Member Info for rivaldo

XSense continues to win accolades: Http://atmelcorporation.wordpress.com/2014/02/21/xsense-is-one-of-edns-top-10-innovations%e2%80%a8%e2%80%a8/ "XSense is one of EDN’s top 10 innovations Atmel’s XSense technology has been chosen as a finalist candidate for EDN China’s “Top 10 Innovations Affecting Our Future” award. The process is still ongoing, so if you’d like to vote for XSense you can do so here, with Atmel’s entry currently listed on the left side of the page. As we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, Atmel’s XSense is a high-performance, highly flexible touch sensor that allows engineers to design devices with curved surfaces and even add functionality along product edges. Essentially, this means manufacturers now have the capability to build light-weight, sleek, edgeless smartphones, tablets and other touch-enabled devices. It should be noted that Atmel’s XSense was recently featured in an EEWeb article, with the publication describing the technology as the “next step” in touchscreen product evolution. “XSense is a roll-to-roll metal mesh technology that can achieve high performance touch sensing capabilities on a seemingly endless variety of curved or flexible surface,” the article explained. 

“With XSense already in production, OEMs have already started implementing it in the next generation of disruptive, touch-enabled devices.” EEWeb also noted that XSense’s extremely light, thin and power features can be implemented in thinner mobile devices, curved and and contoured screens as well as edgeless designs for consumer touch-enabled devices. “The overall thinness of this touchscreen film allows for superior clarity on the device display, low sheet resistance and low power consumption, allowing for numerous benefits for implementation,” the publication concluded. 

“XSense also allows for thinner sensor stacks within the device, meaning that not only is the display twice as thin as average touchscreen sense film, but that the device itself can be reduced in size.” Jennifer Colegrove, who owns Touch Display Research in Santa Clara, Calif., estimates the potential market for XSense and similar technologies will increase from $200 million this year to $4 billion by 2020, primarily for tablet computers and other larger mobile devices. Similarly, Hans Mosesmann, a technology analyst for Raymond James & Associates, says the market for touchscreen sensors will grow at an annual rate of 44 percent during the next three years to about $10 billion due to its lower cost, size and performance."

There is a piece on Trap in Shares Mag which appears to have been written before the announcement of Peter Gyllenhammar's 12.9% stake: "Despite director’s sale rating looks anomalous Patient investors should ignore a hefty share sale by a Trap Oil (TRAP:AIM) non-executive director and concentrate on the inherent value offered by the North Sea oil firm. Miles Newman sold just over £1 million worth of stock (20 Feb) at 9p but the firm’s core net asset value (NAV) per share of 13.2p points to value. The core NAV per share is represented by £16 million of cash, a 15% interest in the producing Athena field and a 2% stake in UK shale gas play IGas Energy (IGAS:AIM). The absence of immediate catalysts to awaken the market to this valuation anomaly is an obvious negative but long-term investors should sit tight. The £22 million cap has the funds to stay the distance until a time when it can access the required equipment to fulfil its ambitious drilling programme."

A further win for CRE alongside Lowe - this time OFGEM: Http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/1229996/ "DLKW Lowe wins energy awareness brief By Jeremy Lee, campaignlive.co.uk, Wednesday, 05 February 2014 10:47AM Be the first to comment DLKW Lowe has picked up the advertising account for the electricity and gas regulator Ofgem after a competitive pitch process managed by the Crown Commercial Service. The agency won the business alongside Creston’s TMW and Fever PR following a pitch that began in November, and has been briefed with creating a campaign to help consumers understand a new regulatory regime brought in by Ofgem’s retail market review. The review introduced restrictions on the number of tariffs that energy suppliers may provide and standardised charging structures to make it easier for consumers to understand the energy market and choose a supplier accordingly. Tom Knox, the chairman of DLKW Lowe, said: "We are delighted to have been given this opportunity, as this is one of the most important issues facing consumers today and it is vital that the reforms that Ofgem have initiated are widely understood and that consumers have the tools they need to make informed choices about their energy supply.""

