Frankseluk6
07 Mar 2019
H1 Results Not sure I like the fact that RBS have withdrawn the 4 million pound overdraft. And have never liked invoice financing. Surely this will knock the marjin increase for the year for six. Not what I expected.
srsm
17 May 2018
AGM 2018 AGM ReportMet the new Chairman (George Elliott) and CEO (Pedro Simoes ex Avigilon Sales). Very pleasant and appear to bringing fresh pairs of eyes on the business.Sobering to see how a main competitor Avigilon were sold for $1000,000,000.00 to Motorola and they started selling in 2006/7. Sigh!Pedro indicated how Avigilon were very concerned about IND back then, particularly relating to the IND core DNA concept Distributed Network Architecture. Which basically means that IND kit is more robust. Even today there is only one company that comes close to IND on this. The others double everything up for robustness.But Avigilon went for HiDef cameras from the start. I think IND were more focused on framerate (casinos can't drop frames). But as we all know camera resolution is where Sell Benefits not Technology is turned on its head. People wanted HiDef and IND didn't provide it.Billion dollar company versus 10 million dollar company was perhaps the result of that one decision. (A lot more to it than that and only my opinion).The board described lots of efforts to improve supply chain and products and interactions with suppliers. All seems good stuff.Cybervigilant and the new Integra look good.The recent Panorama showing punters home cameras being easily hacked to livestream childrens' bedrooms to anyone in the world won't have gone unnoticed by professionals. And Integra was sort of asked for by suppliers who would supply IND kit for Enterprise solutions but had little to offer the SMB market. This helps fill this gap. Life in IND yet I think.Stuart
MaX ProfOrdiS
30 Nov 2017
Re: Takeover target? It would be just like Good Ole Hamish to add insult to injury.
Cliff Peat
30 Nov 2017
Re: Takeover target? Correction - omitted one shareholder and should read:With Pistoia, Sorbus/Farmiloe,Grossart and now Church House having more that 50% between them it should not be difficult for a potential predator/acquirer to test the willingness to sell and at what price.
Cliff Peat
30 Nov 2017
Re: Takeover target? SVS Church House Deep Value Investments Fund have added and now hold more than 3% of IND. This indicates a level of confidence in the prospects of the company and follows the Fund's policy - "The Deep Value investments Fund invests in companies that are trading at a discount to their net asset value (nav). ..... these solid but cheap companies can be bought at attractive prices and with the benefit of time should be expected to return to previous levels of profitability and hence higher share prices. Buying companies at these low valuations will also often make them potential takeover targets."[link] has been an early sp rise of 4% this morning (to £1.19 mid sp)- perhaps this is the bottom?With Pistoia, Sorbus/Farmiloe and now Church House having more that 50% between them it should not be difficult for a potential predator/acquirer to test the willingness to sell and at what price.I have bought this week and averaged down to £1.77 - now feeling more confident of recovering cost and some profit in the next 6/12 months.DYOR
Cliff Peat
27 Nov 2017
Takeover target? Is Mr Simoes "interim" CEO whilst the company is tidied up for a sale?Given the turnover, gross margin and product range, it would seem to have potential for being acquired by a larger business. Assuming many duplicating costs could be eliminated and professional (as opposed to amateur) marketing introduced you might think it to be worth well north of £2.50 a share (c. £19m+).I'm wondering whether IND is of interest to Avigilon, Mr Simoes' previous employers based in Canada which announced 9 month net income of £11m (to 30 Sep 2017).I'm now so under water that I will hold but may buy soon to average down my holding cost.Just thoughts. DYORLinks:[link]
MaX ProfOrdiS
24 Nov 2017
Re: Marcus Kneen About 5 years too late. MK was a good CFO and, although his heart was in the right place, was a complete disaster as CEO.
Blanketstacker
22 Sep 2017
Re: Is it just marketing that needs fixi... The price was driven up by the share buybacks, and the management claim the company was fundamentally undervalued. At the moment, they are still right. The price is back to where it was 18 months ago though, and I expect it to hit the 160s later.The problem does indeed seem to be the sales side. The products seem good. The continued losses are also aggravated by that dire phrase 'broadly in line' which means another miss.So where does this leave us? With the cash in the bank, the strength of the products, and the potential for change I will stay on here for now. I am probably dependent more upon hope than expectation!
