Welcome To The Official, Yoomedia Thread. All Welcome. Longs, Shorts, Rampers, Derampers And Loons!


gingermagician - 18 Oct'05 - 22:58 - 184 of 187 (including a contribution from iPublic)



Newbies - why invest in Yoomedia?

YooMedia is one of the fastest growing interactive entertainment companies in the country. It is currently the third largest interactive operation in the UK after SKY and the BBC. YooMedia is responsible for handling between 5-10 million cross-platform customer transactions every month, with monthly capacity of at least 25m, including the operation of the only other digital satellite red button return path other than Sky itself. Crucially, this provides an element of privacy for Blue Chip clients like William Hill, as Hill's betting transactional details, must be kept away from the eyes of SKY, a competitor to William Hill, but a YOO partner.

Under the stewardship of the CEO, Dr. Michael Sinclair and Group MD Neil MacDonald, YooMedia has under one roof a very talented and experienced group of individuals in the field of interactivity - encompassing Digital TV, Internet and mobile.

On the stock exchange the company is worth just over 30m but in my opinion the technology itself is worth that amount alone. It is a company now turning over 100m per year and is close to cash-flow positive. You get a lot of company for today's paltry 30m valuation:

It has offices in central London, Exeter and Maidstone. It has presence at over 30 office locations throughout the UK. It boasts state-of-the-art studio, production and post-production facilities in Wapping. UK broadcast return path & bandwidth owner on SKY, Freeview, and Cable. It has a UK Bookmaker License which it is looking to exploit changes in the UK Betting Legislation, allowing the introduction of skill based gaming like Poker and Blackjack on iTV, SKY, Cable and Freeview, in the near future. It has the biggest database in the UK of singles.

Its dating division is doing well and it is looking to mobile video dating and interactive services on SKY to give a further boost to Dateline. Its Avenues brand caters for the top end of the market with revenues of up to 900 an individual. The dating division has over 20 office locations throughout the UK and also manages YooChat, is a world-leading interactive chat service found on Telewest. Dating should continue to generate the company money as the contract with 3G and mobile video dating takes off. There has been great initial take up of this and should increase further as the take up of 3G phones increases. Another benefit of this tie-up is that 3 are doing nearly all the marketing. The appointment of Josie Adams as Chief Executive of YooMedia, Dating, was a big result for Yoomedia. There is no-one bigger in the field. She knows how media and interactive businesses work and she was the mastermind behind the success of dating and personals business of Yahoo! Europe.

Yoomedia is responsible for Avago and Yooplay brands. It also runs Channel 425 for William Hill. Although revenues from this venture have been disappointing, and responsible for the trading statement in June, it is anticipated that Yoomedia will make up for this in 2006 as from January it will be able to get into and provide services in high street betting shops. It is Yoomedia's biggest contract to date and should be a huge money spinner for them. The contract is 5 years and now bigger than initially anticipated because of William Hills takeover of Stanley Leisure. William Hill now own over 1400 betting shops, so the potential for exponential 2006 EPS growth is there. YooMedia is on the cutting-edge of interactive fixed odds, casino and poker gambling services for digital TV, the internet and 3G mobile phones. Despite what the perception on the BB is about YooplayTV Ch279 SKY, it is doing quite well. It is more or less a joint venture with Five and displays extended Endemol content in the form of Brainteaser. It is envisaged that further strengthening of the relationship with Endemol will be manifested through further Endemol content on Yooplay. This content will be revenue generative.

Furthermore, there is spare capacity on the Freeview Channel 53, which sounds like it is going to be put to good commercial use. Yoomedia have excellent relationships with BBC, Channel 5, ITV and Channel 4. Infact, Yoomedia is the preferred supplier of interactive services to these channels and is responsible for all the interactive advertising for Channel 4.

YooMedias new datacasting service for the fast-growing Freeview platform will deliver sophisticated interactive capability for our partners services. This will operate in conjunction with next-generation set top boxes that are currently under development by some of the worlds largest consumer electronics manufacturers.

