Eckoh Discussion Board http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ECK.L&display=discussion http://www.iii.co.uk/icons/logos/uk_logo.gif http://www.iii.co.uk tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8947898
I am most excited about the clear strategic focus of ‘Offer alternative ways of providing our solutions to our clients (e.g. hosted, 'bunkered', premised based), to increase sales from financial services and public sector’. This is a potential key game changer to Eckoh actually developing real value, the current problem with Eckoh in my view is that they only offer part of the overall customer service solution to clients i.e. a technology play that as part of an overall customer service offering can reduce the number of bums on seats a client requires. The problem is that currently this offering really only allows Eckoh to take maybe a unit rate price rather than share in the big bums on seats cost saving the client receives (maybe Eckoh do currently get some of this saving, but I don’t believe it is very much with the current offering). The other problem is that im sure if these clients really wanted to spend a little bit of money in the first 3 years of a contract with Eckoh they could replicate the technology then bin Eckoh, obviously not what I want as a shareholder. If Eckoh can manage to win some overall customer service solution offerings on the back of the technology play this is where we could start to see a bigger chunk of the overall cost saving being retained by Eckoh. There are obviously risks with taking over the full customer service offering such as TUPE & premises costs, but this will in turn make it much harder for clients to either take the service back in house or offer to another supplier, but as I say the most important thing it could do is unlock the potential to share in the overall cost savings for a client.

As always with Eckoh i would still only offer a weak buy rating, as no matter what the company seems to do the share price always seems to defy logic, i would say 20p is a realistic short to medium term value, but it will probably be back down to 8p in a couple of weeks!!
By Plenty of Bull ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ECK.L&display=discussion&id=8947898&action=detail Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:56:00 GMT Plenty of Bull tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8935342 10/11/2011 Miles Nolan
http://www.growthcompany.co.uk/recommendations/1668093/eckoh.thtml


Leading speech recognition developer Eckoh (ECK) has kept to the promises made at its AGM, with confirmation of a return to profitability.

In the six months to September, the AIM listed firm achieved a pre-tax profit of £398,000 (2010: £1.1m loss) as sales increased 15% to £5m. Speaking to Growth Company Investor, chief executive Nik Philpot said 'we are very pleased with the performance of the business, which shows the benefits of operational gearing'.

Using a platform capable of handling over 6,000 calls simultaneously, Eckoh sells its services to a raft of impressive names, such as: Premier Inn, TD Waterhouse, Transport for London and American Express. Recurring revenue is an impressive 90%, so as new clients sign up they drop quickly through to the bottom line - as evidenced by a two point gain in the gross profit margin to a tasty 75%.

Its technology enables enquiries, transactions and payments to be processed using speech recognition, saving significant costs to customers as a result. It has renewed its strong relationship with British Telecom for another three years, in addition it has secured a new reseller agreement with payment processing provider Servebase. This will see Eckoh provide its EckohPAY product, which is used for telephone payments.

The launch of a new Apple iPhone which uses speech recognition, as well as the launch of Google voice search is a clear indication that the market is moving in its favour. This position has enabled Eckoh to develop new products, including the self explanatory concepts EckohSURVEY and EckohDONATE.

We urged readers to buy the shares at 7.125p in March, so the recent surge to 10p is welcome news. The balance sheet boasts net cash of £5.9m, and broker Singer Capital Markets forecasts full-year pre-tax profits of £1.2m and EPS of 1.5p. With the second half traditionally stronger, the early signs are positive. Buy.

Tags: AIM market, Cash pile, Growth company, Market trends are good

Sector: Support Services

Companies: Eckoh

Market cap: £20mPE Forecast: 6.7
Share price: 10p By SpikeyDT ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ECK.L&display=discussion&id=8935342&action=detail Thu, 10 Nov 2011 22:45:00 GMT SpikeyDT tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8922576 Tuesday, Nov 08 2011 by Edison Investment Research
http://www.stockopedia.co.uk/research/strong-h1-growth-61686/
http://www.edisoninvestmentresearch.co.uk/researchreports/Eckoh081111update.pdf

Nov 08th 2011 - Edison Investment Research today published a report on Eckoh (ECK.L, LSE:ECK, LON:ECK) entitled "Strong H1 Growth". In summary, the report says:

In H112, Eckoh has successfully won new business from both new and existing customers, and has renewed several major contracts. Investment in broadening the product range is paying off, as evidenced by the growing number of EckohPAY deployments. We maintain our revenue growth forecasts, although we slightly reduce our EPS forecasts to reflect the higher level of investment in growing and supporting new business. By SpikeyDT ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ECK.L&display=discussion&id=8922576&action=detail Tue, 08 Nov 2011 09:26:00 GMT SpikeyDT tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8840664 Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 8:43 AM
http://www.edisoninvestmentresearch.co.uk/researchreports/Eckoh131011_flash.pdf

Eckoh has announced that it will be launching a new solution, EckohASSIST, with an existing government transport customer. For Eckoh, the expansion of the product range provides incremental revenue opportunities and the ability to deepen customer engagements. For customers, EckohASSIST offers an additional way to reduce contact centre costs and to provide a more fulfilling customer experience.

