Venture Life Share Discussion Threads

[apad] 27/2/2018 10:45

Had another look at DOTD.

Posted the acquisition to Goodwill - normal balance sheet practice I suppose.

The cost of sales is up 50%. I suspect that the increase in employees abroad is a large contributor, but I cannot find an overall comment on this (they mention 28 people in the US office). Future profitability will depend on them delivering if I am correct.

This is key:
"With new channels now online, we have already seen early signs of success from our combination with Comapi. The integration of Comapi is on track and we look forward to launching a fully integrated omnichannel platform at our dotmailer summit in April."

So, I reckon that the story hasn't changed, but it's a more expensive business, both from a cost of sales and software development viewpoints than one would like.

apad😎

"For dotdigital, our 'software-and-a-service' model" Mmmmmm.

[apad] 27/2/2018 10:14

"bought the dip of DOTD - 2k at 94p; and its looking promising so far."
Sympathies, j 😡

apad😎

Off topic.
I've worked on old steel in a nuclear plant, MJ, that has less than a quarter of the toughness of a modern, clean steel.
Also, we have to use first class welders to produce welds as bad as those at the time.

[melton john] 27/2/2018 09:53

Interesting stuff Apad. More important as designers want to make things bigger and lighter and cheaper. Safety margins getting smaller all the time. Materials are for the most part full of cracks from the beginning. Steel used to be like flakey pastry, continuous casting has improved it no end. I once visited RR's turbine blade foundry in Derby, the blades are cast as a single crystal of titanium.

[toptrump1] 27/2/2018 09:46

Yes tlatsatt watching it too closely rarely pays and spread betting is a mugs game. Those that do it are same as those weedy losers that frequent book makers.
Best decide what to invest in and hold
Some will come good, others won't but don't believe those on bulletin boards that only have winners


APAD can't have much work on as he lives on here but does have his followers
Bad luck janeann on following into dotd, bad timing but as above may come good

[apad] 27/2/2018 08:41

Almost enough to pay for the biggest aircraft carrier in the world, MJ :-(

I train engineers how to live with cracks in safety critical structures such as aircraft, submarines, pipelines and reactors. Started in 1979 thinking it would be a five year business before the universities caught up. But they never did, because most university lecturers never leave universities, where they propagate knowledge from one textbook to the next.

Thanks for sharing your experience, tlst.

FSJ weathering the storm well enough.

Can't remember why I sold CLIN - looks like a mistake.

CRDA sound and boring.

DOTD looks pretty good at first glance "Revenue from the US region was up approximately 44%".
Invoked the AI acronym to excite the uneducated :-)
However Cash flow from operating activities is only modestly higher 3,192 (3,113).
Not exactly a cash machine then?
I plan to sit down with the annual report when it comes out.

apad

[thelongandtheshortandthetall] 27/2/2018 07:59

Inchcape should have a reasonable day.
Edit. 8.30... or not lol.

[thelongandtheshortandthetall] 26/2/2018 18:36

Well ive had the spread bet account a little while now.
My two spread bets of choice - shorting the AA and Interserve.
Both these companies have basically halved in value over about a month.
Have I enoyed an amzing result... no... i'm negative.
I picked the right kind of businesses to short but I danced in and out of positions. And also playing around with the dow and ftse100.
Even with the dow and ftse making huge obvious moves I'm still behind.
Ive learnt that spread betting can be profitable if you hardly ever do it and ignore the noise.
Perhaps its worth holding off taking posistions until its a 'total conviction' position.
Or a small basket of high conviction positions treated as one position.

