The best stocks to buy since 1993
Latest issue now available
Showing 1-10 of 23 results
Although ADVT’s interim results show sales up 31% to £19.9m, the standout figure was the organic growth of 17%, driven primarily by the ability to implement price increases. This aligns with Vin Murria’s comment to me last year that, under Capita’s ownership, ADVT had been undercharging. Clients such as EY, PwC, KPMG, Deloitte, BDO and Capgemini... ...
Advertising is often considered a bellwether for the broader economy, with shifts in ad spending typically occurring two quarters before changes in economic activity become evident; when businesses anticipate economic growth, they often increase their advertising budgets to capitalize on new market opportunities. Conversely, during periods of ec... ...
With c.£103m in cash and assets, Vin Murria has once again gone shopping, paying £5m for Celation, which owns a machine-learning AI-based intelligent process automation platform (InSTREAM) - not that this is making much of a dent in the cash pile. Interest income received was £2.2m and there has been a £2.6m increase in the fair value of the M&a... ...
I met with Vin Murria, one of the shrewder dealmakers on the London software scene, again this month. She is an old friend to SCSW. The last time I met her was probably 10 years ago when she was still running her previous company, Advanced Computer Software (then in her late forties), with the remit of building a business in primary care - softw... ...
One company I anticipate profiling in an upcoming issue is AdvancedAdvT (ADVT; 114.5p), briefly mentioned in January. The shares subsequently resumed trading on AIM after their seven-month suspension during which time it acquired five software businesses from Capita (CPI; 18.9p) for approximately £33m cash, heralding the return of Vin Murria to... ...
I’ve known Vin Murria for many years. She’s a frenetic deal maker. She made her first fortune in Kewill (a roll up of logistics software firms), her second in Computer Software Group (roll up of charity and legal software) and her third in Advanced Computer Software (a healthcare and business solutions rollup). I was therefore intere... ...
A business that supplies software to deal with corporate tax returns might not make for an exciting read. But sometimes a thuddingly dull business area can lead to a software star. For instance, I have previously profiled Advanced Computer Software and Computer Software Group, both of which were run by Vin Murria. These were not high technology... ...
I have always been attracted to Computacenter (CCC; 806p) as an investment so when a smaller rival, Softcat, made its debut on the Full List last month, I was naturally interested. If you think a business that sells computer hardware and software to the top-500 companies is a “boring” investment, take a look at Computacenter’s... ...
It is incredible that chief executive Vin Murria has been sitting on her hands since the sizeable acquisition of CSH in March 2013. Anyone who knows Murria will know she is hardly one to keep still and she cites the reason that asset prices are too high. If that is the case we’re surprised she isn’t selling the business as her cycle... ...
Full year results were top of the range. Sales were up 68% to £203m (7% organic) and adjusted pretax profit was £38.5m, up from £24.1m, for adjusted eps of 6.2p. Net debt stands at £48m. The original business, Health & Care, grew sales 17% (13% organic) to £31.4m and recorded an operating profit of £8.9m. Margins increased from 27.5% to a re... ...