Web Site : http://www.universe-group.co.uk/

HTEC Web Site : http://www.htec.co.uk/

ABOUT UNIVERSE GROUP PLC

The retail and information systems company whose main trade name is HTEC.
HTEC is an international supplier of electronic payment, transaction and loyalty systems to the retail and communication sectors.
HTEC is an international group, providing integrated technology based services to the retail, telecommunications and business sectors.

LOYALTY SOLUTIONS - EUROPE
HTEC has vast experience in all areas of customer loyalty from hardware, software and installation to polling, database management and reporting.
Utilising the latest techniques in datamining. HTEC extract the true value of customer loyalty programmes - providing information, not just data, to enable companies to improve their business by establishing longer, more profitable relationships with their customers.
HTEC caters for both magnetic stripe and smart card platforms, and multi-retailer schemes.
Solutions for magnetic cards can also include options to convert systems to smart card.
From complete stand-alone terminals to fully integrated systems that interact with existing EPOS and management systems, HTEC focuses on the smooth implementation of loyalty programmes, with minimum disruption to business.

ELECTRONIC POINT OF SALE (EPOS) SYSTEMS AND ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER (EFTPOS) - UK RETAIL
HTEC design and manufacture high quality, integrated EPOS and EFTPOS systems for the forecourt, hospitality and high street retail sectors. HTEC systems are designed to maximise speed at the checkout, minimise management effort and bring total compatibility with existing systems.
One such system is the EFT Gemini payment terminal - a single unit designed to accept virtually any non-cash payment and which is compatible with both magnetic stripe and smart cards. The Gemini EFT terminal can provide APACS 30 on-line authorisation from aquiring banks. It also provides a ready made, flexible loyalty infrastructure.

SPECIALIST TECHNOLOGY SERVICES - EUROPE
HTECS's specialist technology services offer design, manufacture and assembly of innovative products and new technology experts in PCB design, HTEC are at the leading edge of bespoke manufacturing cabability - delivering high quality products to meet a variety of telecommunications and international standards including BABT, CSA and FCC

Nice to see a rise today on the back of the directors vote of confidence. Trading update soon and that should emphasise these are trading on a very low PER, in otherwords, cheap as chips.

And moving up again which makes me happy to see, cheap as chips, the last Charles Stanley note was at 23p and a buy rating !

Good news :)

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/1/prweb331715.htm


BCP/HTEC Hydraccord Solution Rolled Out to Henderson Group Forecourts

The best of breed Hydraccord forecourt solution, developed by solutions specialists BCP and HTEC, is now being used in over 30 Henderson Group forecourt convenience stores.

Stockport UK (PRWEB) January 13 2006 -- Two years ago, Northern Ireland-based Henderson Group implemented a new forecourt retail solution Hydraccord in its forecourt store at Hartford Link, Newtownards, outside Belfast. Since then, the solution has been successfully rolled out to more than 30 forecourt convenience stores across Northern Ireland, helping retailers to optimise customer service, maximise revenue from their forecourt c-stores and continue to compete successfully in an increasingly competitive market. Specially designed to meet the precise needs of independent and symbol group forecourt retailers, Hydraccord combines the intricacies of fuel retailing with comprehensive convenience store retailing in a way few, if any, other solutions do.

The best of breed Hydraccord solution was developed by leading solutions providers BCP and HTEC. Combining the power of BCPs proven c-store Back Office system and HTECs dedicated PoS fuel system, Hydraccord gives forecourt operators a single solution to manage all aspects of their business.

The solution is continually evolving to reflect changing market and business conditions and incorporate new technologies, thereby ensuring it continues to offer forecourt operators the best in both convenience and fuel retailing.

Recent enhancements to further improve customer service and store efficiency include an E-top up (ETU) Voucher scheme, a car wash link and outdoor payment terminals (OPT).

ETU for mobile phone top up - is widely recognised as a valuable source of increased turnover for c-stores. The new ETU voucher scheme gives forecourt operators access to this additional turnover by printing a top up code on the till receipt rather than by using separate top up terminals, thereby minimising paper work and freeing up valuable merchandising space. Likewise, the car wash link uses a PSD Codex embedded chip to allow car washes to be sold from any pay point by printing a voucher containing a pin code to be keyed in at the car wash. Again, this frees up merchandising space as well as improving efficiency and customer service. The introduction of OPTs will allow customers to pay at the pump rather than in the store. Hendersons plan to use this to introduce an express fuelling lane close to the road which, they believe, will further build customer loyalty as well as increasing capacity at sites.

