Utilising its own data centre and network infrastructure, iomart can provide a scaleable and economical solutions for the hosting and managing of complex mission critical applications and services and all delivered with 100% Uptime.


Commenting on the latest company acquisition (Iomart is now planning to take full control of the Easyspace Datacentres, for which it paid 11 million for a 51 percent stake last year. Glasgow-based Iomart will now pay 4.8m for the remainder of the company in two years):

Chief executive Angus MacSween said there had also been a lack of investment in the (data)centres across the UK. "A decade ago there was oversupply in datacentre capacity, but in that time there's been very little new capacity added and now there's a shortage, which has driven up prices significantly."

House brokers, KBC Peel Hunt said the deal was "potentially transformational".


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Websites:
http://www.iomart.com/


http://www.iomartgroup.com/


Investor information:
http://www.iomartgroup.com/investors_iomart.php

Data Centres set to power iomart's growth (21/06/07)

Data Centres set to power iomart's growth

Final results set the agenda for companys future

Glasgow-based internet services company iomart plc has today reported a 16.9 per cent growth in revenue in 2006/07, to 21.086 million, with gross profits also increasing - by 20 per cent to 16.4 million.

Additionally, the AIM-listed company reported a fourfold increase in its operating profit to 565,000.

iomarts businesses include Easyspace Data Centres (UK) & Easyspace Hosting, Ufindus, a web marketing company, and Netintelligence, an award-winning internet security service provider.

In March the company acquired a 51 per cent controlling interest in Ezee DSL Ltd for 4.8m. In his annual report, iomart CEO Angus MacSween said the company will acquire the remaining 49 per cent in two years time, further strengthening Easyspaces position in the UK datacentre market.

Angus said: The highlight of the last year has been our entry into the datacentre market, and we believe this to be an area of great opportunity for the group over the next few years and one which will deliver excellent returns for our shareholders.

Since the acquisition we have made good progress in making the data centres operational and recruiting key senior personnel. The reaction to our initial marketing of our data centres has been very encouraging and we remain convinced that our strategic move into the datacentre market at this stage of the cycle will provide additional growth and profit for the group.

Angus also revealed that other areas of the group continued to perform well and in line with expectations.

He added: The last 12 months have given us a very strong basis from which to move forward in the next stage of the groups development, and we look forward to another rewarding year.

http://www.iomart.com/news/210607_40

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Securities Information:

Share Type and Value:
Ordinary Share 1p

Normal Market Size (NMS):
1000

Number of shares in issue:
99,439,302

Percentage free float:
59.9%

Percentage of Shares not held in Public Hands:
40.1%

Number of shares held in treasury:
0

Percentage of shares held in treasury:
0%

Year end: 31 March.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brokers forecasts from Hemscott via TDWaterhouse:

#####################2008################2009
Broker######Date####Rec##Pre-tax()#EPS(p)#DPS(p)#Pre-tax()#EPS(p)#DPS(p)
KBC Peel Hunt#09-08-07#None#1.07#####1.04###----##8.13#####5.52###2.21

THE SCOTSMAN (Fri 22 Jun 2007)

Iomart buys out partner for 4.8m

HAMISH RUTHERFORD

CITY CORRESPONDENT

INTERNET services group Iomart has announced it is buying out its partner in its data centre operation, after the minority shareholder defaulted on working capital requirements and its former owner quit.

It came as it announced a rise in profits and the departure of its long-time chairman.

Iomart said it was now planning to take full control of the Easyspace Datacentres, for which it paid 11 million for a 51 per cent stake last year.

Its partner, 186k, had defaulted on working capital and its managing director, Dominic Marrocco, has resigned. Glasgow-based Iomart will now pay 4.8m for the remainder of the company in two years.

"Since we had expected to pay up to 20m to acquire the 49 per cent, based on the business plan and formula in the purchase agreement, we believe this represents significant additional value for shareholders," said a spokesman.

Chief executive Angus MacSween said that, while the other elements of the business were expected to grow, datacentre management is expected to be the major focus and area of growth in the medium term. The datacentres provide the remote hosting of servers, demand of which has grown dramatically in recent years in line with the growth of online sales, with time when the server is down leading to lost revenue.

MacSween said there had also been a lack of investment in the centres across the UK. "A decade ago there was oversupply in datacentre capacity, but in that time there's been very little new capacity added and now there's a shortage, which has driven up prices significantly."

House brokers, KBC Peel Hunt said the deal was "potentially transformational".

The announcements came as Iomart revealed revenue in the year to 31 March increased by 16.9 per cent to 21.1m, while a pre-tax loss of 74,000 last year was turned into a profit of 218,000. Iomart shares rose 10 per cent to 67.5p.

Chairman Nick Kuenssberg also announced plans to step down, with the process to replace him already begun.

