margin expectation should be achievable (industry leaders can be over 20%) should utilisation rates improve. This translates to EBITDA of €1.4m which translates to adjusted PBT of €1.27m (growth of over four-fold albeit from a low base) and adjusted EPS of 1.83c.

It is not the case that Venn is overstaffed, but that activity has been somewhat lumpy. The Company is seeking to address this by diversifying into more smaller ticket projects to complement its increasing win rate of major projects.

In 2018 we have simply assumed that Venn can grow revenues by another further 10%
organically and that it will be able to squeeze out a few more percentage points on EBITDA margin up to a margin of 8% on total income. This brings us to total income of £21.2m and adjusted PBT of €1.56m.

The recent fall in the share price leaves Venn trading at an EV/Sales of under 0.5x and a 2017 adjusted PE of 10.18x. The sector trades on a mid-teens PE rating and a significantly higher EV/Sales rating of over 3x. Given Venn’s size and capacity to win market share and benefit from operating leverage its long-term revenue and profit growth prospects are arguably superior subject to execution risk. Venn continues to assess complementary acquisition targets which could at least in part be funded from its current balance sheet depending on size.

Delivery of our 2017 forecasts should see a recovery in the share rating and we see scope for the shares to surpass 30p over that horizon which would put the shares on a 16.5x 2018 earnings rating. Within our forecasts we believe there is some latitude to improve in terms of both margin progression and earnings growth. Venn is well positioned to accelerate its win rate, particularly with Biotechs, where its offering of a full lifecycle service combined with a customer-centric flexible approach sets it apart from the competition. Last year’s slowdown
in FDA drug approval for Big Pharma creates a supportive backdrop for companies developing more drugs targeted at niche patient populations and plays well to Venn’s customer base and skill set."

[rivaldo] 11/4/2017 06:12

New Asian supply contract for Integumen's TS1 and first orders received - over 500,000 of these have already been sold by Integumen:

[rivaldo] 07/4/2017 15:00

Not that long to wait actually. The AGM's on 26th April - just 19 days away.

Last year saw quite a detailed trading statement, so hopefully the same this year.

[yump] 07/4/2017 14:01

I think the market has probably had enough of medical research shares, so not holding out for anything of benefit from that direction for Venn.

Not a lot to say till next set of results, barring significant contract news.

I think when the time is right, we'll hear a lot more from Venn, as they have a stake in getting interest in both shares just from a point of view of original stakeholders profiting.

Judging by previous share price movements, any sign of pre-tax profitability at interims and Integumen will be irrelevant as won't see the share price for dust.