gretel
22 May 2017
New good value acquisition today China and also Indonesia. Good value too, with $6m buying $0.9m of PBT and "good" further growth expected this year:[link] the "higher margin art services business" too, making KWS the "the leading player in the outsourced market" now.
donna blitzen
18 May 2017
Re: New 970p analyst target price Yes, I'd seen the Berenberg increase in to but not Finncap one. Both very encouraging.
gretel
18 May 2017
New 970p analyst target price Nice....Berenberg have today increased their target price to 970p (from 850p).And Finncap have increased their target price to 885p (from 692p).[link]
donna blitzen
17 May 2017
Re: Yet another acquisition You have this board pretty much to yourself it seems, though not entirely. I have a small holding here and read with interest. Thanks for your contributions.
gretel
17 May 2017
Yet another acquisition Nice - an American earnings-enhancing acquisition....[link] too large at $4.1m (mostly in cash), but extremely important strategically. This comment is particularly interesting and gives a taste of KWS' potential:"GameSim will take advantage of synergies with other Keywords studios to better service our customers in the video gaming, military simulation & training, and geospatial visualisation industries."
gretel
10 May 2017
RNS : another new acquisition Good news today, with another acquisition mainly from cash - small, but highly strategic it would seem...[link] are delighted to welcome XLOC's talented team to Keywords Studios, having worked well together and recommended each other's solutions across many game titles over several years. XLOC brings to the Group a scaleable, leading, proprietary software application that is embedded in to the localisation processes of games developers. Its system is relied upon from an earlier stage than Keywords Studios has typically been involved and will enable the Group to provide integrated software and services across the full localisation cycle, in addition to offering XLOC as a standalone solution."
gretel
10 Apr 2017
RNS : Octopys keep buying more They had 1.77m shares in their last RNS (in January), so they've bought another 460,000 as they now have 2.23m, or 4.1%:[link]
gretel
05 Apr 2017
Great results, broker upgrades etc Terrific results, cash flows, outlook and potential. It's not cheap, but then you have to pay for quality.Numis now has an 820p target:[link] with the CEO - a "fabulous" year, a good start to 2017 and more acquisitions likely. Plus mention of augmented reality (much more likely to take off imo than virtual reality), e-learning etc.....Http ://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/stocktube/7225/-it-s-been-yet-another-fabulous-year-for-us-says-keywords-chief-andrew-day-7225.html?utm_source=Sign-Up.to&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=7163-364097-Daily+newsletter+-+04%2F04%2F2017
piw
05 Apr 2017
Video: KWS FY16 results Presentation of full results, ye December 2016 by Group CEO Andrew Day and Group CFO David Broderick.[link] – 18:16What Keywords Studios do – 1:30A global player - 5:41Group highlights of the year– 7:41Financial track record – 11:37Financial review, David Broderick CFO – 13:26Income Statement – 13:44Balance Sheet – 15:50Cashflow – 19:15FY17 guidance – 20:15Service lines highlights – 21:10Acquisitions – 25:22Cross selling case studies – 28:15Group operational efficiency – 32:18Managing growth – 34:39Strategy & Opportunities – 35:36Acquisition Strategy – 36:53Market Outlook – 39:25Current trading & outlook – 42
8Investment summary – 43:20Q&A – 448Gross margin & operating costs – 44:17Localisation and audio - 46:19Gross margin per service line - 49:25Implications of cross selling on gross margin & cost pressure - 512Engineering and analytics - 536Maintaining gross margin - 55:58Integrating acquisitions into KWS - 574How many more games a year would be optimal? - 59:37Management of personnel - 011:46Opportunities of studios internal departments - 013:50Automation – 0179
gretel
23 Mar 2017
Invesco very keen Nice....[link] Mar 2017Jonathon Brown, who jointly runs the Invesco Perpetual UK Smaller Companies Investment Trust, has revealed the shares he is buying in the world after Brexit.""An investment he described himself as ‘most excited’ about is Keyword Studios. Brown remarked that, ‘this is a company that provides outsourced services to the computer games industry. That is a secular growth industry, and outsourcing is becoming more popular.’He added, ‘Keyword do a wide range of services, they translate the dialogue in the games into other languages, and they also make the settings for the games localised to the different markets. They also do some of the graphics, and as the artwork becomes more high resolution that is becoming more important.’Brown added, ‘the company has expanded both organically and through acquisition. It has bought up a lot of boutiques in the market, and is a share we like a lot.’"
