Keywords is an international technical service provider to the global Video Game Industry with offices in Dublin, Tokyo, Seattle, Montreal and Rome. Working on a worldwide basis, we provide a range of linguistic, testing, and quality control services to Video Game Developers and Publishers alike.

Keywords is focused 100% on the localization and testing of video games. Our experience and dedication to this field allows us to provide our clients with games that connect to their core audience, no matter what language they speak.

With our principal operations hub in Dublin, Keywords works globally. Our business is international in every sense so we are available to clients in North America and Japan just as we are available to those based in Europe. Providing our clients access to us so we can service their needs is tremendously important. There are points of contact ready to speak with our customers during all global business hours.

http://www.keywordsintl.com/en

09:20 27/07/2017
Broker Forecast - finnCap issues a broker note on Keywords Studios
finnCap today reaffirms its buy investment rating on Keywords Studios (LON:KWS) and raised its price target to 1000p (from 923p). Story provided by StockMarketWire.com

Octopus investment >6%

whoosh.. share price has risen eightfold in two years and still capable of more.

In a world of leaks, the company did well to keep everyone quiet during negotiations with multiple targets ahead of today's announcement. And they look to have got themselves a bargain.

On the other hand, it could be that there have been leaks which are partly responsible for the rise already seen.

10:30 04/08/2017
Broker Forecast - Numis issues a broker note on Keywords Studios
Numis today reaffirms its buy investment rating on Keywords Studios (LON:KWS) and raised its price target to 1400p (from 1260p). Story provided by StockMarketWire.com

That's a significantly large upgrade. 11% higher than their previous target and 18% up from last night's close.

09:40 08/08/2017
Broker Forecast - Berenberg issues a broker note on Keywords Studios
Berenberg today reaffirms its buy investment rating on Keywords Studios (LON:KWS) and raised its price target to 1350p (from 1150p). Story provided by StockMarketWire.com

There is madness in the Market, that's for sure... A PE ratio about 100... sp about £11 and little or no USP . . . a few key workers could replicate this and smooth-talk their clients....added to which the yield is zippo and what have you got....?

Well clearly Brokers know something I don't . . . or maybe they see the fever and postulate it will continue . . . . Let's hope it does, for anyone buying at these levels.

It's all about FEVER. lol WanDisco doing well Fevertree as well . lol All Disco Fever. :-))

Interims Tues 19 Sept

Market buzz- Keywords Studios, which is an AIM stock with a wide following after its shares have rocketed from under 150p to above 1400p over the last three years, also is scheduled to report interim numbers.

In late July, the computer game industry services specialist revealed it was doing well in the first half of the year, with preliminary unaudited revenues up 50% to €63.7m and a 60% increase in adjusted PBT to €9.6m, which was substantially ahead expectations.

"With the results themselves, clearly we will be interested to see comments on trading over the important summer period, and also comments on confidence about prospects for further acquisitions, which have typically been highly value creative," said Numis, which is also house broker to this company too.

"Guidance for H2 profitability will also be important - we think management has been playing down the longer term prospect for margin improvement from current levels."

Half-year Report
RNS
RNS Number : 0936R
Keywords Studios PLC
19 September 2017
 
19 September 2017
 
 
 
Keywords Studios plc ("Keywords Studios", "the Group")
 
Half year results for the six months to 30 June 2017
 
Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider to the global video games industry, today provides its half year results for the six months to 30 June 2017.
 
Financial overview:
·     Revenue, including contribution from acquisitions, increased by 50% to €63.8m (H1 2016: €42.4m)
·     Adjusted profit before tax* up 60% to €9.6m (H1 2016: €6.0m)
·     Adjusted earnings per share* up 55% to 13.2c (H1 2016: 8.5c)
·     Net cash of €1.1m (H1 2016: €3.5m) after €6.9m of net cash outlay on acquisitions
·     10% increase in interim dividend to 0.48p per share (2016: 0.44p)
 
 
Operational overview:
·     17% increase in like for like** revenue, or 28% when excluding Synthesis in both periods reflects the underlying growth of the group
·     Continued to invest in the development of the Group:
o  Acquisition of Spov, to enhance our Art offering, in February
o  Acquisition of XLOC, bringing a specialist localisation content management system for videogames development to the Group, in May
o  Acquisition of Gamesim, which provides the Group with a first step into software engineering services, in May
o  Acquisition of the Chinese based art group, Red Hot, in May adding further capacity and providing reach to talent pools in second and third tier cities in China
o  Further strengthened the senior management team with the appointment of a Group HR Director, a newly created position
o  Invested in facilities in India and Tokyo, adding up to 150 seats and audio / voice over recording studios respectively in response to demand
·     Five year revolving credit facility of €35m with Barclays Bank Plc secured
·     40% increase in clients using three or more services to 84 (H1 2016: 60)
 