YooMedias Real Time Messaging System (RTMS), which enables the consumer to use a mobile phone in a way which is synchronised with a programme on TV, is potentially worth several pence on EPS in future years, as the technology works with analouge and digital broadcast streams, important for those countries, not yet embracing the digtial revolution. Sophisticated premium interactive and participation services can be made available for consumers in and around standard TV services and content. Patents are pending and will be awarded shortly. The system can be licensed and sub-licensed to third party's, providing a substantial flow of ongoing royalty payments.

YooMedia Enhanced Solutions (YES) is a relatively new division of Yoomedia. It is led by David Bainbridge, previously MD of Whoosh and a former Deputy MD at Channel 5. It delivers interactive television, mobile and online content and solutions for some of Europes biggest blue-chip companies. YES customers (BBC, Nestle, Celador, William Hill, Channel 4, etc.) are very impressed and the client list is growing. It is doing very well and seems to be a big money-spinner for the company. Two top executives run these businesses and hopefully this part of the business will continue to grow.

YooMedia Public Sector provides interactive services and solutions to Local Authorities, Health Service Organisations, Central Government Departments and Government Agencies. It is the only company with the capability to deliver services across Sky, Freeview and Cable. YooMedia Public Sector assists Councils, Police Forces and other local authority bodies to provide a range of solutions that deliver text/video/audio content for static and dynamic information, encourages feedback, supports applications and bookings, processes payments and engages communities through the use of forums, online events, polling facilities and chat services. Yoomedia is delivering the largest iDTV based health information service in the world and has been trusted by the Government with the NHS Direct contract for interactivity. This should start generating cash in 2006 as it becomes transactional.

Are they running out of money?

The company is nearly profitable at the moment, even without significant WH and Broadband TV contributions. The aim is to become cashflow positive over the next couple of months and the Chairrman has stated to me and others (at our recent meeting at Yoomedia HQ) that he is relaxed and happy with the way matters are progressing. William Hill themselves approached Yoomedia to provide interactive expertise. They are able to hide their transactions from the competitive eye of BSKYB who obviously has a vested interest in betting via its betting channels. The fact is that William Hill need Yoomedia just as much as the other way round and I can only see this blossoming into a very-long-term relationship.

On the face of it they only have a couple of million quid left to get through. However, The Chairman has given us an assurance, which I hope is kept, that there are no plans for the company to prostitute itself to a rights issue at these levels solely for working capital requirements. A rights issue has never been discussed and the company are happy with the current financial position. The Boards interests are firmly aligned with those of shareholders and any dilution at these levels would hit all shareholders (including the board) hard in the pockets. They seem confident that they will make it through to cash flow positivity without the need to dilute the shareholders interests.

The cost-cutting and integration seems to have gone very well, but this will not reflect in the company finances for another six months or so. Neil McDonald, who gave birth to the idea of PCWorld, has managed to save more than actually was initially planned. Neil seems very focused on cost cutting and profitability and is prepared to cut what doesn't work. Neil has stated that future aims are to secure longer contracts with reputable clients to drive the bottomline.

Broadband TV

The tie-up/relationship with ICTV is an extremely important one. ICTV have invested more than $100 million dollars in the Broadband TV/interactivity technology. Yes, $100 million! Many (myself included) have seen Yoomedia's 'Broadband TV' work live and are very impressive. The technology works on all existing set top boxes, whatever the age of the hardware. In my opinion this will be a success due to the fact that NTL can integrate the service with immediate effect after the trial - if it is successful. The Telewest merger can only benefit Yoomedia as the Broadband TV potential takeup increases. The trial with NTL, comencing on the 24th October, will last a minimum of 30 days and then hopefully a deal will be struck with NTL at some point. The fact that it all relies on a server at the Cable Company's end and not on the STB, and given the assortment of set top boxes out there, the proposition is as future proof as you can get.

http://www.yoomedia.com/press_releases/pr26sept.html
http://blog.itvt.com/my_weblog/2005/10/ictvyoomedia_jo.html

Well the shares are not without risk. There is no share which is a 100% risk free. Yoomedia is a high risk but a potentially very high return share. It may fall back a bit more possibly but it could just as easily shoot up to 10p. There is news which is not far away now. The broker note didn't do it justice and I believe that another broker house will soon be initiating coverage. This is a share to buy and tuck away for the next 12-18 months. If things go as planned, my 12 month target is a 10 fold return from here.