A family owned business established over 100 years ago, Henderson Group is one of Northern Irelands largest independent wholesale and retail businesses. The Group owns the SPAR, EUROSPAR, VIVO and VIVOXTRA franchises for Northern Ireland, providing a full service to over 400 stores, including its own company-owned estate of over 50 stores under the Henderson Retail umbrella. Around 50% of the estate operate as forecourt sites.

The solution has rolled out at a rate of around two stores a month over the past two years with all but two of the Henderson Retail chains forecourt sites currently running the system. The last two will be implemented following development and refitting of the stores.

The rate of implementation shows no signs of abating as an increasing number of independents opt for the Hydraccord solution and the Henderson Group expands its store estate across Northern Ireland.

Implementations range from two and three lane stores to large seven lane outlets like the 3,000 sq ft forecourt store at Ranfurly in Dungannon, County Tyrone, and cover the full range of fuel suppliers BP, Shell, Texaco, Esso and Maxol - the system being flexible enough to cater for the different card preferences of all these suppliers.

Neil Granleese, Retail Technologies Manager at Henderson Group, explains: The solution developed for us by BCP and HTEC gave us a comprehensive, flexible solution suitable for both our company-owned and independent stores. The rollout of the system has gone extremely smoothly and according to plan. For our own stores, the generic Back Office across wet (forecourt) and dry (non-forecourt) stores with standard menus, reporting options, etc, has simplified operation and management control while new developments like OPT and ETU will continue to make the system increasingly attractive to independent stores.

For further information of photographs please contact Pauline Higgs at BCP:
T: 0161 355 3000
F: 0161 355 3001
W: www.bcpsoftware.com

Notes for the editor
About BCP - www.bcpsoftware.com
Founded in 1979, Business Computer Projects Ltd (BCP) is a leading systems house specialising in supply chain solutions. Our Accord systems offer end-to-end, web enabled supply chain solutions for delivered wholesale, cash & carry and retail distribution. Dedicated versions are available for the food and drink sector where we are regarded as one of the market leaders.

All our systems have been developed using Progress 4GL ensuring they are user friendly and easy to tailor, with powerful, flexible reporting and management information facilities. Their OpenEdge(TM) architecture makes them suitable for use on a wide range of platforms, giving clients maximum choice and flexibility in hardware and operating system platform selection and allowing easy integration with many other technologies, such as .NET, Java and Web Services.

As a technology innovator, BCP systems are in the forefront when it comes to applying new technologies to the Food Industry Supply Chain. Recently these include Voice technology in the warehouse, using Web Services and EDI-INT for Supply Chain Integration and keeping up with new developments in the industry, such as Chip and Pin. We also operate a number of managed services for our clients, including AIMS (Accord Internet Messaging Service) for passing information reliably and securely between sites, an EFT Bureau and an EDI Bureau.

BCP clients include SPAR, Musgrave, BWG, Woodward Food Service, Pets at Home, William Morrison Supermarkets, Pedigree Wholesale.

About HTEC www.htec.co.uk

About SPAR/Henderson Group - www.spar.co.uk

For further information please contact Pauline Higgs at BCP:
Tel: +44 (0)161 355 3000
Fax: +44 (0)161 355 3001

No reference anymore to Master Change on the UNG web site, perhaps that good news is not far away now :)

And the contract wins keep coming in :)

Universe Group PLC
19 January 2006

UNIVERSE GROUP PLC

HTEC SECURES PACE PETROLEUM WIN

Universe Group plc ('Universe' or the 'Company'), the AIM listed retail and
information systems company, is pleased to announce that Pace Petroleum Limited ('Pace Petroleum') is to roll out HTEC's Hydra Chip & PIN OPT payment terminal to their unmanned petrol retailing sites. HTEC is a subsidiary of Universe.

Part of the new unmanned solution will be the deployment of HTEC'c Internet
based Virtual Back Office (VBO). This will allow Pace Petroleum to manage the
stock, sales and activity of the unmanned sites, by accessing a web server and
back office application hosted by HTEC.

Graham Timbers of Pace Petroleum says: 'We evaluated all of the credible systems on the market and chose to expand our involvement with HTEC because of the remarkable range of functionality available.'

Ray Mackie, Chairman of Universe, comments: 'We are very pleased to have direct
business with Pace Petroleum. Their requirements are extensive and we are
confident that both Pace Petroleum and their customers will benefit from the new unmanned system.'

