Excellent chart, constant broker reratings & a pile of cash !!

Increasing EPS and falling P/E to boot.

Internet Business FY pretax profit surges; confident for current year
AFX


LONDON (AFX) - Internet Business Group reported a surge in full-year pretax profit with a 'significant' increase in sales and continued improvement in the operations and delivery systems, adding that it remains confident of achieving market pretax profit expectations for the current financial year.

The online advertising and e-commerce company said its pretax profit leaped to 1.12 mln stg for the year ended Oct 31 2006 from 413,000 stg in the same period last year. Turnover increased to 13.405 mln stg from 6.322 mln a year ago.

'Trading since the financial year-end has remained strong and in line with management expectations. We look forward to the remainder of the current year with great optimism,' chairman Maziar Darvish said.

Brokers expect profits at Internet Business Group to rise to 1.9m in the current year and hit 3.1m by 2008. With this growth in mind, the 23 times forward earnings at which the stock trades is not excessive. In fact, relative to IBG's international rivals, it represents a discount. The Independent recommends a buy.


The Independent. Business Comment

Internet Business Group

Our view: Buy

Share price: 31.5p (+0.5p)

Internet Business Group (IBG) connects advertisers with online publishers. In return for this service, it gets a cut of the revenues generated by each advertisement it brokers. Yesterday's results from the AIM-listed group show business is booming.

IBG posted a leap in annual pre-tax profits to 1.2m from 413,000. The group also said the start of its new financial year has been strong. Why is IBG doing so well? Quite simply because the market for internet advertising is growing at around 30 per cent a year.

At present, there is a huge disparity between the time people spend online and the proportion of advertising budgets devoted to the internet. And this disparity looks set to widen as traditional forms of media like newspapers and television continue to suffer declines.

IBG is among a handful of London-listed operators that are benefiting from the growth in internet advertising - a trend that is unlikely to let up any time soon. Brokers expect profits at the group to rise to 1.9m in the current year and hit 3.1m by 2008. With this growth in mind, the 23 times forward earnings at which the stock trades is not excessive. In fact, relative to IBG's international rivals, it represents a discount.

UK smallcap opening - Internet Business firms as co looks at strategic options
AFX


LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Better levels were seen in Internet Business, 2-1/2 pence firmer at 28-1/2, following news that the online advertising and e-commerce company is considering strategic options to maximise shareholder value, including the possible sale of the company.

Nick Fletcher
Thursday May 24, 2007
The Guardian
The buying spree in the online advertising industry, which has seen several billion dollars spent since the start of the year, is understood to have prompted interest in British internet advertising specialist Internet Business Group (IBG). The company, headed by Maziar Darvish, announced a strategic review in late April which is believed to have turned into an auction, run by advisers Altium. With Microsoft having swooped on aQuantive for $6bn (3bn) and WPP snapping up 24/7 Real Media for $649m last week, the digital advertising space has become hot property. IBG, at 28p, has carved a niche in the fast growing area of affiliate marketing - helping advertisers to get on other people's websites - fast becoming the next boom segment of the sector