Member Info for the_shareminator

The volatile price of oil has been a cynosure event over the past year. Asia is a major consumer and importer of oil and other forms of energy, so falling prices are good news for most countries. In fact, a low price of oil encourages more energy reform in Asia. Indonesia and Thailand have largely removed energy subsidies and this diversion of capital will benefit other forms of investment. Malaysia, is the one economy which seemingly benefits from a high price of oil however they too import vast quantities to meet demand. The strength of the Ringgit is linked to the strength of the oil price as we have seen this year and with energy inflation having fallen it should in theory spur domestic demand for services. To stave off currency depreciation the Malaysian Central Bank could increase rate further like Russia did recently when it suffered the effects of flight of capital due to the Ukrainian crisis. However it is not solely the Malay Ringgit that has suffered but many other currencies... dollar strength is to blame. Oil prices have negligible effect on MBO, instead currency pricing and growth forecasts are more important and both should have been favourable over the past 12 months, certainly looking forward any foreign corporation looking to use the services provided will find them comparatively cheaper.

A near 50% discount now to its parent share, worthy of a reshuffling to go heavy here?

haha were you not paying attention?

Hi Tony Good to see you're here too! Approaching a 'busy' part of the year now, with news flow expected to pick up FY results and then the Interim's not long after. It's a shame we do not receive a trading update during the quiet period.. congrats with your buy earlier! Things that keep me optimistic are - the historical share price performance and loan conversion price at 3.5p a 40% premium to current price - the recent grant of options at 2.5p (potentially 9.97%) of the share capital And crucially the focus of all future operations is Malaysia. In the past 4-5 years they have wasted precious resources and recurring income on expanding into what are relatively 'undeveloped markets' with this tech, namely Cambodia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Nepal and parts of Indonesia. It's not so much a bad decision as growth in this part of the world is more or less 5-6% on average but MBO have decided to strip out the loss-making investments, taking the write-downs last year and instead keeping costs down to maximise returns in Malaysia. So we wait and see how the newly formed structure has performed in the year to date. Only a handful of people seem to be aware including yourself of the likely turnaround and more importantly future cash generation. One month to wait before we can sit down, cup of coffee in hand to read what should be the best set of results to date! The Year End results will mark the turning point and in September we should be informed how the company is fairing in the first half of 2015. Not sure why the market still has a £2.5m tag on a company turning £45m+, expected to be profitable, expanding and strengthening it's balance sheet. Normally positions are taken before results but sometimes Asian-based small caps go unnoticed. Reminds me of CNEL back in autumn of 2013. Had to wait nearly a year for that to turnaround, think it exploded 700-800% from trough to peak A nice steady rise here hopefully, not too much drama.. ATB

Trading update reads well, logging growth etc but £38m for £3m cash in the bank, pre tax profits of £2.5m? There are cheaper service stocks growing at similar rate with healthier balance sheets...

Well aside from a Greek exit from the Eurozone... a GREXIT would damage currency and bank confidence, their current status is bubble-territory if you ask me. Sovereign debt default would be extremely bad for not only Greece but the entire Eurozone. That would be my major concern but well done all who took a position prior to today in expectation of a strengthening balance sheet.

Up to £18.5m today, but still heavily discounted. Earners with results coming up like this and ESR doing well so this month.

Production figures here aren't all impressive and with gold depressed, this isn't going anywhere, well maybe further south... might be worth a play if the dollar falls later this year

Related research - Malaysian Ringgit and economic strenght http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/ringgit-depreciation-unexplained-says-expert http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2015/05/15/Malaysian-economy-expands-5-6-pct-in-first-quarter/?style=biz http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/05/07/malaysia-central-bank-keeps-overnight-policy-rate-unchanged/ http://www.wsj.com/articles/malaysia-pm-najib-razak-unveils-72-billion-economic-plan-1432204689 http://www.focus-economics.com/countries/malaysia

Yesterday’s MPC decision came as no surprise, with the OPR held steady at 3.25% (excerpt): Monetary Policy Statement At the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting today, Bank Negara Malaysia decided to maintain the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) at 3.25 percent. The global economic expansion remains moderate, with divergent growth momentum across economies in the first quarter of 2015…Downside risks to this outlook, however, continue to persist. In this environment, the international financial markets will continue to be affected by shifts in global liquidity and investors sentiments. For Malaysia, latest indicators suggest that domestic demand has continued to support growth in the first quarter. Looking ahead, the prospects are for the Malaysian economy to remain on a steady growth path, with domestic demand remaining as the key driver of growth…. …For the rest of the year, headline inflation is expected to trend higher given the impact of the implementation of the GST…Underlying inflation is expected to remain contained amid the stable domestic demand conditions. At the current level of the OPR, the stance of monetary policy remains accommodative and supportive of economic activity…While the risks of destabilising financial imbalances are contained, the MPC will continue to monitor these risks to ensure the sustainability of the overall growth prospects. *NOTE the very last line, with the mention of financial imbalances - no change in the policy interest rate for the foreseeable future.. http://econsmalaysia.blogspot.co.uk/

In simple English they booked a £560k NON-CASH impairment, partially offset by a non-cash balance gain on the disposal of a subsidiary for £350k. The difference of £210k is a non cash impairment, effectively a one off write-down included as a loss masking company profitability in order to reduce tax obligations. The impairments were part of the re-organisation away from riskier growth markets and focusing more towards Malaysian demand. MBO recorded a loss of £30k in the period, so the difference is approximately £180k gain (cash or equivalent). The cash profit of £180k in the first half is impressive as Indonesia and Cambodia were loss making during the first three month. Focus on the cash and cash equivalents and this confirms the picture more or less. Cash increased to £1.46 million (£140k increase in 6 months) aided by the effect of foreign exchange rate changes, whilst loans and borrowings of £1.89 million reduced by £90k. That's a £230k reduction in net debt during the interim period! This whilst the Cambodian and Indonesian operations where loss making.