 
Post period end, current trading and outlook:
·     Further investment in operational capacity and Group infrastructure to support growth in future periods:
·     Three acquisitions of Paris based audio and localisation service providers in August giving Keywords a market leading position in this key language
·     Strengthened the Board and management team with the appointments of Georges Fornay and Charlotta Ginman as Non-Executive Directors 
·     Expansion plans supported by investment in 8 facilities to add up to 700 seats across Art, Player Support, Functionality Testing, and Localisation Testing in the second half to accommodate organic growth in response to market demands
·     Selectively reviewing a strong acquisition pipeline
·     Trading in the first three months of the second half has been in line with the Board's expectations
 
*    before acquisition and integration expenses of €0.5m (H1 2016: €0.7m), share option charges of €0.4m (H1 2016: €0.3m), amortisation of intangibles of €1.2m (H1 2016: €0.6m) and foreign currency loss of €1.96m (H1 2016: €1.77m)
** calculated on the basis that the H1 2016 comparative includes all of the 2016 and 2017 acquisitions as if they had been owned for the same period in 2016 as they have been in 2017.
 
Andrew Day, Chief Executive of Keywords Studios, commented:             
 
"We have delivered another strong set of results for the first six months of the year as we continue to pursue our strategy of organic and acquisition led growth as we build our global games services business." 
 
"Our success in providing a wider range of services to our existing client base, which is comprised of 23 of the 25 leading video game companies around the world, is evidenced by a 40% increase in the number of clients buying three or more services from us." 
 
"We continue to invest in larger facilities and additional talent in our existing business in support of organic growth while welcoming new businesses to the group through our active strategy to lead the consolidation of a highly-fragmented market."

19 Sep
Numis
1,400.00
Hold

19 Sep
finnCap
1,325.00
Hold

Shares today -WHY GET OFF NOW?
One of the issues that FinnCap analyst Harold Evans points out is that the company is ‘ticking every box except valuation’. The company is trading on a sky price to earnings ratio of 43.1-times 2017 earnings, this is more than double the FTSE 250 ratio

Acquisition
RNS
RNS Number : 0200U
Keywords Studios PLC
19 October 2017
 
19th October 2017
 
 
Keywords Studios plc ("Keywords", "the Group")
 
Acquisition of d3t Ltd
Expansion of Engineering Service Line
 
Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider to the global video games industry, today announces that it has acquired d3t ltd ("d3t"), for a total consideration of £3 million from the founders Jamie Campbell and Stephen Powell and others (the "Sellers").
 
Based in the North West of England, between Liverpool and Manchester, d3t delivers premium quality outsourced software development services for video game developers and publishers internationally.
 
The acquisition of d3t is in line with Keywords Studios' strategy to grow organically and by acquisition as it selectively consolidates the highly fragmented market for video game services.  d3t brings additional skills, client relationships and geographic reach to Keywords, extending the strength and scale of its recently established Engineering service line.
 
Founded in 2011 and now employing 44 staff, d3t is an award-winning software development company with capabilities including HD re-mastering, porting, optimisation, rendering and game systems development. Over the course of the last six years they have delivered consistent high quality across dozens of projects for clients such as SEGA, Codemasters, Sony XDev and the BBC.
 
Jamie Campbell and Stephen Powell, along with the rest of d3t team, will remain with the business.  
 
In the year ended 31st of July 2017, d3t achieved revenues of £2.8 million and an underlying adjusted pre-tax profit of £0.4 million.
 
Under the terms of the acquisition Keywords is paying a consideration comprised of £2.4m in cash and the issue of 42,368 new ordinary shares in Keywords, which will be subject to a two-year lock in period.  
 
Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for the admission of 42,368 new ordinary shares to trading on AIM. Admission of the new shares is expected to take place at 8.00am on 24 October 2017. The Company's total issued share capital following admission will consist of 56,211,141 ordinary shares of one pence each with one voting right per share. The above figure of 56,211,141 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they can determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company following admission.
 
