The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode featuring financial educator and author Jared Dillian has been released. Listen here.
Https://totaltele.com/eckoh-secures-screwfix-contact-centre-payments/
The investment objective of Oryx is to seek consistently high absolute returns while maintaining a low level of risk, principally through investment in medium and small sized quoted and unquoted companies in the United Kingdom and United States. Target companies typically have strong business models but individually may have factors constraining their performance, which may be addressed through Oryx taking an activist approach as a shareholder.
ECKOH | INVESTEC BROKER | INDICATION +3-5%
Price: 38.0p | Target: 50.0p | Rec: Buy
Results are marginally ahead of expectation on all key metrics except EPS, which is an 11% beat. The new financial year has started well, with excellent order intake from renewals and new business, and the outlook for the US is relatively buoyant. Forecasts are left unchanged for now. A heavy period of renewals has largely culminated, which has positive financial implications. Valuation appears anomalous for a “category winner” in global voice security.
Clearly no bad news imminent…..would put it down to tax-year end private client selling
Eckoh plc (AIM:ECK), the global provider of Customer Engagement Security Solutions, announces it has received notification that, on 31 March 2023, Scawton Limited, a company closely associated with David Coghlan, a Non-Executive Director of the Company, purchased a total of 125,000 ordinary shares of 0.25p ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 35.25 pence per Ordinary Share.
Eros Media World PLC (formerly, Eros STX Global Corporation) (the "Company") hereby gives notice that, further to the announcement made on 1 November 2022 relating to the delay in the last coupon payment on the Bonds (due to ongoing administrative issues flowing from its demerger with STX Entertainment), it has now made payment of the full amount of the outstanding coupon to Elavon Financial Services DAC, UK Branch (as Principal Paying Agent in respect of the Bonds). U.S. Bank Trustees Limited (as Trustee in respect of the Bonds) has also been notified that this payment has been made.
The Company is mindful of the pending maturity date of the Bonds and is exploring strategic options in order to secure a successful future for the Company and to build value for all stakeholders. Further announcements will follow in due course once the Company has finalised its plans in this regard.
Lastly, the Company is pleased to report that the preparation of its audited financial statements for the years ended 31 March 2022 and 2021 is continuing to progress, following the challenges faced as a consequence of the demerger with STX Entertainment. A further announcement will follow in due course when the timing of publication of these audited financial statements is confirmed.
Eckoh Rated New Buy At Peel Hunt; PT 60 Pence
6 October 2022 Company Comment
Buy
Eckoh (ECK LN)
Technology | Corporate Client Mkt cap: £122.2m | CP: 42p | TP: 92p
Strong H1 order momentum
Ahead of its CMD next week, Eckoh announces that H1 order levels are set to be in excess of £17m (PY £11.2m) or over 50% ahead of H122. We believe this is a result of strong organic growth coupled with a contribution from Syntec. As a result Eckoh maintains its guidance for significant revenue and profits growth in FY23 (we forecast 25% yoy growth in FY23 FD adj. EPS). This year has seen very significant announcements regarding Eckoh’s product and technology strategy with the launch of its Customer Engagement Security offering. This marks a major expansion of the product set and the globally addressable markets. We encourage you to attend Eckoh’s CMD on Oct 11th for a comprehensive update on these developments.
Analysts:
Kevin Ashton: Direct: +44 20 7496 3082 | Email: Kevin.Ashton@singercm.com
Caspar Erskine: Direct: +44 20 7496 3080 | Email: Caspar.Erskine@singercm.com
Harold Evans: Direct: +44 20 7496 3068 | Email: Harold.Evans@singercm.com
Singer Capital Markets Equity Research
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Email: EquityResearch@singercm.com
Head Office: One Bartholomew Lane London EC2N 2AX
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https://www.bseindia.com/xml-data/corpfiling/AttachLive/8129bdb2-4d57-4498-9173-c48f04091849.pdf
Report now filled....
- Same / similar market sector if I’m not mistaken ?
A takeover bid for Sainsbury's would be of interest to an investor in the food/retail sector ?
Receipt of Preliminary Approach
Mon, 15th Aug 2022 18:33
RNS Number : 0914W
Darktrace PLC
15 August 2022
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN, INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION.
THIS IS AN ANNOUNCEMENT FALLING UNDER RULE 2.4 OF THE CITY CODE ON TAKEOVERS AND MERGERS (THE "CODE") AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN ANNOUNCEMENT OF A FIRM INTENTION TO MAKE AN OFFER UNDER RULE 2.7 OF THE CODE AND THERE CAN BE NO CERTAINTY THAT ANY FIRM OFFER WILL BE MADE, NOR AS TO THE TERMS OF ANY SUCH OFFER.
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
15 August 2022
Darktrace plc ("Darktrace" or the "Company")
Receipt of Preliminary Approach
The Board of Darktrace notes the recent media speculation and confirms that, following receipt of a number of preliminary and conditional proposals, it is in the early stages of discussions with Thoma Bravo, L.P. ("Thoma Bravo") regarding a possible cash offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the Company.
