Chinese fund Canyon Bridge to acquire Imagination

Imagination announced its acquisition by Canyon Bridge, for a price of £550m and corresponding to a 42% premium compared to the last closing.

Positive results, but Apple and speculation will be the short-term drivers

Imagination reported its full results for the year ending April 2017, after the update in May. Revenues from continuing operations came in at £145.2m, corresponding to 21% growth yoy. By segment, PowerVR came in at £94.8m (+7.9%), MIPS at £35.4m (+18.2%) and Ensigma at £7.7m (+117.2%). By type of revenues, licensing came in at £33.8m (+81.8%) and royalties at £111.1m (+8.2%). The gross margin reached 97.1%, for an EBIT of £7.8m, corresponding to a margin of 5.4%. PowerVR was the only profitabl

N+1 Singer - Imagination Technologies Group - Takeout remains most attractive outcome

Imagination has released its final results for the year to April 2017. While the results themselves are slightly ahead of our expectations, reflecting the significant restructuring undertaken in the year, events post the year end have taken over. There is no further update on the dispute with Apple within today’s update and no indication of the level at which the group has received interest from potential bidders for the whole group. The outlook for licence revenue in FY’18 is said to be strong,

Imagination now officially and entirely up for sale

Imagination has announced the commencement of the formal sale process for the whole group. Having announced in May the intention to sell the MIPS and Ensigma businesses, it has now announced that preliminary discussions are engaged with several potential bidders. The company also said that it was still in dispute with Apple.

N+1 Singer - Morning Song 22-06-2017

Carador Income Fund (CIFU LN) Level of refinancing and reset activity remains high | Imagination Technologies Group (IMG LN) No progress with Apple; Whole group for sale | Uncovered Gems - Speed Dating Lunch Another five sparkling gems

N+1 Singer - Imagination Technologies Group - Steadying the ship

Imagination’s interim results this week were reassuring. Underlying performance was in line and boosted by FX, leaving the group well placed for the full year. Total partner unit shipments were ahead of our expectations, offsetting some weakness in Licencing revenue. Net debt at £40.8m is well within covenants, alleviating any lingering concerns over the balance sheet. We are making material upgrades to our forecasts which are largely FX driven. With the restructuring now largely complete, and £

Very positive bottom-line developments thanks to restructuring and FX

Imagination reported its H1 17 results, ending in October. On a continuing operation basis, revenues came in at £64.4m (+8.8% sequentially, +3.3% yoy). PowerVR witnessed a decrease (£43.3m, -2% yoy) while MIPS (£16.7m, +13.3% yoy) and Ensigma (£4.4m, +146.7% yoy) benefited from strong growth rates. The number of devices shipped remained stable at 584m units; total royalty revenues went up by 5.9% to £52.5m, thanks to the great performance in MIPS, for which royalty revenues went up by about 20%

N+1 Singer - Imagination Technologies Group - Underlying performance in-line; FX gains

Imagination has reported its interim results for the 6 months to October 2016. Group revenue from continuing operations of £64.4m (+6% y-o-y) is ahead of our expectations (N+1Se: £59.7m), with solid underlying performance boosted by FX gains. Good underlying unit shipments resulted in royalty revenues of £52.5m with licencing revenue of £11.8m broadly in-line despite some PowerVR deals moving to H2. The £27.5m of annualised cost savings have been delivered, resulting in adjusted EBIT up 65% to £

Recovery has started but will take some time

Imagination reported FY 2016 (for the company, which we choose to rename in FY 2015 as most of the revenues occurred in that year) results, following a trading update in May in which the company had announced that the results would be below market expectations.

Alphawave Semi: FY23 trading update, amended forward guidance

Alphawave Semi has reduced guidance for FY23 and prospectively citing lower revenues from China, changes in expected revenue recognition from long-term contracts, and continuing investment in R&D. The share price has reacted negatively, giving up most of the gains since the trading statement at the end of January. Current consensus, which is a good match for pre-existing guidance, should be reduced, most likely following release of the FY23 results and full 1Q24 trading update due on 23 April. H

LIBERUM: Cirata plc: Cirata from the flames

Zeus Top Picks for 2024 - 2023 review and outlook for 2024

On 9 January last year, we set out our ten top stock picks for 2023, for what turned out to be another relatively poor twelve months for UK equities due to two wars, stubbornly high inflation and further tightening of monetary policy. This was even as other major markets, such as the US, largely recovered in the year. In the 2023 calendar year, the AIM All-Share index fell 8.2% and is still 42% off its 2021 high. From the release of our 2023 top picks note, the average total return (assuming div

It’s not what you sell, it’s the way that you sell it

This report is intended to help UK small- and mid-cap investors gain a better understanding of software companies’ routes to market, and to highlight how one of the most important facets of the way in which they grow and deliver value is routinely ignored.  We examine sales processes for six UK-listed companies and one that has recently been taken over, and consider why they have followed their respective paths.

Synectics + (SNX, House Stock at 185p) - Strong FY23A profit growth to continue

Maintel - Strong FY23 year-end TU continues trend of over-delivery

Maintel has reported a trading update for the year ending December 2023, indicating revenue in of at least £101m and adj EBITDA of “in excess of £9m”, compared with respective forecasts of £98m and £8.6m. Net debt of £18.1m also outperforms our expected year-end net debt of £18.6m. The group is continuing the trend established with the reintroduction of forecasts in April 2023, where growing confidence in delivery led to upgraded forecasts in both August and September, and still achieving outper

Eleco - FY23E EBITDA +3% ahead, FY24-26E EBITDA & EFCF reiterated

Eleco’s FY23 trading update highlights record recurring revenue growth of +22% to £20.7m, strong profitability that leads us to expect FY23E adjusted EBITDA +3% ahead of our previous forecast, and a confident outlook that leads us to reiterate our FY24-26E EBITDA and EFCF. Across the group, excellent execution of the SaaS transition has driven recurring revenue to 74% of group revenue from 64% in FY22, and ARR is +24% yoy to £22.6m (£19.7m at H1), including c£2m of ARR from the successful acquis

Morning Note – 4 April 2024

Auction Technology Group - H1/24 Trading update

ATG’s H1/24 trading statement indicates revenue for the six-month period to 31 March 2024 was $86m, a 6% increase on H1/23 (1% organic growth), helped by the addition of the EstateSales.Net (ESN) marketplace last year, which performed well in the period. Total marketplace revenue increased 2% (organic), driven by growth in value-added services (VAS) and event fees, offsetting a decline in commission revenue (mainly through lower asset prices).

Intelligent Ultrasound Group - GE Healthcare launches new Voluson Signature with

GE Healthcare has announced the launch of the Voluson Signature 20 and 18 ultrasound systems, with the related press release noting these systems ‘comprehensively integrate artificial intelligence’ to improve the ultrasound procedure for clinicians and the women being scanned. These ultrasound systems include SonoLyst, the AI which incorporates Intelligent Ultrasound’s ScanNav Assist and ScanNav AutoCapture AI software. The launch of additional Voluson systems including the SonoLyst suite of AI