Please do your own research and invest, not gamble, for your future financial security.

A few of the key players at Yoomedia. Many more hardworking, motivated individuals, behind the scenes, with the average employee age in the low 30's. Most employee's are shareholders, buying at much higher levels! Yoomedia now employs over 250 people.



Conclusion

The Group has grown its four core businesses in recent months, forming new
partnerships with leading blue-chip companies and developing new innovative
products, which will ensure our position as a market pioneer. The Board believes
that as traditional media, broadcast and telecommunications converge over the
next five years, the Group is well-placed to deliver high quality and sustainable
financial growth. Your Board remains optimistic about the future prospects for all
of our core businesses of YooMedia.

http://www.yoomedia.com

***Latest News*** - 21/10/05 - Yoomedia and Electra Entertainment to supply a collection of free and premium interactive services on Freeview - http://www.yoomedia.com/rns/rns21oct.html - The new interactive services accessible from any channel will feature richer functionality, graphics and sound than that currently available on Freeview interactive content. The new content will be supplied to households nationally using YooMedia's newly-launched datacasting service, as described in Yoomedia's recent interims results. Additionally, YooMedia and Electra will collaborate to develop advanced fixed odds gaming and dating services for inclusion in the Electra Freeview service platform. YooMedia's Group Managing Director, Neil MacDonald stated, We are delighted to announce our first datacasting service on Freeview, working in partnership with Electra. We developed the datacasting service to provide a sophisticated and state of the art interactive delivery mechanism for the rapidly expanding digital market. Freeview is the fastest growing digital TV platform in the UK with over five million households. Many industry commentators believe that Freeview will emerge as the largest single platform over the coming years and we believe that the time is right for high quality interactive services to be made available on it.******Latest News*** - 24/10/05 - YooMedia's Dateline wins Mobile TV award at MIPCOM - http://www.yoomedia.com/press_releases/pr24oct.html - YooMedia plc, the interactive media group, has won a prestigious industry award at MIPCOM 2005, the Cannes-based trade show for worldwide television companies. YooMedia's Dateline Mobile outclassed a field of international entries to win the first ever award for Best Mobile TV Channel or Service at MIPCOM's inaugural Mobile Day. Dateline Mobile was launched in August this year and is the world's first ever mobile phone video dating service to deliver live video matching for singles. Dateline 3G is delivered in association with Hutchinson 3, the UK 's leading third-generation network operator. The new service enables subscribers to harness the power of video to find a prospective partner through the use of a simple and intuitive user interface on a 3G mobile handset. Neil MacDonald, group managing director of YooMedia, stated. We are delighted to receive recognition for the innovative Dateline Mobile service. We created it to propel Dateline ahead of our competitors in the mobile market and the service is a great representation of the capabilities of YooMedia. David Bainbridge, managing director YooMedia Enhanced Services, stated. It is very exciting to receive this award for the Dateline 3G service against such impressive competition. The design and development of mobile interactive content and services is core to the YooMedia strategy and such early and positive recognition of our work is incredibly encouraging. ***

Certainly looks like the market is discounting something for sure.

MrSensible - 3 Mar'06 - 14:53 - 10008 of 10016


Yoomedia

1. Millions of pounds in debt - FACT

2. As far as we know, cash flow negative - FACT

3. Management have a track record of diluting shareholders - FACT

4. Management have a track record of missing targets - FACT

5. Head of Yoomedia's best division, YES - is leaving for a job with the BBC - Who will run YES now - FACT

6. CEO holds less than 600k. This inforamation is gained from the placement RNS. This hardly inspires confidence - FACT

7. Share price is still in a TWO year downtrend - FACT

I reserve the right to post the above - simply because I can and I believe at 5p the shares have further to fall - this is only my opinion and I reserve the right to state my views in the public domain.

Most of the original yoomedia crew have now gone & the company is effectively in the hands of the old DITG group, sad realy.

As is tvc15 ...