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

I have this down as a stock that has a chance of doubling in 2006. The reasons behind it are the potential sale of Master Change, and the fact that HTEC is a real jewel in the crown that will deliver more and more, much more as time goes on.

Will be a return to full year profitabilty at prelims, and high growth again come interims later in the year.

A good day for UNG and a move upwards, looks good.

Moving again as well :) Merry Christmas all !

I`m sure our patience will be rewarded Papal, a half decent divended,the fact they have sold a loss making part of the group and recent contracts wins means i look forward to 2006 with a lot of optimism.
Have a good Xmas
DB66

DB66 a Merry Christmas to you ! 2006 should be a good year for UNG.

Charles Stanley 21st December 2005 BUY

2005 Pre Tax Profit 1.37M
2005 EPS 1.8p
2005 Div 0.75p

2006 Pre Tax Profit 2.03M
2006 EPS 2.3p
2006 Div 0.75p

I asked fingers xxd on AFN to take a look at UNG as I have it down as a potential stock to double in 2006, and the kind response is;


UNG - 19.00p .. Apologies for the 'spiders web' all over the first chart .. it is showing me that there has been a great deal of downward pressure throughout the last 6 yrs, and the fact that the 15.00p level has been acting as its 'ground floor' during the last couple of years .. should this support level fail at anytime, I would look upon this as a very strong warning sign, as it would take the price to levels that it has not seen before.
Zooming into its 6 mth chart, it can be seen that the price has mainly been within a range with a 'selling low' of 18.00p, and a 'buying peak' of 22.00p, so closely watch for trades appearing outside of this range, as an advance signal of a possible breakout ... a 'closing price' outside, would tend to confirm that the price is attempting to leave this range behind .. which obviously applies to both directions.
At the moment, its indicators are rising, suggesting it is in a 'positive period'. The price has moved up through its downtrends of the last couple of months, and there are signs of an underlying uptrend developing, so the price may well move on up to the ceiling of its present range.On the 100% thread, I note that you have a 'starting price' of 18.50p .. I see the 25.00p level as being the strongest barrier above, and I reckon that it holds the 'key' to whether it can double or not. If the price can 'close' above 25.00p within the next 12 mths, then I reckon it has the potential to reach 37.00p quite quickly afterwards.
As usual, just the unbiased thoughts of a non-holder.

A little bit more blue today, want a lot but a little will do ;)

The only buy today was 15K at 4:05pm, it was not a T trade either, so I can only imagine the mark up was the MM's now knowing there will be no more sellers for year end cash, will start to walk the price back up ready for January buyers.

A bit more info on what they did with Morrison's;

http://www.cimtalk.com/news/tos/tos104.html

http://www.casestudyit.com/new/viewArticle.php?article_id=2811

L2 still 3 v 1 so I think they are still trying to pick up sells on the cheap. They got 41K this morning at 16.5p, how that can be with 3 v 1 I do not know but someone was willing to give a new year bonus to the MM's. I am waiting for L2 to worsen so I can hoover a load more up cheap, but its not moving yet, which I why I think they are accumulating for someone.


With results due end of March, and they will be a return to full year profitability, increased revenue, increase OP, actual profits and hopeful an increased dividend, you can see why I want more if I can get them cheap.

Soon to be on a current year forecast EPS of 2.3p, with new forward EPS of around 3p, these should be trading in the 28p to 30p range I think, so I will keep adding more :)

Down a little but not much, makes me think again they are accumulating for someone from the volumes this morning, small buy and it goes up after some volume sells. Should I add more now, or wait a little longer to see if it drops just a little more, I will wait, but knowing my luck it will now go up.

I did think about selling up some where else to add to this but i`m not sure i have the confidence to do it ,although UNG does seem to have a bit of a trading pattern .
I wish i shared your confidence in this being a share that could double in 2006.

25p is the key level and I agree with fingers there, a close above 25p would be a bullish sign. If we get very good prelims and interims there is a chance, as there is a chance if they sell of Master Change this year. Potential is there for sure, NAV is over 40p (thats NAV and not NTAV)

Got myself another 20K at 17.25p today.

Should be a trading update end of this month and then prelims in March, and all should be good.

Well done Papal i`m sure this is the bottom of its downward cycle.

Doesn`t the dividend get paid out on Monday? If it does i`m sure we will soon tick up slowly, very slowly knowing this stock.

It went ex div last month I think DB66. This should be around the bottom, I still think its a false drop to encourage people to sell ahead of the end Jan trading update. If we fly up just before/after the trading update, then the MM's are still well in control here.

I still think this year will see a change in the way UNG is valued, with profits and a dividend and finally a clear outlook with no more First Remit, and possibly Master Change sold too, then its finally time for a re rating.

Directors taken scrip, so a vote of confidence again in the future.

RNS Number:9440W
Universe Group PLC
16 January 2006
UNIVERSE GROUP PLC
("Universe" or the "Company")

Result of the scrip alternative and Director shareholdings

Universe, the retail and information systems company, today announces that,
under the Company's Scrip Dividend Scheme, shareholders representing 25.3% of
the ordinary shares have elected to receive shares in lieu of cash in respect of all or part of the Interim Dividend for the six months to 30 June 2005. Under the terms of the Scrip Dividend, electing shareholders receive new ordinary shares of 5p each ("New Ordinary Shares") at an effective price of 18.9 pence per share in lieu of the interim dividend of 0.25 pence per share.

As a result, a total 205,232 New Ordinary Shares have been allotted. Application has been made for the New Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM and dealings are expected to commence on 19 January 2006.

The following Directors elected to receive the Scrip Dividend alternative in
respect of their entire shareholdings and as a result their shareholdings are:

Previous Scrip Current Percentage

Ray Mackie 8,417,327 95,070 8,512,397 13.48%
Barrie Brinkman 874,579 11,568 886,147 1.40%
Catherine Wines 240,051 3,174 243,225 0.39%
Adrian Grinsell 59,751 790 60,541 0.10%
Eddie Paul 50,595 668 51,263 0.08%
Keith Buchanan 39,015 516 39,531 0.06%

For further information:

Universe Group plc 020 7287 0888
Ray Mackie, Group Chief Executive

Charles Stanley & Co Limited 020 7739 8200
Russell Cook

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