The latest Investing Matters Podcast with Jean Roche, Co-Manager of Schroder UK Mid Cap Investment Trust has just been released. Listen here.
Office workers will just have to work from home to stop the spread, and the sooner they are signed up with a Loopup account the safer they'll be in my unbiased opinion.
There is simply a lack of interest here, as evidenced by the lack of BB posting.
The weak SP follows, there is no evidence of any problems at the company whilst we await news - IMO there will be a rapid retrace if when they provide an update.
Must admit I put it on a back burner with little reported, but the business case for this remains excellent.
Whilst we await news, I've been looking around at the potential market and sales and noticed something interesting in the TU, maybe nothing but note the word "Directly".
"The Group's pipeline of directly sourced new Cloud Telephony opportunities remains strong with a TCV of £117 million, and the percentage of opportunities at an advanced stage has increased to 17% of pipeline value, from 7% at the end of March 2021."
Is there potential of contracts with indirectly sourced clients (i.e. via partners), stance wording if there is no visibility of other potential clients prior to signing agreements with partners - what I'm getting at is perhaps some of the relationships will come with pre-packaged clients who are ready to take the service.
By now they should have identified the characteristics of companies that are likely to take up the cloud offering from the pipeline of enquires (I suspect some will just want to talk learn and maybe not even be genuinely motivated or empowered to move forward).
It is vital they recognise what to pursue and what to No-Bid to avoid wasting resources - I suspect they will have a much clearer vision now than at the start of the year and I also suspect they will have clients in the bag that cannot yet be notified because they have deals they must honour with other suppliers for the time being or need to get all their ducks in a row first - hence their expectation of material growth in 2022.
The quality of the enquiries pipeline is just as important as the size and presumable they are discounting or downgrading some time wasters (to be brutal) along the way
An article from Forbes a couple of days ago paints an interesting picture of where working practices are heading - with 26% of those surveyed saying they had no intention of returning to site and a bigger number preferring not to.
In contrast it suggests that the vast majority CEO's are not planning to reduce their workplace footprint so expect employees back at least part time- there appears to be a gulf building in expectations.
What ever all the signs are there will be a strong demand for the services Loopup offer going forward with Hybrid working likely - the question is will they win the work.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardsegal/2021/09/20/26-of-surveyed-employees-dont-plan-to-work-onsite-again-most-still-prefer-hybrid-arrangements/?sh=575f96ab7c27
So far lse are reporting a massive 51 shares traded, it is very strange with the results imminent.
The SP has been kept pegged for weeks, with almost every day the SP made to look like it's falling only to end the day practically where it started, most people don't like conspiracy theories so I'm probably in a minority of 1, but it does suit certain entities to keep the SP pegged and crush any positivity, that includes our BoD who can benefit in many ways as the influence of disgruntled shareholders can be diminished.
A sale of 4 shares at 37p sets the lower boundary of the spread with a buy of 140 at 39p at exactly the same time setting the upper limit. It's ludicrous when a 1p movement changes the companies value by £1/2 million
Perhaps if I start periodically putting a buy order for a couple of shares in at 40, it will move the range up - never tried it. Doesn't change proper trading prices that someone is prepared to buy/sell I guess but it does create a false impression of trading activity.
Ocelot77 - It's your viewpoint and has it's merits, I'm certainly not against adding services, it's simply that I believe they should be focused on their stated core strategy and look for complimentary offerings that enhance the sales pitch and generate revenue (not costs).
Developing new IP/software needs to be approached very carefully and carefully timed, history is littered with thousands of examples of companies that tried and failed. IMO for now Loopup have enough on their plate with masses of customer leads, and I expect them to adapt their offering as appropriate.
What you suggest is great in theory- but is it doable/sensible for lookup now with limited finances, I think not you think yes.
For it to turn into a yes for me, the company needs to present a compelling business case to do it, they have said they expect material growth in 2022 and to add suitable offerings; there is no business case for jeopardising that when waiting until the cash starts rolling in and compounding from cloud sales minimises risk and maximises cash flow. and ultimately will satisfy shareholders. Lets see the money rolling in first!
I believe the current strategy is a simple and an excellent approach so we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.
The SP weakness is hardly surprising when the BoD have not provided any reason to buy - it's a leap of faith to stick with this and I'm afraid many ex shareholders have voted no.
As we have discussed the secrecy breeds suspicion, news will be released soon so we'll hopefully be put out of our misery for a better future.
I do not believe we have any significant sellers now, all movement appears to be based on small trading volume, so it's down to the company to dictate the next move.
I'm sure they must have achieved something to report, I noticed they had sent what looked to me to be a big team (9) to the recent Commsverse event where Ben Lee was a presenter - if no one was interested in talking to them I suspect they would have sent just Ben and maybe a couple of sales people. Even if efforts have not yet translated into sales, if they show they are on the right track the response will be positive - I'm especially interested in them reporting they have signed partnership agreement.