Kuenssberg, who turns 65 later this year, has chaired Iomart since its flotation in 2000. He said he was in talks "with three or four" groups about possible future projects, though declined to give specific details.

While the process to replace him could take up to a year, he believed it was the right time to make plans for a change.

"There have been times when it would have been tempting to stand down, but completely inappropriate, but I think now would be a good time to find someone with a new approach, and when the business is progressing well," he said.

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/business.cfm?id=977082007

Telegraph (23/09/2007)


Questor:

Iomart

Iomart is a Glasgow-based business that finds itself in a technological sweet spot. It runs data centres, which store racks upon racks of servers that play host to websites for clients such as Stagecoach and Warner Brothers.

In case you hadn't noticed, having a good company website is rather important in business these days, but demand for hosting is outstripping supply in Europe and the US as large companies run out of space and find it more cost effective and reliable to outsource the job.

Earlier this year Iomart bought out the remaining 51pc of rival Easyspace Datacentres giving it a further five UK data centres. These included one on the edge of the City, which the management showed off to some fund managers last week at an investor meeting. Word is that the visitors were rather impressed with what they saw.

Iomart shares, at 53p this week, were trading on a pricey looking 51 times earnings for the current year, partly a reflection of changes to the accounting policy. But that multiple falls to just 9.6 for the year to March 2009.

There is no dividend expected and the shares are not without risk. But there has been a flurry of takeover activity in data centres and, at less than 53m, Iomart is well within reach of potential acquirers. Worth a look.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/09/22/cxquest122.xml

KBC Peel Hunt Brokers note (24.08.2007)


The current valuation represents a substantial discount to a sum of the parts
valuation, given the cash generative nature of the legacy webservices division and
the exposure to highly sought after datacentres. Datacentre value derives from
extremely limited supply: in London, for example, CBRE estimates c.4% available
furnished datacentre space, which is expected to be exhausted by year end.
iomart has a 55,000 sq ft portfolio of datacentres based in five cities around the UK.

The value of a datacentre: We estimate the replacement cost of the datacentres
at 33m, while at the IXEurope EBITDA exit multiple we could assume 59m. If we
remove that value from IOMs current market cap then the derived value of the
webservices division is 20m, equivalent to a mere 3.3x March 2009E PBT (no
cash tax being payable), and only 6.5x March 2008E.

The value of webservices: We are not being ambitious in assigning a 10x PER to
webservices March 2009E PBT, which leads us to a valuation of 61m. The
division, consisting mainly of ufindus, the online business directory, and
Easyspace, the domain and web hosting business, and is cash generative. On that
basis, the value of the datacentres is negative!

We therefore reiterate that the current market valuation is, in our opinion, below any
reasonable sum of the parts assessment. Our lowest case, of 10x March 2008E for
webservices (therefore 31m) and replacement cost of 33m for datacentres,
would equate to 65p. Our best case at 10x March 2009E PER for webservices and
59m for datacentres would equate to 120p. We would suggest a 90-100p range is
the reasonable compromise that can be justified without reaching metrics that
would be testing: webservices at 10x March 2009E PER, and datacentres at 33m.

The company announced at finals in June that it had been able to secure 100%
ownership of Easyspace datacentres, 18 months earlier than was expected as a
best result, due to the defaulted contribution of the co-owner 186k. The potential
maximum cash payment to secure the 100% was 20m, whereas now the
minimum, 4.8m, will be payable in April 2009, although 100% ownership is
expected to accrue from October. The initial depression to group PBT is
dramatically improved by the benefit following March 2008E.

Industry observers regard data centres as the next big boom in global technology growth, as companies and institutions seek to store more and more information on computers.

Easyspace currently operates data centres in Glasgow and Nottingham, and it recently opened a new, high-specification centre in the heart of the City of London.

The company, whose data base customers include Stagecoach to Strathclyde Police, will also open new facilities in Leicester and Leeds later this year.

"Our timely entry into the data centre market and the very encouraging response to our initial marketing reinforces our view that there is significant growth potential which can be delivered in the medium term," MacSween said.

I'm no chartists but looks like a double bottom on the chart, could be in for a nice bounce (hopefully upwards).

On the move this morning, after some large trades yesterday.

Sector specific news:

International Bus Mach IBM buying data storage company NovusCG




ARMONK, N.Y. (AP) - International Business Machines Corp. said Wednesday it
agreed to purchase privately-held data storage company NovusCG.
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
IBM said Novus will join IBM Global Technology Services' storage and data
services business unit.
IBM said the purchase, when combined with its services, will aid clients'
abilities to access business information, permit stronger regulatory and
corporate compliance and improve general information technology performance.


http://www.advfn.com/news_IBM-buying-data-storage-company-NovusCG_22889018.html