Today's RNS is the second excellent major appointment in the last month - having a main Board director of Babcocks on the team will bring in a massive contacts list. And I notice the emphasis is on his experience of growth both organically AND via acquisition: http://www.investegate.co.uk/harvey-nash-group--hvn-/rns/directorate-appointment/201402280702381548B/ I also see that Panmure's have increased their current year forecast to 9.25p EPS (from 8.9p), with a 3.63p dividend. Shore Capital still show 11.2p EPS. Finally, Hays reported H1 results on Wednesday. They're on a current year P/E of 24.5, and MPI are on a P/E of 33.1, with divi yields of roughly 2%. HVN are by comparison on a current year P/E of consensus 11.6, with a much higher divi yield. Which gives over 100% upside on a similar basis.

From the Mail - great to see the highly respected Giles Hargreave backing HVN (and CRE, which I also hold): Http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/investing/article-2565525/Back-best-British-profit-recovery-As-economy-booms-share-success-home-grown-businesses.html "SMALL COMPANIES The FTSE 250 Index – consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies – has outperformed the FTSE 100 in recent years. Giles Hargreave of investment manager Hargreave Hale says: ‘Smaller firms are best placed to benefit from the UK recovery. There are so many to choose from with huge scope to outperform.’ Hargreave is backing recruitment company Harvey Nash as well as marketing services company Creston. He says: ‘Both of these firms will flourish as the jobs market improves and companies spend more on marketing and advertising.’"

From the Mail - great to see the highly respected Giles Hargreave backing CRE (and HVN, which I also hold): Http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/investing/article-2565525/Back-best-British-profit-recovery-As-economy-booms-share-success-home-grown-businesses.html "SMALL COMPANIES The FTSE 250 Index – consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies – has outperformed the FTSE 100 in recent years. Giles Hargreave of investment manager Hargreave Hale says: ‘Smaller firms are best placed to benefit from the UK recovery. There are so many to choose from with huge scope to outperform.’ Hargreave is backing recruitment company Harvey Nash as well as marketing services company Creston. He says: ‘Both of these firms will flourish as the jobs market improves and companies spend more on marketing and advertising.’"

News today - if this was RNS'd the mere use of the phrase "Big Data" would probably put 5p on the share price :o)) Http://www.communisis.com/news-opinion/news-detail/2014/02/25/communisis-partners-with-provenir-to-provide-customers-with-real-time-engagement-offerings?year=2014 "Communisis Partners with Provenir to Provide Customers with Real-Time Engagement Offerings 25 February 2014 Provenir today announced a technology partnership with leading provider of personalised customer communication services, Communisis, that will enable brands to leverage multi-channel data for personal and timely customer engagement. Communisis will integrate Provenir’s Big Data Listening and Engagement Platform into Mantl, a proprietary tool which facilitates the design, production and deployment of customer communications. Provenir’s technology will allow Mantl to orchestrate real-time customer journeys across different channels. As Communisis continues to invest in its digital offering, it chose to partner with Provenir because of the company’s proven heritage in real-time financial decisioning and powerful capabilities for real-time marketing. With the integrated Mantl solution, powered by Provenir’s platform, Communisis’ clients now have many new engagement capabilities, including the ability to perform a real-time individual affordability assessment prior to presenting a marketing message. This not only ensures greater individual relevance, but, more importantly, removes offers that might otherwise frustrate Communisis’ clients’ customers. “Today’s world is increasingly digital and it’s our job to ensure our clients are equipped with the tools needed to effectively communicate with their customers through a variety of channels,” said Jon Cano-Lopez, Managing Director, Communisis Data Intelligence. “With this transformation in mind, we selected Provenir because of its rich history in complex decisioning and its proven software platform. In Provenir, we’ve found a partner to help evolve our offering and enable companies to create longstanding, personal relationships with their customers by realizing the full potential of real-time marketing.” “The new world of marketing is as much about knowing which offers not to present, as about which offers to present. This is especially true with real-time marketing, as irrelevant or unqualified offers only waste a customer’s time, leading to frustrated clients, excess marketing spend and a higher likelihood of churn and opt-out,” said Mark Smith, Ph.D., President of Provenir's customer listening division. “With this integrated solution, Communisis understands the power of real-time, personal engagement, and we are excited to help them offer their clients a meaningful, relevant way to communicate with their own customers, exactly how they want to be communicated with.”