I have checked a number of the Case Studies/Customer stories and a significant theme is that clients heard about Loopup from trusted suppliers before contracting (including the 3 with concern Cloud Telephony), that intro from a trusted supplier is priceless - draw your own conclusions on the value of partners selling the companies service
Ocelot77 - I've read some of your old posts and though I agree to the majority of what you say, you like the rest of us seem to struggle with the BoD's silence.
You started by saying how honourable the CEO's are "Overall the management are a good bunch and the co-CEO's always strike me as remarkably ethical. " and deteriorate to being worried about a MBO - welcome to the "Concerned Shareholder" club. It is natural for us to worry and start imagining the worst when someone goes below the radar as they have - are they sulking, can't they take criticism, and are perhaps blaming AIM shareholders for the demise of the SP rather than accepting personal responsibility. Why don't they just put their hands up and face shareholders to clear the air.
That's where my worries lie, that they throw in the towel or take action to cover their own errors (I agree with you and would go further, Meetingzone was a disaster, and it was incompetently merged). I'd just like to see them come out of the cupboard they're hiding in with some positivity and fighting talk not an excuse - in that case shareholders will stick with them.
Where I disagree with you is, I'm not worried in the slightest about their Cloud proposition, I think they've got it right, there is plenty of room for them to carve out a successful business (evidence suggests the strategy is working) - they don't need a unique proposition/IP. This will come good, and can by really good if the BoD work at it diligently and don't betray us.
WRT Cisco they are still in there via MeetingZone - they are not highlighting it because Teams are obviously seen as the future, they supposedly have reduced MZ headcount to about 55 employees - so presumably if they have the legacy MeetingZone clients and are acting simply as a reseller with low operational costs that should be contributing nicely to profitability. I think your view that a sort of broad-brush approach to selling multi-vender MS alternatives is wrong - they need to focus limited resources on the biggest prize, win or lose they need to be fully focused.
https://meetingzone.com/services/
Don't let it get to you - though the situation really is pathetic.
I actually put together a couple of very critical posts this week but decided not to post them because they were too negative - it is so easy to drift into negative territory this situation is so frustrating.
IMO the directors have let us down really badly and continue to do so and I'm massively disappointed with them, we've seen them shy away from scrutiny and effectively disappear into the mist - it's been a disgraceful performance.
On the positive side going forward, is the fact they have presided over the complete capitulation of the company's SP with some investors down over 90% means the upside is enormous. In the midst of the doom and gloom it is really easy to lose sight of the prize they are now prepared to claim.
Ian.B - you say "Gamma cam on radar as their sp has fallen off a cliff "
My god, I wish Loopup's SP had simple fallen off the same cliff as Gamma, their SP has merely retraced from a high by around 20% back to where it was 2 months ago.
Putting Loopup aside, they appear to have done very well and the purpose of my post was not to criticise, more to point out the prize Loopup are playing for and that they have so far failed miserably to secure. Gamma's P/E is 28 whilst Loopup's is 3.35 (ii fugures).
As P/E is largely about shareholder confidence and resulting support, that's why it's such a powerful metric, it takes out company size and allows broad comparisons (at least IMO).
I see it this way, if Loopup build a company with track record and expected growth profile on par with Gamma their P/E could also approach 28 with substantially higher earing than any to date, why not. I'm not saying it will, merely that it would be the likely outcome of success
At 28, that provides for a SP of £3.34 without even accounting for any earnings growth.
Clearly we are a long way from that position, but bear in mind they are targeting multi-nationals, any success with a big outfit changes everything IMO, even Zoom saw fit to highlight 3 multi-nationals sign ups, there are many companies with 100,000+ employees.
Your point wrt why should anyone contract with choose Loopup over Gamma. Well, as I said I'm not knocking Gamma, but Loopup have focused on strong Global presence and particularly US, Gamma according to their own words are European focused and have a broad sales and products focus - different focus.
Why would anyone choose any supplier other than the likes of Cisco, Microsoft, Google, IBM - it's because they have specific needs that they judge are better addressed elsewhere - I suppose ultimately the question is do Loopup have a compelling proposal to offer clients - that's what they are out trying to prove right now.
There is room for everyone Loopup, Gamma and a boat load of other second tier operators, provided that their service is competitive.
WRT your second point, I would say there is most likely nothing Loopup has that Gamma would covet in terms of intellectual property, the glittering prize to companies chasing growth is the solid core of prestige customers and history of providing a tip top service to them (customer loyalty which needs to be earned). The secondary and asset is the staff, again valuable, if we assume they are competent, Cisco, Meetings, Cloud and Microsoft experience. Finally the infrastructure, which they are building out (they spent £5m on equipment in 1 year to simply be able to offer the services and I suspect will have spent at least as much this year.