 
Giacomo Duranti, Chief Operating Officer, commented:
"The acquisition of d3t complements our recent acquisition GameSim's capabilities to extend the services, scale and geographical presence of our Engineering offering. With increasing demand in the video games industry for reliable, high-quality outsourced software engineering services, we are building a strong offering to support our clients globally.
 
We are delighted to welcome the highly talented and experienced team at d3t to the Keywords family and we look forward to working closely together to build upon the company's excellent reputation, track record and client relationships."
 
 
Jamie Campbell commented:
"We are delighted to be joining the Keywords Group. d3t was founded with the sole aim of being an invaluable external development partner to the games industry and other interactive sectors. Over the course of six years we have become leaders in the field of high-value engineering offering a professional, wide ranging service.
 
We feel there is a great deal of synergy with Keywords' strategy to be the very best technical service provider to the video games industry, and we look forward to our continued expansion as part of the Group."

Keywords to acquire VMC
StockMarketWire.com
Keywords Studios has announced that the Company has entered into a conditional agreement with Volt Information Sciences to acquire VMC Consulting Corporation and Volt Canada Inc. (collectively VMC) for around $66.4m.

The Company said the proposed deal remains subject to certain working capital adjustments.

The Consideration and working capital adjustments and related transaction costs are intended to be funded by a fully underwritten cash placing of approximately £75m (before expenses) of new ordinary shares in the capital of the Company.

Keywords added:

The Board believes that the Acquisition has a compelling strategic and financial rationale as it:

- Brings to the Group a leading provider of Functional Testing and Customer Support in North America, with adjusted revenue of USD $57.4 million and adjusted EBITDA of USD $6.4 million on an annualised basis in the year to October 2017[1]

- Increases Keywords' market share and footprint, growing Functional Testing and more than doubling the size of its Customer Support offering, in the key North American market

- Adds a business of scale, with a reputation for a high quality service and a strong, blue chip client base

- Has an attractive 'Embedded Technical Services' offering, wherein VMC manages various technical services within its clients' premises through long-standing client relationships. The Board believes this service affords the Group the opportunity to cross-sell Keywords' broader services to VMC's client base, including as embedded services, and to offer VMC's embedded service model to its own major clients

- Is recognised in the market as being the "go-to" outsourced manager of crowd-based testing of games by vetted private individuals through its 'Global Beta Test Network' which is attractive to Keywords and offers material cross selling and roll-out opportunities

- Is expected to benefit from being part of a group focused on similar services and with global reach (as opposed to being part of a broader staffing business)

- Should deliver, in the view of management, material cross-selling, cost saving and margin improvement opportunities under Keywords' management

- Is expected to be significantly earnings enhancing in the first full year

The Acquisition is expected to be completed on or around 30 October 2017, conditional upon, amongst other things, completion of the Placing.

Andrew Day, Chief Executive of Keywords, commented:

"We're thrilled to announce the acquisition of VMC which, as our largest acquisition to date, represents an important milestone in our strategy to selectively consolidate the fragmented video games market and generate synergies through scale in certain services and geographies.

"VMC is an organisation we've admired for several years for its reputation, scale and high quality service as well as its attractive embedded technical services and crowd-based testing services.

"With secure testing labs in Seattle and Montreal, very close to Keywords own studios, we expect to be able to leverage the strengths of both organisations while achieving significant cost synergies to deliver profit performance similar to that of the rest of the Group.

"We look forward to working with the team at VMC to support their growth as part of a group providing similar services as we realise the benefits of combining our complementary services and locations into what we believe will be a compelling offering for our broadened client base not only in North America but also internationally."



At 1:38pm: (LON:KWS) Keywords Studios share price was +50p at 1437p


Story provided by StockMarketWire.com

That's a biggy. And the placing was snapped up rapidly. Several other acquisitions in the pipeline apparently, but this one looks seriously important in the company's growth plan.

Yes very rapidly, in two hours all shares snapped up. :-))

13:00 25/10/2017
Broker Forecast - Numis issues a broker note on Keywords Studios
Numis today upgrades its investment rating on Keywords Studios (LON:KWS) to buy (from hold) and set its price target at 1865p. Story provided by StockMarketWire.com
12:20 25/10/2017

Broker Forecast - finnCap issues a broker note on Keywords Studios
finnCap today upgrades its investment rating on Keywords Studios (LON:KWS) to buy (from hold) and raised its price target to 1677p (from 1325p). Story provided by StockMarketWire.com