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Many thanks SJL, very much appreciate your insights and knowledge on this board. Also to the many others over all these years that have (despite the many negatives!) contributed so positively.
Let’s hope this new management can show the same positivities and remain honest and open in the months ahead.
skyhi,
i think in short , TH tried to present/ negotiate an “ exclusive “ type of deal with ENS but all along ENS plan was to add the same functionality to all existing TLds and also develop their own alternative naming system outside of the icann rules .
summary : Nice try / good intent by MMX , they did their best but sadly was never really going to happen so ended up a little over hyped , worth a try tho .
I agree SB!
Can anyone explain what’s happened to the once much anticipated here on MMX, ethereum and .LUXE connection?
SJL - I hope TF is going to pop his head (and shoulders) above the parapet in a months time at the time of the 2020 results - and lays out a clear road map for the next 12 months and beyond - including the D word. That way I can afford to visit Florida and not just hear about it! Good to chat. SB
re :Rory
agreed : seems to find it harder these days to get all 4 stellar rounds in . i met him first over a decade ago when he first relocated to florida and rented my former home in Jupiter for a year with a nice guesthouse on site for his lovely mom and dad .
these days when he his home i see him almost daily as he and his wife take their new young daughter out for their twice daily walks in her stroller : no footpaths in this community so have to make sure i dodge them every time as i come and go in one of the motors :-)
Still haven’t got him to come round to watch the footy on a saturday morning yet for a bit of banter , or a game of snooker / darts :-)
yes and that’s why it’s key that Tony gets the other non adult strings “ singing for their supper “ rather than being over reliant on the nett profit contribution from the adult strings and adult block , which i am more than sure is his priority during his first 6 months .
i have spoken to Tony recently but more just in social matters and the domain industry in general as i/ we studiously avoid talking about the MMX business specifically , given that i am / have been actively trading in the stock .
Tony is a solid player , he may be green as a CEO and possibly not the most investor friendly in terms of PR etx ( think diametric opposite of TH !) but he will get the job done in a solid no nonsense manner , of that i am sure .
SJL - I hope for tigers sake this crash doesn't have the repercussions of his last rather eventful driving incident. Rory is a great golfer - just seems to have never got the early mojo back from when he first burst onto the scene - unfulfilled majors potential - and despite a huge bank balance - that is no doubt why he was back hitting balls...SB
There is a perhaps a reputational risk attached to adult domains in a sale context - but the context would be pretty important. They work for us pretty well as it stands. I see spreadbetting was not actually launched - much like our own dds and budapest... ! Wonder what donuts paid for the four finance related domains - about 4K registrations in total. Prudence would suggest we could pay out 50% of our FCF as a dividend - that would be about 0.3p for this financial year based on what we currently know - possibly more as the year unfolds. That would do me for starters - and I strongly believe would lead to a healthy shift in the share price based on the yield. SB
re : Tiger
yes the poor bugger has been in the wars over the last few years : his CFO , Chris Hubman is a good friend of mine .
incidentally i bumped into Rory at 7:15 am on Sunday morning while i was walking the dog , out playing at the Bears Club ( where he also lives ) . he missed the cut on saturday out at the Genesis and must have flown straight back but there he was bright and breezy first thing Sunday working on his game . He is such a nice friendly , even shy young man .
Silver / BB ,
agree with both of your points and personally i have no reservations at all ! after all it was me that secured them !
when the muppet show is now limited streaming with warnings for not being PC and with visa / mastercard pulling payment processing for the worlds biggest adult site , the power of threat of boycott in this “ woke / PC “ world is stranger than ever . you saw what happened when the IC guy Simon whatever refused to follow MMx post icm acquisition .
i’m just saying that some of the conservative suits at these bigger players may do a risk analysis and decide they don’t want to go there .
Silvers point about just running and hopefully growing the business the best way possible is my view , return 1/2p divi every year to shareholders and see what comes along ...
Not so much ramblings but interesting observations SJL. The most pertinent being - even if we wanted to be sold at a price that was acceptable - are there any buyers out there for our portfolio - both in term of price expectations and the reputational risk you identified ? I don't think - as investors - we can just assume at some point within the next five years we become so irresistible that we get a decent exit. Our plan A should be to operate a simple, well run, low cost, easy to understand and profitable business which delivers a shareholder return. Plans B, C, D etc could feature an acceptable exit if available, diverging parts that don't fit (non performing domains, adult elements which should find a buyer out of the public eye if that is what was required to assist an exit), look at M+A activity once we prove we can manage our own business. There must be a plan developing somewhere behind the scenes?! In other news....looks like tiger might need to borrow one of your fleet...SB
good morning chaps ,
i tend to agree with Silvers point of view mainly in that yes the company has excess cash and continues to produce free cash so why not pay a decent dividend to soothe investors wounds in the meantime pending exit.
the company is unlikely to make acquisitions as there just isn’t appetite there and for prime TLD assets are other more deep pocketed bidders around .
one very recent development which may not bode too well for the full price exit to say PE backed Donuts was the news that just last week they bought 4 out of 5 TLds from another small operator . interestingly the one they left on the table was .spreadbetting which , to me at least , indicates they may well be steering clear of potentially “ controversial “ or “ risqué “ strings on their march to their hoped for IPO .