Eckoh provides a hosted speech recognition platform for the customer contact centre market. Eckoh also provides web, mobile and smartphone self-service applications.
Year
End Revenue
(£m) PBT
(£m) EPS
(p) DPS
(p) P/E
(x) Yield
(%)
03/10 7.9
0.5
0.25
0.00
32.9
N/A
03/11 9.0
0.8
0.54
0.10
15.3
1.2
03/12e 10.3
1.2
0.61
0.13
13.5
1.6
03/13e 11.5
1.9
0.94
0.17
8.8
2.1
Eckoh is a research client of Edison Investment Research. By SpikeyDT ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ECK.L&display=discussion&id=8840664&action=detail Thu, 13 Oct 2011 08:45:00 GMT SpikeyDT tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8796595 Thu, Sep 29, 2011 at 11:10 AM
http://www.edisoninvestmentresearch.co.uk/researchreports/Eckoh290911Update.pdf

Eckoh updated the market on H1 trading at its AGM, with trading in line with our expectations. Strong growth in H1, driven by new services from H211 contract wins, should accelerate in H2 as new services won in H112 are launched. With a history of high customer retention and plenty of headroom in its hosting capacity, new customer wins should continue to drive revenue growth and margin expansion.

Eckoh provides a hosted speech recognition platform for the customer contact centre market. Eckoh also provides web, mobile and smartphone self-service applications.
Year
End Revenue
(£m) PBT
(£m) EPS
(p) DPS
(p) P/E
(x) Yield
(%)
03/10 7.9
0.5
0.25
0.00
31.4
N/A
03/11 9.0
0.8
0.54
0.10
14.6
1.3
03/12e 10.3
1.2
0.61
0.13
12.9
1.7
03/13e 11.5
1.9
0.94
0.17
8.4
2.2
Eckoh is a research client of Edison Investment Research By SpikeyDT ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ECK.L&display=discussion&id=8796595&action=detail Thu, 29 Sep 2011 11:11:00 GMT SpikeyDT tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8795186 28/09/2011 Miles Nolan
http://www.growthcompany.co.uk/news/1658038/strong-trading-at-eckoh.thtml


Speech recognition specialist Eckoh (ECK) has issued a bullish trading update at its AGM in which it states it remains confident of achieving market expectations.

Interim results due in November should reveal double digit growth in sales and margins compared to last year. Moreover, the significant operational gearing of the business should lead to a strong hike in profits for the AIM counter.

Eckoh boasts it is doing well thanks to recent new services provided to the likes of Addison Lee, Premier Inn and Lead the Good Life. It remains confident that the second half should continue the momentum, driven by the recent contract win to supply its services to the Legal Services Commission.

Our advice to buy the shares in March at 7.125p has proved well timed, with the price up a fraction to 7.75p today. We retain our view and believe Eckoh, buoyed by a hefty cash balance and useful tax losses, remains undervalued.



Tags: AIM market, Annual General Meeting, Cash pile, Growth company

Sector: Support Services

Companies: Eckoh By SpikeyDT ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ECK.L&display=discussion&id=8795186&action=detail Wed, 28 Sep 2011 23:24:00 GMT SpikeyDT tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8762775 19/09/2011 Miles Nolan
http://www.growthcompany.co.uk/news/1656053/eckoh-extends-ministry-of-justice-deal.thtml


Speech recognition specialist Eckoh (ECK) has enhanced the service it provides the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to now include card payment services.

AIM listed Eckoh has been working with the MoJ since 2004 to help allow the quick payment of fines over the phone, however it will now provide the Legal Services Commission (LSC) with an automated telephone service. Sponsored by the MoJ, the LSC is a public body that works with solicitors and not-for-profit organisations, which help over 2 million people a year access legal advice.

The LSC receives £200 million in payments every year from clients and third parties. Available in English and Welsh it will validate the caller against a unique reference number, whereupon it will capture the credit card details. Chief executive Nik Philpot says 'we are seeing significant interest in our EckohPAY product and believe its ability to both reduce cost whilst ensuring a safe and secure payment environment will continue to drive demand for our services.'