Discussions are at a preliminary stage and there can be no certainty that any offer will be made, nor as to the terms of any such offer.
Under Rule 2.6(a) of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers, Thoma Bravo must by not later than 5.00 p.m. on 12 September 2022, either announce a firm intention to make an offer for Darktrace in accordance with Rule 2.7 of the Code or announce that it does not intend to make an offer, in which case the announcement will be treated as a statement to which Rule 2.8 of the Code applies. This deadline will only be extended with the consent of the Takeover Panel in accordance with Rule 2.6(c) of the Code.
As a consequence of this announcement, an 'offer period' has now commenced in respect of the Company in accordance with the rules of the Code and the attention of shareholders is drawn to the disclosure requirements of Rule 8 of the Code, which are summarised below.
PCI-PAL PLC("PCI Pal", "the Company" or "the Group")Trading Update Continued successful execution against strategy leads to further earnings upgrade. Strong early progress on expanded product roadmap.
PCI-PAL PLC (AIM: PCIP), the global cloud provider of secure payment solutions for business communications, is pleased to announce that following continued strong performance since the half year, the Group anticipates that results for the full year to June 2022 will be better than current market expectations.
Trading Update
The first half of the financial year was another period of significant progress for the Group, and this momentum has continued into the third quarter. At the end of the quarter, all key metrics for the Group were again performing ahead of management's expectations. The Group's key indicator of future recurring revenues of TACV2 increased to £12.5 million as at 31 March 2022, following a further £1.1 million ACV1 added in Q3. ARR3 has now reached a key milestone of £10 million. As at 31 March 2022, cash had increased to £6.4 million (31 December 2021: £5.5 million).
The Group continues to cement its position as the leader in true-cloud solutions through strong channel relationships in its space. During the quarter, the Company signed a number of additional new strategic target partnerships, including:
· a marketplace partnership with the global CCaaS4 provider Five9, which is using a repeatable integration created with a newly signed and deployed enterprise sized customer in the U.S.
· a reseller agreement with a European Gartner magic quadrant CCaaS4 vendor that specialises in enterprise size contact centres, and
· a global reseller partnership with another one of the largest call centre Business Process Outsourcers6 in the world.
In the quarter, the Group has also renewed its existing long standing relationships with two of the largest government contact centres in the U.K., adding a further minimum two year term to each relationship.
With this strong expansion of existing customer accounts, combined with Churn rates of less than 3%, the Group has continued to deliver excellent Net Revenue Retention5 performance which now stands at 118% at the end of the quarter.
As a result of continued strong financial performance across the business, the Directors now anticipate that the results for the year to June 2022 will exceed their previous expectations.
Research
16 December 2021 Company Note
Buy
Eckoh (ECK LN)
Technology | Corporate Client Mkt cap: £156.7m | CP: 61.5p | TP: 92p
Significantly accretive strategic acquisition
Eckoh is acquiring Syntec for £31m, a provider of Secure Payments solutions that bolsters its leading position in US Secure Payments whilst complementing its UK operations. Syntec has a long track record of growth, profitability and FCF generation. It generated revenues of £5.8m in the 12 months to June 2021, up 26% organic yoy, driven especially by strong progress in the US, and an operating profit of £1m. We model synergies of £0.8m in FY23, leading us to upgrade earnings by 15%. We upgrade our price target from 80p to 92p. Buy.
Singer Capital Markets Equity Research
Email: EquityResearch@singercm.com
Head Office: One Bartholomew Lane London EC2N 2AX
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Perhaps one should read through to CloudCall Group ? - a similar business - taken out by US Private Equity last night at 72% premium….
https://www.eckoh.com/resources/news/item/eckoh-s-security-solution-callguard-wins-twice-at-the-card-not-present-awards-2021#:~:text=Eckoh%20wins%20won%20both%20the,Present%20space%20throughout%20the%20year
https://contact-centres.com/eckoh-wins-anti-fraud-solution-of-the-year-2019/
IC Tip: Buy at 48p
Tip style
SPECULATIVE
Risk rating
HIGH
Timescale
MEDIUM TERM
Bull points
Increasing global focus on regulation and privacy
Contact centre market opportunity
Strong recurring revenues
Good cash generation
Bear points
Growth in profits dampened by investment
Pressure to execute on US opportunity
By Harriet Clarfelt
These days, it’s easy to pay for things remotely – via our phones, tablets and other media. But, given intensifying regulation, organisations are under growing pressure (mega-fines for BA and Marriott provide recent examples) to make sure customer transactions are secure. According to trade association UK Finance, card-not-present fraud losses on UK-issued cards rose 24 per cent to £506m in 2018.
