Some good news at last from this weeks Shares mag. Tim Freeborn revisits the company and altho no firm details are given about new deals he says they will be announced this quarter. I would think that this could be at the same time as the interim results are announced. I for one will be holding on cos they will fly sooner rather than later! ( 8.30% up today!)

EWRobson....Virtually all the transactions today were buys. I bought some more myself and although the spread was 1.05p-1.40 I bought for 1.09p. I bought at quote on Self Trade, the price to buy at best was 1.33 and only the odd person bothered to do this. I already had some Earthport shares at a higher price so I now see this as a good chance to make a profit as they go up which they will. I, like many, I suspect have been waiting for Earthport to bottom out before buying some more.
;-)

Dynamite

Well done! Solves the problem, well it does up to a point. With a number of buys around the 1.3p mark and loads of sells at 1.09p and 1.1p, the last thing you would expect would be that those sells were buys. However, if one was a sell then all must have been sells. So why would they quote an offer price of 1.25 rising to 1.4p if they were prepared to sell at 1.1p? They must have held surplus stock to be prepared to sell at that level. It will be interesting to see press comment and action on Monday. Mind, the spread in EPO hasn't meant much for a long time.

Eric

As i see it the biggest fear recently was epo running out of cash.
With the recent funds raised according to trading update, wanadoo hopefully
going live soon,also Hong Kong and now some proof that deals to come aren't
a figment of RC,s imagination,some momentum should gather now hopefully.
Also don't forget update stated 3 customers being integrated now expected to
go live in october so hopefully more news to come short term....

Notice how many times i said hopefully there...
thats what this share does to you...

this is not one of the blue chip deals promised by RC. Note that they already hold 11m shares in epo, so did they sign the deal to help epo out of the cash problem? appears so. the 6,000 p/m is ridiculous. Until he announces anyone of the promised blue chip deals this stock will not recover. Furthermore, i spoke to Bridgewell who said that they had not even done a buisness model on epo or planned a roadshow which RC told a room full of investors, or have you forgotten you said that Mr.C?

ssanebs - 01 Nov'04 - 08:18 - 612 of 612

Well said, i think one of EPO's problems is CEO, until he is replaced then EPO share price will remain in the doldrums. I'm very suspicious of fridays announcement including timing, remember its a related party transaction, ie TSpeak holding 11m shares with options. Its also important to note shares are registered in Peter Gregorys name as opposed to TSpeak based on info filed at companies house.

We can also be certain once EPO have the sniff of a deal its announced, remember this latest one does not go live until Feb 2005 ( still 4 months away )

Re Bridgewell.

Milan Radia is director of equity research at Bridgewell, in fact one of the most respected guys in tech sector, according to Cunningham he told shareholders a research note was due July past, why the delay, speak to Milan, he is not even contemplating writing a note at present, WHY DOES RC CONTINUE TO MISLEAD SHAREHOLDERS by telling them a note was to be published when to date the author is in denial.

Finally who is the contact within Savoy dealing with EPO, is it Paul Hever or Trevor Sumption, remember this holding is discretionary fund managed on behalf of investors, who certainly can not be very happy with performance to date

My reading of the note is, on balance negative, even before johnny's strictures. At the interims, EPO stated that two new systems were scheduled for delivery on October and Wanadoo was to go live, having been delivered in May. The annoucement of one only implies that the other two have not yet happened. It may be that everything is awaiting the new systems scheduled for delivery in March but the company hardly has enough cash to go beyond that date. I did argue the corner for EPO a couple of months ago but the balance is going against them in my view.

Eric

EWRobson

yes you are right that they do not have the cash but i know that the cash position is about to be increased, i cannot tell you how, but they will not be asking us. This will leave them with enough cash to complete these deals and if they dont this time then that will spell the end of EPO for good and RC!

ssanebs

Hope you are right with your info mate. I have no reason to doubt you as most things youve alluded to have happened in the past. I also know you like me, are still a substancial holder of this share- bought at a much higher price aswell! i hope they make it.

ssanebs

That is the first positive news about EPO in living memory, i.e. if you have only been alive, say, for six months! Bit concerned that you and jdubb, our column's author, were left alone on the sinking ship. So have just gone back in on a low key basis - it makes you watch events much more closely. So, others say, what is positive about the news? Somebody is prepared to lend EPO cash! They must have done some due diligence and that has told them that it is not all over yet. If it is not all over, then they could come out at the other end of the tunnel. If they do that, the new systems must be working and, lo and behold, their significant USPs, e.g. banking network, Hong Kong project, data base investment, are factored back into the price which then recovers to the levels of only a year ago! Eureka, that's worth a modest stake!

Eric

EWR

I like you eric, you bring a great deal of realism to the party, not to mention your well thought out posts over the last few months. Thx and welcome to the rollercoaster again!!

"cash position is about to be increased"

Will this not result in further share dilution ?

I recollect EPO can issue shares for cash at any time they like. Is this correct ?

Hi Hannick, new to all this and was wondering with this new cash position, will it drive the share price up or down??

hannick

EPO state quite explicitly in their interim statement that shares will not be diluted through fund-raising. Their collective methods for raising funds then were quite ingenious, including hiving off their IT development function. I think it is reasonable to accept that there will not be any dilution this time: the Board would not renege on their commitment even if RC might. What is more surprising is that there are sources prepared to stump up funds but that is evidently the case.

hampi_man

As posted above, I did read this news of new funding as positive. If EPO has a future at all then they are very cheap historically. The silence from the company and the lack of news of business won has had a drastic effect on the share price, with the cap. down to 5m. In one sense, the news re more cash required is negative, implying the lack of sales revenue and the inadequacy of the funds raised in August. What is positive is that a funder(s) is prepared to stump up cash and that must imply confidence that their loan, which is presumably what it is, will be repaid. Some level of due diligence must have been undertaken. If EPO is still trading this time next year, then the price must have recovered to levels early this year, say 3p to 4p, and could be significantly higher. There is little doubt that the market is there. Contracts like Hong Kong and Wanadoo demonstrate the potential. My own view, argued previously, is that the key event is like to be the delivery of updated systems. For those with a background in IT, it is well known that the costs are primarily in the development and that multipliers come into action if a decent sales base is established. They either don't sell enough, in which case they may be out of business; or they are successful and the company could take off. Its worth a flutter but not a major stake as these are certainly risk funds!

EWR

Thanks a million for taking the time to explain that to me. Now I feel I have a base from which I can spring and hopefully get to read the signs along the way.

2.5m trade at the end of the day,
was it a buy or a sell, guess we'll know tomorrow although someone on advfn
bb claims it was a buy as he knows who bought them and that more deals are
on the way.....
hope he's right but we shall see......

well, still a little life in the old girl yet then.....
i mean epo, not er indoors.....

Does anybody know whats happened with wanadoo?
Has it been delayed or wasn't it mean't to go live yet?
Is there anybody home?

i take it thats a 'no' then on all 3 questions......

Is this news that you meant Saanebs ?