IMO Loopup in some respects represent a better investment option than the likes of Gamma because they are not priced to succeed and so have much more upside accompanied by more risk of course.
Has anyone, invested in or researched Gamma Coms (GAMA). They are AIM listed and also provide Could Telephony (including teams) as a part of their UCaaS, but have been in it for longer than Loopup.
They, have been busy expanding (buying companies) and partnering up to grow and now have a market cap of £1.851bn, P/E ration 28.5 with a turnover of £217m. In the last 5 years their SP has quadrupled to £20/share where Loopup has lost over 90% from its high.
What on Earth are our directors playing at to perform so badly, very disappointing.
However Gamma's success, including in the last year in the cloud comms market gives comfort that if our BoD pull their finger out there is huge potential.
Their statements about the market align with Loopups statements about growth, the difference is they are growing and Loopup still need to demonstrate they've turned the corner. If/when they do the SP has plenty of room the rise. This extract from chairman's statement.
"The COVID crisis has highlighted the importance of our products and services for end users. During the crisis they were able to carry on their business and many new customers have enjoyed the benefits of using a UCaaS product for the first time. As businesses move to new post-pandemic working practices, many are finding that a UCaaS solution will assist them with home-working or hybrid-working. We are seeing traffic volumes increase as the economy rebounds.
The PSTN switch off in 2025 is also a driver for businesses to move to a UCaaS solution - we estimate that 3m PSTN lines used by micro businesses will need to be migrated.
We are finding that businesses of all sizes are now embracing UCaaS and the pipelines for both our Direct business and our Channel Partners are strong. As our CEO describes below we now have a number of solutions for businesses of different sizes. This bodes well for our future growth."
IMO Loopup need to sign up some partners, preferably big ones, as yet none have been notified, interestingly Gamma bought one of their partners earlier this year for around £40m!!
I believe Loopup will themselves become very vulnerable to a takeover unless the SP pushes up soon - other operators will be most interested in the customer base and the cross selling opportunities.
Notwithstanding yesterday's sale of 100k+ I believe there are not many sellers at current prices and the SP will have nowhere to go except up or stagnate unless it's manipulated.
I guess your stance all depends on if you thing new news will supersede the poor news of the trading update - I really don't know but I suspect they'll report some new achievements.
Another Friday, another day to push the SP down - happens every week in the absence of news the MM's try to push the SP down and restore it at the end of the session.
That's good or at least not a problem, as at least it means MMs are not dumping stock they bought on the cheap prior to the rise and need stock - they'll want more for them than the near 42p they just paid - the trend is not broken and we must expect many sells pull-backs as the SP rises.
Don't worry yourself, if you recall I queried where the stock was coming from earlier in the week. so knowing provides some assurance the MMs don't have a boat load to dump.
Looks like stew200 will have to wait a little longer to blast off on a jet propelled shareholder joyride.
But it's been a good day as I believe sentiment and share prices are generally down today, a steady rise with consolidation along the way will do fine.
According to the logic presented by the author of the linked blog, when Windows 11 OS is rolled out it will potentially put Teams in front of up to 195m new home users who will likely get it automatically if they upgrade to version 11 and even assuming only half upgrade and only 25% uptake that will equate to 24.4 new users.
MS don't produce projections so the guy is making his educated guess without over-egging it - but it's a lot of new users.
Though Loopup are not targeting home users, IMO the more users there are the more likely companies are to see it as the product to implement - it's like windows, for most it is a natural selection.
https://tomtalks.blog/2021/08/will-windows-11-significantly-increase-microsoft-teams-monthly-active-users/
The team appears to be out there making the company visible to potential customers, Bee Lee presented at a Microsoft teams conference session entitled "Bringing Telephony to Teams" on 1st September - all good.
My only concern is that of CEO's both seen to be notable absent - where are the leaders? What are they up to? They promised a shareholder engagement meeting (are they /what are they scared of being asked) Is there some corporate activity they are dealing with or just dodging?
https://events.justattend.com/events/conference-session/dd919b48/0
It's early days for the use of Zoom phone so I doubt security is fully bottomed out yet, those with malicious intent never give up.
Security is a moving target and by the way the best frauds go undetected so who knows what vulnerabilities any platform has.
Loopup are positioning themselves to be at the high end and I agree they are targeting and need
discerning clients, a big multi-national signup would be great ( Zoom announced they had signed up 3 big names in their last results so I suspect they need a lot of convincing to sign up) - the strategy is spot on, as those with low-level requirement will be all but impossible to retain beyond a honeymoon period - it looks like its going to be like switching insurers or energy companies. Zoom is likely to pay the price when the next big thing comes along.