ECK:LSE
Eckoh PLC
1mth
Today change
0.00% Price (GBP)
49.50
Enter Eckoh (ECK), which spans two complementary areas: secure payment products and customer contact services. Its patented payment products, including CallGuard, remove payment data from contact centres and IT environments. This helps clients to reduce the risk of fraud, secure sensitive data and comply with statutes including the Payments Card Industry Data Security Standards. Customer contact services enable enquiries and transactions to be implemented via any device, which improves efficiency for Eckoh’s clients.
The contact centre industry is vast, accounting for 4 per cent of the workforce in both the UK and the US (Eckoh’s key regions). Eckoh covers just over 3 per cent of its UK addressable market, and less than 1 per cent of its US market. Moreover, its products face limited competition. Judging by the results for the year to March 2019, it is already capitalising on the opportunity at hand. New business contracted soared by 47 per cent to £22.6m last year, while total business contracted including renewals rose 62 per cent to £32.7m.
True, Eckoh’s income statement was knocked by new revenue-recognition rules. These rules reduced reported sales, particularly for the newer US business where more fees are charged upfront. A 16 per cent fall in adjusted cash profits to £4.3m also reflected a planned rise in headcount, and investment in sales, marketing and IT. But the rules also helped to lift recurring revenues, which came in at 83 per cent of sales, and also boosted Eckoh's reported deferred revenues (advanced payments), which were up 44 per cent last year to £14.6m. This helped the group report visibility of more than 90 per cent of UK sales.
Eckoh sells its full product portfolio in the UK, most of which is delivered through its hosted platform. Here, new business rose 69 per cent to £10.1m. Sales rose 5.2 per cent to £19.4m; a small but encouraging uptick, after the 2 per cent decline seen in 2018. Action taken, including a sales team rejig, appears to have paid off.
The US business is smaller than the UK, but is growing fast. Here, Eckoh focuses on three areas where it faces the least competition: se
http://contact-centres.com/allpay-signs-eckoh-secure-telephone-payments/
https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/29628/eckoh-brings-apple-pay-to-voice-calls Eckoh and WorldPay have carried out what they claim is the world's first Apple Pay payment via a phone voice call. Apple Pay lets users carry out in-store, in-app and web payments with their mobile phones. Eckoh claims that by expanding the service to voice calls it can bring its ease of use and security to areas such as contact centre transactions. The service - currently a proof-of-concept - means that when a customer is on the phone to a call centre worker, a message is sent to their device linking to their Apple Pay app and they are asked to confirm payment, with an alert sent to the staffer. With card-not-present fraud on the rise, Eckoh says that authorising payments via Apple Pay is more secure than a traditional telephone transaction. The card is tokenised by the Apple system and the device-based fingerprint authentication is brought into play. Because a customer’s credit or debit card data is never shared with the contact centre, PCI DSS requirements are taken away, ensuring the best levels of payment security and PCI DSS de-scoping.
Should push back above 50 now.....
The founder of JD Wetherspoon has pledged to make “strenuous efforts to improve security” after the pub chain became the latest British company to be hit by a cyber attack. The FTSE 250 firm has discovered that a database containing the names, email addresses, birth dates, and telephone numbers of of 656,723 customers had been hacked. The attack took place in June and targeted the company’s old website, which has since been replaced, and some staff details of employees who worked with the business before November 2011 were also stolen. The company became aware of the hack at the start of this week. The cyber attack unknowingly took place during the summer However, Wetherspoons, which operates more 953 pubs, insisted that only “extremely limited” credit and debit card details of 100 customers, who had bought vouchers online, and had been taken. It sought to reassure those customers that just the last four digits of their card numbers had been accessed. Because the company does not store the rest of the card digits, and because names and card expiry dates were untouched, it said the data could not be used for fraud. The staff information that was breached did not include personal information such as bank, national insurance, salary and tax details, the company added. Embarrassingly for the pub chain, however, the company overlooked a warning that its data had been hacked which was sent a month ago by email, founder and chairman Tim Martin said. Mr Martin said he thought the warning was missed because the email was caught in a spam or quarantine filter. It was not a ransom note, he added, but declined to say who had sent the email. “I think the key to not being hacked is to have as little customer information as you can get away with,” said Mr Martin. “As far as I’m concerned, there’s no need for Wetherspoon to hold customer information in future,” he said, adding the firm will “try and store the absolute minimum amount”. It comes just weeks after TalkTalk was targeted for a cyber attack. The Information Commissioner's Office has been notified of the hack at Wetherspoons and a cyber security firm is helping the pub business investigate the breach. Paula Barrett, a partner at law firm Eversheds, said that “the time lapse aspect to this case will no doubt raise questions, particularly given anticipated regulatory changes”. Pinsent Masons lawyer Luke Scanlon said: “Currently in the UK, businesses, with the exception of some telcos, are under no obligation to report a breach, but this is due to change under the incoming General Data Protection Regulation, meaning that companies could face significant fines in addition to reputational damage and other legal consequences if they choose to not to report a breach.”