Cliff Peat
22 Sep 2017
Re: Is it just marketing that needs fixing? Chairman's report says: "The Group has long sought a global leader for the sales team to drive a sustained improvement in performance in its key markets. The Group is now in the latter stages of appointing an experienced Global Senior Vice President of Sales"Nope - they need a top marketing and sales DIRECTOR who gets autonomy over that whole area (not just USA per the strategy statement) and is not dictated to by the money "men" who evidently are out of their depth.Further on "During the first half of 2017, the Group launched 25 new products" - but look at the reports from shows and the lousy videos (IMO). A recent "testimonial" video by a US casino customer has the great line "these cameras handle our situation quite well" In fairness, the customer does go on to identify some of the virtues of the "solid and stable solution".[link] at the comments on Glassdoor there is some suggestion that micro-management by the present executive directors (only two of them) is a problem - and one might surmise that it will continue to make it hard to attract the talent the company needs.It looks like time for big changes at the top and/or predators to cast an eye over the undoubted engineering talent and buy the company. Surely it must be worth £20m++Will the new chairman be tough enough and have enough support from major shareholders to change the direction of IND?Just opinion and would be interested in what others think.
MaX ProfOrdiS
22 Sep 2017
Re: Marcus Kneen Yet again MK has failed to deliver. Yet again he's promising "jam tomorrow". It's about time IND started to apply some financial discipline to its CEO; how may failures should a CEO be permitted. He is a chronic under deliverer. We first and foremost need a CEO who understands marketing and selling; the financial discipline should be provided by the CFO. A good CFO does not always make a good CEO.
MaX ProfOrdiS
06 Sep 2017
H1 Results Due to be released by 30 September. Last year they reported on 15th September so it's possible that we may see the H1 results later next week or early the following week (nothing slated in the LSE diary which is about par for the course these days; new chairman, old habits).
Cliff Peat
29 Aug 2017
Is it just marketing that needs fixing? IND added a video to their YouTube account yesterdayThe GX/HD pan/tilt camera[link] product looks interesting enough as it provides a 180 degree view and other features.However the amateur voice over and sound is very poor (for a "global" company) - and I doubt whether this effectively supports the sales effort.I would sell my small holding but the current sp giving a value of around £18m coupled with the poor results makes me wonder whether IND might be a takeover target?Has anyone any views or information they can share?
MaX ProfOrdiS
25 Aug 2017
Re: A Rarity (Case study) There used to be a lot more news on their website about new deals, customers etc. Apart from new product launches it's become an arid desert over the last few years. Almost total secrecy now seems to be the name of the game and if clients are no longer inclined to openly advertise their security precautions in public then it does become difficult to do any PR (if I'm being charitable) but I haven't compared IND's PR offering to other competitors.As for the rest of the website, don't get me going! Is it just my browser(s)? None of the tabs seem to work! It looks and feels distinctly amateurish (small and low budget); it's as if IND don't consider their website to be a medium for selling their products (maybe they're right; maybe selling face to face is a lot more cost effective in this industry). In the meantime, us poor shareholders are just left in the dark!PS. Nice rise this morning. Definitely makes a change!
Cliff Peat
25 Aug 2017
Re: A Rarity (Case study) Thanks for link - it looks like a decent sized sale.As of today it is the only case study on the website. Compare and contrast with one of their suppliers (of body-worn kit) - [link] looking at the IND download:Just wondering why there was only a "UK" , "US" and Portuguese option for the pdf - it's a French installation so would have thought a French version would be a good idea. Click on the French flag with the article and it reports:"Pas d'article trouvé"Also a bit confused as to the timing of this deal. The case study is dated 2nd August 2017 and it all reads as if done and dusted - but the pdf says "New IndigoVision products are scheduled to be installed in early 2017".Is it a completed sale (or not)? OR should it read 2018I won't repeat my long held view that they need a professional marketing presence at board level. (Just have)
MaX ProfOrdiS
16 Aug 2017
Marcus Kneen Have to say that IMHO the next set of results are make or break for MK.We've been here several times before, investing time, cash and resources to no avail, and this new drive has to deliver, increased turnover and profits, or we should be showing MK the door; he's overseen too many false dawns to suffer another failure. Quite frankly, given the current market backdrop, if you can't sell security now you'll never succeed.Back in 2011, Oliver Vellacott tried to orchestrate an MBO and was seen off by MK and Hamish Grossart. OV sold up at around £5+ in 2012 and at the time we were reliably informed by MK & HG that he was trying to buy IND on the cheap. Doesn't look so cheap now!Time for MK to deliver or ship out!One seriously peeved long term investor!