The trading statement looked fine to me, with results in line with roughly 8.6p EPS expectations. Nice to see a £4m cash pile which is likely to grow. Numis have a 160p price target, and Panmure's have just increased theirs to 139p, so plenty of upside from the current 108p. Excellent write-up on Shareprophets too - particularly Shore Capital noting that momentum is with HVN in achieving their 11.2p EPS forecast for the current year: Http://www.shareprophets.advfn.com/views/4105/harvey-nash-full-year-trading-update-well-ahead-on-my-share-tip-but-still-a-buy "International executive recruitment and professional services group, Harvey Nash (HVN) has updated on its final quarter of the year to 31st January 2014. It said that “results for the full year are expected to be in line with market expectations”. However, having risen to 116.25p, from the 70p at which I previously tipped the shares HERE, is Harvey still a buy? For the recent quarter, the company reported a, compared to the corresponding prior year period, 16% increase in gross profit from permanent recruitment, a 9% increase in gross profit from contracting and, due to a reduction in its outsourcing project pipeline in Germany, as a result of a slowdown in investment in the mobile telecoms market, a 2% decline in gross profit from outsourcing. These helped the full-year numbers to respectively +10%, +8% and -5%. Overall gross profit for the quarter was 9% up on the corresponding prior year period, with this figure +7% on a full-year basis. There were encouraging performances in the quarter from the UK & Ireland, US and Asia-Pacific, with ‘Mainland Europe’ and the Nordics the relative laggards – respectively posting 3% and 2% gross profit increases. From ‘Mainland Europe’ 16% gross profit growth from contracting was achieved but overall performance was held back by a 2% decline in permanent recruitment and 27% decline in outsourcing whilst the Nordics business, from which gross profit is mainly derived from permanent recruitment, could only deliver a “stable” result. The company added that group net cash as at the year-end was “circa £4 million”. On the back of the update brokerage Shore Capital, noting “an improving trend”, commented that it now “do(es) not see it to be too much of a stretch for the group to meet our demanding adj. profit before tax estimate of £11.4m for the year to January 2015F”. Against a current sub £85.5 million market cap, with the current macroeconomic backdrop of recovery and a prospective approaching 3% dividend yield, the valuation still looks relatively undemanding. Shore Capital continues to rate the shares a ‘buy’, as does Panmure Gordon – the latter with a current 139p target price."

Another quoted company win for CRE's PAN Communications following the win of SDL - this time a NASDAQ-quoted company: Http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140224005213/en/Carbonite-Selects-PAN-Communications-Global-Agency-Record#.UwxxYtGPOUk "Carbonite Selects PAN Communications as Global Agency of Record Leading Provider of Backup and Recovery Solutions, Carbonite partners with PAN to Focus on Public Relations, Content Development and Digital Media February 24, 2014 09:00 AM Eastern Standard Time BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PAN Communications, a public relations and digital media agency for the technology, consumer and healthcare industries, was selected by Carbonite (NASDAQ: CARB), a leading provider of backup and recovery solutions, to serve as its PR agency of record and to support the company’s shift to the small to medium sized business (SMB) market and increased focus on the channel. etc"

I note this positive write-up from Shareprophets: Http://www.shareprophets.advfn.com/views/4060/creston-plc-a-tip-of-the-year-update "Marketing services group Creston plc (CRE) was one of my tips of the year – and, having risen to a current 109.5p, the shares have performed well thus far. The following updates my view post a trading update from the company earlier this month. The trading update reported that “the board is comfortable that the full year results will be in line with market expectations” after a “good improvement” in operating profit margin and improving 1% decline in third quarter (to 31st December 2013) like-for-like revenue against the corresponding 2012 period. Although the company remains “cautious with regard to the ongoing impact of the volatility in some of our clients' marketing budgets”, it notes reassurance from “successful pitching for new business in the period and by the outlook captured in yet another positive recent IPA Bellwether report in terms of increased marketing spend”. Researcher Edison backed this latter point up – commenting in a following note that “the various market forecasters are all anticipating stronger growth in the marketing and advertising sectors in the UK for 2014, with some help from ‘even year events’, but mostly as a consequence of a more positive economic environment… (the) rapidly shifting backdrop favours agencies such as Creston with a digitally focused offer”. The researcher is forecasting a full-year pre-tax profit of £9.4 million, generating earnings per share of 11.3p, rising to £10.3 million and 12.4p respectively next year. I continue to believe the latter year numbers are quite possibly conservative on rising client sentiment and contract wins feeding through and, though a return to revenue and earnings growth does still need to be proven, also continue to consider there to be rating uplift potential on this being delivered. With a prospective still 3.5% dividend yield whilst a further re-rating is awaited, the shares continue to look to offer good value."