IF that is the case it would tend to scupper the idea of them making an all out full price bid for the MMX full stable .
the whole raision d’etre of the 2018 deal was to acquire the icm portfolio at its “porn discounted “ price , subsume it into the larger portfolio and then hopefully on exit it would add almost 2x what was paid for it as the “ discount “ element as a standalone portfolio would disappear in the larger 32 Tld grouping .
sadly since 2018 the “ woke “ culture and “ cancel / boycott “ culture has massively accelerated which if anything , in truth , and i am loath to admit this , makes the adult domains perhaps MORE toxic than they were then . with the numbers of players left on the field vastly reduced and the 2 most likely bidders one already public and the other likely going public , if you were their CEO why would you risk some random fund / investment manager / commentator taking exception to your business and recommending a boycott for the sake of buying this relatively tiddling company in market cap terms vs your own . you just wouldn’t , i don’t think .
i don’t think CNIC would have such qualms but would be a mainly stock based deal with them which has a whole bunch of other considerations .
the whole company is without doubt undervalued at these stock prices IMHO hence my recent buys , but i have to say following several discussions and observations over the last few weeks , i am beginning to struggle to see how the lucrative exit comes about .
i hope these ramblings make sense to some
Mickster - I am not gambling on the ability of a dividend to attract new investors - far from it. What I see is an undervalued stock which currently produces cash clearly in excess of its operating requirements; a company which probably should no longer be listed on AIM (which is geared to capital raising); a business which claims to have dealt with its onerous contracts, bad debts, pay offs, settlements with $9m cash remaining and no debt; and which is likely currently producing free cash flow of $600K a month whilst continuing to strip costs. Yes we all want the company sold - and if you're not here for a dividend that's perfectly understandable that's not why I made my investment here either - and agree it was the same for our II's. But how long do we wait. The growing cash on our balance sheet appears to have no value at present - what do you propose - just leave it sitting there in the hope ethos capital think we've become an asset they fancy shelling out $150m for? Spend it on buybacks - it has taken some stock off market - but no impact on share price. Do you think real world ex-dividend pricing works for mmx - look what happened last Thursday - manipulated by day traders with less than £1m stock traded. Do you not think our board of directors owe it to shareholders to consider options to deliver the much referred to 'shareholder value'. Our new CEO and former ICM executive was appointed on the basis of a recommendation from SJL who made it clear distributions were a clear policy of ICM to its (private) shareholders - that thinking may have been considered as part of his appointment. SB
SB ... with all due respect...what does a divi achieve other than an adjusted sp to suit? I would imagine you're gambling on exposure to new investors, but those who look for a divi income dont put their money into these bottom barrel aim stocks. They look for the big stable mcaps with no "fiddling the books" fiasco .... we're barely able to hold a shocking 5p share price ... we need to be careful what we wish for. I have no interest in a dividend payment and I suspect the II's are of the same opinion. Clear direction from TF that leads to a sale is all I'm hopeful of here.
I guess it’s feast or famine communication with mmx SS - TH was all gung ho latterly with media interviews and positive investor meetings - but behind the scenes he must have known the business was in a right mess - and the more we find out the more we know he was in the thick of it. Like you - I would like a clear update - but given the impact of previous updates where we were not given an accurate picture and sold stories which came back to haunt us - i want a straight, honest business update which has been through proper accounting diligence and provides clarity on our direction of travel for the next 12 months and beyond. And that may take TF a bit more time - and hopefully includes a conversation with IIs to get their support for a dividend announced at the time of the results. It’s difficult playing the waiting game / but the positive signs are there. Hopefully end of next month to see what progress is being made. SB
We certainly see it all with this bloody company..
TF has been CEO for four months now .I'm pleased with the little that I know,cost cutting ,inventory release etc,however the man is almost invisible..Given the recent history,I really think he should have connected with shareholders and given us a clear set of objectives for this year..He may be doing a good job ,but part of that job is communication,something every CEO we have had has been lacking.Its time he came out of the shadows and introduced himself.