[melton john] 26/2/2018 17:42

You're welcome Apad, in what speciality do you train?
I was reading about John Caudwell yesterday, did an engineering apprenticeship at Michelin in Stoke-on-Trent and went on to sell Phones4U for about £2Billion. Reckons since 2008 he paid £78000 a day in tax. 😎

[apad] 26/2/2018 17:13

BOO - why out of favour?
It's testing my principle that one doesn't flinch if the story hasn't changed.
"These are my principles, if you don't like them I have others"
apad

[apad] 26/2/2018 17:02

Thanks, MJ.
I train engineers, in a partnership with three colleagues.
We don't advertise - word of mouth is all we need.
It seems to me that your observations about RTC are somewhat similar, in principle.
If you are really good, people will beat a path to your door.
Thanks again,
apad😎

[apad] 26/2/2018 16:04

GHH - worra stalwart!
apad😎

[redartbmud] 26/2/2018 15:52

Off the pace a bit. At Fawlty Towers. LLoy - will PPI ever end.
GHH AGM was excellent. Holding on tight. Will BTFD.

red

[melton john] 26/2/2018 15:51

Apad, re RTC i'm no expert on the industry. My only experience was when looking for employment after early retirement from the computer industry. I found that I was getting the equivalent of a personal manager who was incentivised to get me work, someone with a lot of contacts to send my CV to. There is a wealth of mature experience out there looking for an opportunity and this model of recruitment seems to match people to jobs very well. Employers like not having to sift through a pile of applications to find a diamond to fill one post and at the same time there is the growth of temporary employment opportunities that favour having a relationship with a recruiter who knows your business and has a small army of people on the books. There is no barrier to entry other than performance, if a recruiter keeps clients and workers happy why would they go elsewhere? It's all about people skills and sometimes management and workers need a go between to match them up successfully.

They pay a nice divi too and also own an ex British Rail training center in Derby used as a conference center.

[apad] 26/2/2018 14:25

Janeann,
Doin' nuffin aint a bad idea.
apad😎

[apad] 26/2/2018 14:03

I had a mate, who was the acceptable, ethnic-indian face of senior management at Xerox, when it was patent protected.
He was a right fopdoodle and they fired him.
Afterwards, he set himself up as a management recruiter and made a fortune.
We were in hysterics.
Management speaks management-speak unto management.
apad😎

[toptrump1] 26/2/2018 13:41

They are two a penny

[apad] 26/2/2018 13:28

MJ RTC - indeed.
I've never understood how a recruiter can have a market advantage.
Can you enlighten me?
It seems like an extraordinarily low overhead business with no barriers to entry :-)

apad

[gsbmba99] 26/2/2018 13:24

Not sure if anyone other than me has interest in MAB1, but UK Finance Jan 18 gross mortgage lending estimate was £21.9bn, +9.8% on Jan 17:

[apad] 26/2/2018 13:10

I guess the difference between your 250p and my 300p for QTX, Hydrus, is a function of how much value one puts on the foreign expansion.
There should be some positive feedback in the US market.
I'm surprised that the price has bounced back.
apad😎

[janeann] 26/2/2018 12:11

The problem is topt..d, most of my main holdings are at or near high points - prsm, acso, ltg pctn spe and ztf. and as I started buying them at considerably lower prices (eg acso at c£4) I really don't think I should get more.

Mind you could suggest something ......

[melton john] 26/2/2018 12:08

Good result for RTC today. Small cap, about 8m. Good future prospects IMHO.

[hydrus] 26/2/2018 09:54

Hi APAD. It's a high quality business in many ways but in a tough market as you said. I think 250p would be reasonable at a PE ratio of around 20. I'd consider buying at that sort of level if there were signs of good future growth.

[apad] 26/2/2018 09:51

Do you have a price at which you would consider buying QTX, Hydrus?
apad🤔

[apad] 26/2/2018 09:45

A valid viewpoint, Hydrus, and more or less the reason I stopped accumulating. Although I don't use PERs.

A counterpoint is:

Geographical analysis by destination
2017
2016

United Kingdom
21,403
21,249

France
1,917
1,408

Republic of Ireland
10
5

United States of America
1,158
677

The foreign business will be all fleet, so if they can keep this going there is decent growth to be had. It also attests to the product quality.

If I assume that insurance is all in the UK than I calculate that the UK fleet business grew by 5.3%, which supports your view, Hydrus.

apad😎