The Amati UK Smaller Companies Funds have just issued their January newsletter - they've been buying CAR: Http://www.amatiglobal.com/documents/TB_Amati_UK_Smaller_Companies_Fund_Factsheet_B_Acc_Jan_2014.pdf "Other new positions included Carclo, a supplier of technical plastics, and conductive inkjet technology (CIT) which we have held previously, and repurchased after an excessive fall following a profit warning that we believe should mark a low point for a well-placed business in the medium term"

Intriguing buying for the last few days to say the least.

Excellent performance in Canada last night, with OMI up to over 15p in UK terms. And gold is now marching up towards $1,310... Plus the US dollar is almost at highs against the Uruguayan peso, benefiting OMI's margins. The stage is set fair for a huge rise in the OMI share price given the mere £11m m/cap against 55k-60k oz of annual production imho.

Excellent news from CRE's USA subsidiaries - a series of contract wins, including in particular the brief for Alere, who are a huge $3 billion m/cap company: Http://www.bulldogreporter.com/dailydog/article/pr-agency-news/cooneywaters-group-signs-new-clients "February 6, 2014 Cooney/Waters Group Signs New Clients Cooney/Waters Group (www.cooneywatersgroup.com), a group of leading healthcare communications companies, announced significant new client wins at each of its sister agencies. The range of new engagements further diversifies the group’s client base across pharmaceuticals, healthcare technologies and diagnostics, consumer health and nutritional supplements, as well as non-profit and international organizations. Among the new and expanding clients within CWG companies are: • Cooney/Waters—Corporate and product communications for Alere, the global leader in point-of-care diagnostics • The Corkery Group (www.corkerygroup.com)—Strategic communications and media relations for the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, a United Nations agency focused on improving sanitation in developing countries • Alembic Health Communications (www.alembichealth.com)—Executive communications support for the Center to Advance Palliative Care, the leading healthcare professional resource for palliative care program development and growth “We continue to grow at each of our sister companies and in a wide range of healthcare industry sectors,” said Timothy Bird, President/COO of Cooney/Waters Group. “By offering an unparalleled scope of strategic marketing and communications solutions, advocacy relations and issue-oriented communications, our clients tell us we are uniquely able to help them address today’s complex healthcare communications challenges.” Many of these new client engagements include DJM (www.djmdigital.com), a Creston Health sister agency which expanded to the US in July 2013, as CWG’s digital service offering. DJM creates leading-edge websites and mobile applications, animation, outdoor media, video, and exhibition displays for health and life sciences companies."

Steve Skaggs, the Atmel CEO, presented at the Goldman Sachs Technology & Internet Conference last night - it's a 30 minute audio, and the XSense discussion takes place from around 26 minutes: Http://cc.talkpoint.com/gold006/021114a_gm/?entity=45_R8KDG17 His optimism for XSense remains (although this CFO would sound miserable even if he'd just won the World Series). Highlights: - "we have a design pipeline that has multiple designs with multiple tier 1 customers moving forward", which they'll discuss as products are released - larger screens are the focus - they see a "revenue ramp through the year" - over the next 2-3 years they can grow XSense "significantly" in a "pretty large market"

RNS out - the CEO has bought almost $50,000 of stock at around 13.25p. Very good to see: Http://www.investegate.co.uk/orosur-mining--omi-/bus/orosur-mining-inc--director-s-dealing/20140213070000Z7666/

Whoo hoo - results will be ahead of expectations! Http://www.investegate.co.uk/entertainment-one--eto-/rns/interim-management-statement/201402130700239582Z/ All sorts of positives, particularly: - digital revenues have doubled to 20% of the total! Imagine the margins... - Peppa is booming worldwide, particularly with the USA starting to rev up - the outlook is great and "progressive" dividends are on the cards... Couldn't ask for more.