At the end of the first half (HY14) they had disposed of Cambodia and Indonesia operations. This was set to impact second half figures, with reduced revenue for the group but crucially improved margins and cash growth. Skip forward to August 2014, MBO released an update announcing the purchase of real estate in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - their original base of operations. The cost of the office space was a cool £333,550 payment and funded through cash in the bank. The company were intending to refinance the property by effectively remortgaging the majority of equity in it for c£300,000 in order to free up some additional cash. The market has overlooked this development. Considering MBO were renting previously, they have taken the leap in securing an asset with existing cash which may appreciate in value over time. At the very least, high rental costs have been stripped and will be a forward saving. The company have assessed their growth market (Malaysia) and are utilising free cash to secure permanent residence (assets) in order to reduce expenses and increase company stability. Half Year results for 2014 were in line with expectations. Revenues of £23.5 million generated a loss after tax of £30k. To put this into perspective the loss listed in H113 was £120k. An improvement on the same time last year, but still loss making... However these results include trading figures for Cambodia and Indonesia for the first 3 months which were loss making and as a result MBO expect - "an improved trading performance in the second half of 2014" The company also took a non cash write-down (impairment) on disposal of the Indonesian operations in March 2014. If you look at the figures at face value there's not much to get excited about. However MBO made closer to £180k profit in the first half, and here's why... - "The disposal of the subsidiary in Indonesia in March 2014 had resulted the impairment loss on the amount due to the holding company of £0.56 million. However, the amount is partially mitigated by the gain on disposal of the subsidiary of £0.35 million."

Potential sale of company... well picked it right, shame about the short-termism so abundant with the markets today. That's ASW, ESS and ESR now sold, selling or with the intention of disposing their core business for cash. Expected results priced in now? Still a hold and see what pans out. MAFL yet to bounce, MBO and DWHT expecting results in the next month or two

Losses reducing and in light of recent contract wins difficult to put a value on this.. the cash pile will get smaller still, before it begins to increase, break even is expected in 2017 if Edison's estimates are correct. Long term contracts off stability.. one to track in the coming months

Not sure how two people on here have come up with a NAV of 60p... when the bulk of assets are located in Ukraine and Greece, loans and liabilities dwarf cash held in bank, EURO expected to weaken and European banks far from safe... Greek default looms, economy contracting... No quick fix solutions. Last weeks update seems to have sparked interest despite these issues but wouldn't bet my house on this

Been looking around a recent placings and fund-raisings for shells and down-beaten stocks like this. Maybe they can raise £500k at a premium to current pricing after name change, presumably appointment of directors or similar positions and proposals of company strategy... but the management here completely screw shareholders over last time. I seem to remember the pizza operation winding up very quickly after two very bullish reports commissioned by the BOD and were released by Edison. Legacy issue won't put traders off though

A little over two weeks to wait for Half Year Results, could be worth taking a position this week. Exceeded expectations in the year to September 2014 with all 3 UK companies recording 'double digit sales increases'. Cash and short-term deposits stood at £12.9 million last time around and so make up a large proportion of current market value. This is expected to continue to grow. Current market cap is £17.9 million. Cash increased by £2.6 million for the year in 2014 and is expected to be higher again this year. Even assuming recurring cash generation with no growth the balance sheet will be significantly stronger come September 2015, £15.5 million at least... Operating profits increased to £5.5m as revenue jumped and costs remaining relatively flat. Profit after tax of almost £4m equated to earnings of 46.22p (more than 300% higher than in 2013). Obviously the last year was a stellar year in terms of performance and assuming they can sustain a similar level of profit (despite growth targets being higher) the share price will continue to attract long term investors. Pension contributions will be far easier to meet with the company logging growth on a semi-annual basis... I think this is part of the reason why DWHT remain so cheap. There are 5,165,698 'A' non-voting ordinary shares sat at £3.8 each right now but consider the last two dividends came to about 3% (before the share price rose) and this would be feasible for the coming year given continued balance sheet strength.

Interesting forecasts from Edison, shame they didn't tip this a couple months back

Ex dividend soon, nice trade up to now but sitting at the top of the range

Thought the same but look at the balance sheets from last time year. Since then the Euro has depreciated and with fears over Greece and growth inside the Eurozone, the outlook isn't rosy. NAV is falling and expected to be lower... business isn't growing organically hence the share placements and todays purchase. It's encouraging the deal was done at 40p+ though but this is still risky. Bit like PHU although it's very quiet over there!