Good news Papal ! I nearly topped up yesterday after reading your post,i don`t suppose i will get chance this morning as it will be marked up straight away.

It is good news DB66, and I am hoping for more good news with an end of January/early Feb trading update before results in March.

Could be a chance for a final cheap top up soon, would like to pick some more up around the 17.25 level :) before we get any pre close update and then results in March.

More weakness and avaiable at 17.25 for top ups now. Should be volatile this month and come strong in and through March I hope :)

Looking cheap as chips now if broker forecasts are on, and UNG are "in line".

Results in March, so Feb should be weak, now able to top up at 16.5p :)

Broker Forecasts

Charles Stanley & Co Ltd 03-02-06 BUY

2005 PTP 1.37
2005 EPS 1.80
2005 DIV 0.75

2006 PTP 2.03
2006 EPS 2.30
2006 DIV 0.75

Given we are in effect in 2006 year now (while waiting for 2005 results to come in March) we are on a pr Current Year PER of times 7, with pr 2007 PER of much lower.

A recent year under achiever, who by all pointers and signs, are about to start achieving again.

A 5th MM joined today, normally only 3, now 5, so the run in to results in late March might start to heat up as we enter T30 later this month.

OPT and UPT applications are going to drive HTEC short to mid term into some very reasonable growth :)


http://www.forecourttrader.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/1129/OPT_trial_success.html

OPT trial success
Published: 03 February, 2006
Page 49
A recent trial by VBi, retail and fuel management system specialists, has found that Outdoor Payment Terminals (OPTs) are popular with customers. Results showed that as awareness and confidence in the technology grew over a two-month pilot, average sales increased by 10%.
The trial in County Durham featured VBis Illumina 3000 OPT, with the standalone solution proving effective as a queue-busting device during busy hours. Peak times for usage were 6-7pm and early on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
The OPT technology also enabled the test site a rural forecourt to offer a 24-hour service, without the safety issues of staff working all hours in an isolated location.
_______________________________________________________________

http://www.forecourttrader.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/1128/HTEC_sets_the_Pace.html

HTEC sets the Pace
Published: 03 February, 2006
Page 49
Pace Petroleum is to roll out HTECs Hydra Chip & PIN Outdoor Payment Terminal (OPT) to their unmanned petrol retailing sites. The company currently has six totally unmanned forecourts. The new terminals will update these sites to Chip & PIN technology.
Part of the unmanned solution will be the deployment of HTECs internet-based Virtual Back Office (VBO). This allows stock, sales and activity on the sites to be managed by accessing a web server.
Meanwhile, HTECs Hydraccord solution, developed with BCP, has now been rolled out to more than 30 Henderson Group sites in Northern Ireland. Hydraccord combines BCPs c-store Back Office system with HTECs dedicated PoS fuel system in a single solution to manage all aspects of the forecourt business.
The system is continually evolving to reflect changing market and business conditions and incorporate new technologies. Recent enhancements include an E-top up voucher scheme for mobile phones, a car wash link and OPTs, with Hendersons said to be planning to introduce express fuelling lanes close to the road.

Should get stronger into March, results late March or early April and all is still looking good for UNG I think

I still maintain that if results are in line, and the HTEC progress is as good as is said, these should be over 25p by results time.

I hope that results are in line, I would be very disappointed if not, and have seen not one pointer or news piece saying they should not be in line. ;)

All there has been is good news on new contracts and orders.

I'm in today.... small time, but let's see how it goes... usually, if i buy a share... it's the kiss of death, let's hope it's different this time.

Thanks for the warning skyhigh. I had better stay on the sidelines for a while then!

I am hoping you bring us some good luck skyhigh :) and a nice rise to around 27p ;)

PP
Well, I did buy in on Ekay at 24.5p and within a couple of weeks it went to 50p... should have sold then and re-entered and current levels.....but didn't
Anyhow, let's hope the same happens with UNG.... I'll settle for 27p !

coeliac1... seriously, I wouldn't stay on the sidelines with this one...can't go anywhere 'cept up (imho of course!)

Well, there you are... I decide to buy in and the SP falls ! hopefully it's just a minor movement... one step back and two steps forward and all that....

BTW... have you noticed that, aprt from a couple of exceptions, that most aim / sm co. shares are taking a battering at the moment ? seems to be a general down pattern going on...