gretel
02 Mar 2017
Finncap have 692p target FYI these are Finncap's conclusions from last month's note issued after the year end trading update:"Today's year-end update is comfortably ahead of revised guidance and confirms an extremely strong FY16, driven by both organic and acquired growth. Thanks to the company's aggressive consolidation strategy, Keywords is now uniquely positioned to capitalise on key trends, namely industry growth, the push to outsource and consolidation of suppliers. We therefore feel confident that the company's strong track record will continue and we upgrade our forecasts accordingly. We move to an out of consensus FY17E adj. PBT of €20.6m, while our target price moves from 500p to 692p and we retain our Buy recommendation.""692p target price – based on 23x FY18 P/E (649p) in addition to 43p/share that we attribute to the group's disposable cash resources which are often used to make earnings accretive acquisitions. Out of the c.€14m of disposable funds, we assume €10m is likely to be utilised by FY18 – prudent considering that €21.7m was invested in FY16 and that Keywords may look to extend its current RCF beyond the €15m which it is at present (less than 1x FY16 EBITDA). Our target price is supported by DCF, suggesting a FV of 690p."
gretel
20 Feb 2017
Giles Hargreave buys more KWS From Citywire:"Keywords bull run entices HargreaveCitywire AA-rated small cap selector Giles Hargreave has upped his stake in computer game translator Keywords Studios (KWS) as its shares dip from year-long bull-run which took it to a record high.Hargreave increased his holding to just over 5% of the business worth £16.2 million at a share price of 599p, just off an all-time peak of 613p hit last week.The majority of the shares are held by his private clients, with the remainder owned in funds run by his broker and asset manager Hargreave Hale for Marlborough Fund Managers.Keywords offers translation, voice-overs and cultural guidance to computer game developers selling their games into overseas markets, providing services to 21 of the top 25 sector businesses.Keywords is up 159% over the last 12 months. Analyst Berenberg initiated coverage on the company at the start of this money with a ‘buy’ rating and a 760p price target. The shares shed 5.5p on Friday to close the week at 599.5p.And a new interview with the CEO re the latest acquisition last week:Http ://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/stocktube/6931/keywords-studios-spov-acquisition-offers-synergies-to-both-companies-says-day-6931.html?utm_source=Sign-Up.to&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=7163-362478-PROACTIVITY+-+Keywords+Studios%2C+Jersey+Oil+%26+Gas+and+HNR+under+Friday%E2%80%99s+spotlight"Keywords Studios Spov acquisition offers synergies to both companies, says Day11:11 17 Feb 2017 Andrew Day, chief executive at the video games service provider, talks us through the rationale behind the £1.2mln purchase of Spov, which supplies visual special effects to video games and movies."It takes a very high-end, rather small scale business in Spov and allows us to introduce it (Spov) to our client base of hundreds of game developers around the world," he tells Proactive's Andrew Scott."
missmolly
09 Feb 2017
company details I think I should be addressing Gretel....Is this a UK co.?, If so I guess income derived abroad is good re: the £ devalue.Quickly looking at the Co. website, it seems all good earnings wise and maybe no debt?I bought a few today...I know it's got good broker RNS's, but what are they basing the uplifts in SP primarily?Does the Co. have products (games) under their own name or are they mainly a service provider to games companies mainly?What countries give most income?As you can see, I don't know much about the Co. and so I would appreciate any comments.Trades pretty quiet today...Good luck to all holders
gretel
09 Feb 2017
Berenberg reiterate their 760p target Berenberg today reiterate their Buy and 760p target:[link]
gretel
08 Feb 2017
Re: RNS : ahead of expectations..... Finncap say Buy today and have increased their target price to 692p (from 500p).Not quite Berenberg's 760p target, but getting there.