A "flagship account" win for CRE's Pan Communications agency: Http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140121005076/en/Customer-Experience-Management-Leader-SDL-Selects-PAN#.Uvs_7dGPOUk "Customer Experience Management Leader SDL Selects PAN Communications for Global Strategy, Content Development and Influencer Marketing January 21, 2014 09:00 AM Eastern Standard Time BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PAN Communications, a public relations and digital media agency for the technology, consumer and healthcare industries, was selected by SDL, a worldwide leader in customer experience management, as its global agency partner. “We are thrilled to partner with this global leader and look forward to building the relationship as we enter the New Year.” PAN Communications is tasked to manage global public relations strategy for SDL in addition to social media, content and influencer marketing. PAN will lead efforts to reinforce SDL’s market leadership and build awareness of its expansive product portfolio. SDL chose PAN for its ability to present creative campaigns that drive awareness across key markets and truly integrate programs with other areas of SDL’s marketing priorities. This is a flagship account for PAN as SDL works with 42 out of the top 50 global brands. “SDL is a company that provides seamless global customer experiences across all brand interactions. We recognized PAN’s capabilities to leverage our assets and product strengths and turn our public relations efforts into an ongoing news cycle,” said Jessica Hohn-Cabana, vice president of global communications at SDL. “PAN has been a diligent partner, committed to setting metrics and applying measurement to our PR initiatives. We have already seen tremendous value and results from the partnership.” SDL plc maintains a global infrastructure across 38 countries and is publicly traded on London Stock Exchange. The company’s customer experience technology enables marketing to customers throughout the buyer journey, turning them into brand advocates. SDL helps build brand loyalty by leveraging customer and social data in order to deliver engaging and contextual experiences across languages, cultures, channels and devices. “Being selected by a leading brand such as SDL is a testament to the quality work of our technology and service focused teams,” said Nicole Messier, vice president of technology accounts, PAN Communications. “We are thrilled to partner with this global leader and look forward to building the relationship as we enter the New Year.”"

Good to see t1ps.com now upgrade their stance to Buy from Hold: Http://t1ps.com/shop/page-article/action-article.show/id-130025160 "Creston - Interim Management Statement & Stance Upgrade 3 Days ago (2014-02-06 11:39:03) In an interim management statement for the period 1st October 2013to date, marketing services company Creston (CRE) reported an increase in both revenue and profitability compared to the first two quarters of this financial year and the prior year period. Growth in profitability was driven by a "good improvement" in operating margins, along with a 1% increase in revenue compared to the prior year period. However, like-for-like revenue (which excludes the impact of acquisitions) fell by 1%, although this represents an improvement when compared to the first half of the financial year. There were several important new business wins during the period including the digital and CRM account for Virgin Trains and the social media account for Unilever's Stork, Bertolli and ice cream brands. There were also some notable synergy wins and referrals as a result of the recent co-location strategy. These included a contract for the Federation of Small Businesses and the British Chambers of Commerce (for market research, PR and digital advertising), and for Canon (market research and digital advertising). In terms of outlook, the firm said it remains cautious with regard to the ongoing impact of the volatility in some of its clients' marketing budgets but is reassured by the successful pitching for new business in the period. It also pointed to yet another positive recent IPA Bellwether report in terms of increased marketing spend. Management remain comfortable that full-year results will be inline with market expectations. Assessment & valuation... The improving performance at Creston is in tune with the latest IPA Bellwether Report, which showed that marketing budgets were revised up for the fifth consecutive quarter in Q4 2013. The report revealed a net balance of +11% of companies registering an increase in budgets during Q4 2013, down slightly on the series record of+12.3% in Q3. The fact that marketing & advertising spend is one of the last areas of economic activity to pick up in a recovery suggests that firms like Creston should do well should the UK economic recovery continue to assert itself. Of course, a fall back in the economy remains one of the key risks to the investment case, as are the loss of major clients and the volatility in marketing budgets. The shares have rebounded since the disappointing performance at the interims, and at the current 96p Creston is capitalised at just under £58 million. The markets are now looking for pre-tax profits of around £9.4 million for the full year, which implies an earnings multiple of around 8.3 times. The implied yield is 4% given that the firm is now looking to move towards a one-third/two-thirds dividend split. On

This article from just yesterday confirming that Havas are looking at making a number of acquisitions. Havas of course already own 6% of CRE. The most relevant part is the focus on data analytics, which points particularly to CRE's digital expertise and research ability: Http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304450904579366572322155360 Extracts: "These opportunities include organic expansion and acquisitions in emerging Asian and South American economies, as well as in Havas's mainstay European and U.S. markets" "In Europe and the U.S., which together contribute more than 80% of revenues but where growth prospects are weaker, "we are focused on buying some expertise," particularly by acquiring companies specializing in data analytics and solutions, the executive said."