We highlighted Eckoh as a buy in March when the shares were trading at 7.125p, despite the market turmoil the price has held steady and is up 2 per cent to 7.5p today. Though no monetary value has been mooted it is further evidence of the increasing market penetration of Eckoh's products. Buy.


Tags: AIM market, Automated services, Legal Services Commission, Speech recognition

Sector: Support Services

Companies: Eckoh By SpikeyDT ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ECK.L&display=discussion&id=8762775&action=detail Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:24:00 GMT SpikeyDT tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8680909 8:35 am by Giles Gwinnett
http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/32305/eckoh-awarded-contract-to-supply-eckohpay-payment-product-32305.html


Orbital provides outsourced services on behalf of clients including mail order/home shopping sales, donation processing for charities and membership management schemes, either by telephone, online, email or post
AIM-quoted Eckoh PLC (LON:ECK) has been awarded a contract to supply its payment solution product - EckohPAY - to Orbital Marketing Services Group, it emerged today.

The real-time payment solution will be implemented in September this year and will allow callers to Orbital's contact centres to make automatic secure payments over the phone.

The contract is to provide the product to Orbital's contact centre division - Orbital Response.

Orbital provides outsourced services on behalf of clients including mail order/home shopping sales, donation processing for charities and membership management schemes, either by telephone, online, email or post.

Director of Orbital Response Nick Williams said: "We selected Eckoh for their proven capability in effectively managing the high number of calls we receive at the end of a month, which is typically when customers wish to make a payment.

"EckohPAY will ensure we can service this demand and importantly gives our clients the confidence that their customers' payments are being handled in a PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliant manner."

Chief executive of Eckoh Nik Philpot said: "We are delighted to announce this new contract win to deliver EckohPAY. EckohPAY provides a payment service that is secure, compliant and available 24x7and will ensure the maximum efficiency of Orbital's contact centre agents by allowing them to focus on more complex customer enquiries." By SpikeyDT ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ECK.L&display=discussion&id=8680909&action=detail Wed, 24 Aug 2011 08:48:00 GMT SpikeyDT tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8653173 By Hybridan | Mon, 15/08/2011 - 00:00
http://bit.ly/pPJyPj

Eckoh (ECK) [6.88p/£13.73 million]

The UK's leading provider of customer service solutions using speech recognition announced that a leading UK logistics organisation (it lists ParcelForce as one of their customers) has signed a combined contract renewal for the provision of automated tracking and redelivery services.

Eckoh's service utilises advanced speech recognition and caller identification software using a unique consignment number to provide 24/7 parcel tracking and redelivery service capability.

The platform recognises repeat callers and offers relevant, up-to-the-minute delivery status information. By SpikeyDT ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ECK.L&display=discussion&id=8653173&action=detail Mon, 15 Aug 2011 05:30:00 GMT SpikeyDT tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8627814 ')" target="_new" rel="nofollow">http://t.co/WTPZbtP

9:58 am by Sergei Balashov

Eckoh’s revenues climbed 14 percent to £9 million in the previous financial year
AIM quoted speech recognition based solutions specialist Eckoh (LON:ECK) has secured a contract renewal worth £0.5 million for automated tracking and redelivery services from a UK operating logistics organisation.

Eckoh’s automated customer information line allows customers to track parcels, change delivery address and specify a delivery date. Since its launch in April 2006, the service has handled 14 million minutes of traffic.

Both the customer information line and the track and trace service, also provided to the logistics copany by Eckoh, use speech recognition to provide parcel tracking and delivery status information. The track and trace service has handled 13 million minutes of traffic since its launch in April 2007.

“We are very pleased to continue our relationship with this client and we are delighted that our solution continues to deliver such positive results for their customers,” said chief executive of Eckoh Nik Philpot.

Back in June, Eckoh was hired by NIE Energy develop a smartphone application, which would enable customers to purchase electricity via their smartphone around the clock.

In the year to 31 March, Eckoh’s revenues climbed 14 percent to £9 million after the group won new contracts from Premier Inn, Rural Payments Agency, RCI Financial Services, Utilita, Addison Lee and Lead the Good Life.

Eckoh’s adjusted pre-tax profits jumped 68 percent to £1.1 million during the year and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 57 percent to £1.3 million.

Shares in Eckoh fell 0.25 pence (3.5 percent) to 7 pence this morning, giving the group a market cap of £14 million. By SpikeyDT ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ECK.L&display=discussion&id=8627814&action=detail Mon, 08 Aug 2011 10:19:00 GMT SpikeyDT tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8549366 18/07/2011 Miles Nolan
http://www.growthcompany.co.uk/recommendations/1641733/eckoh.thtml


As foreshadowed in March by Growth Company Investor, speech recognition specialist Eckoh (ECK) has reported a solid set of results, and the payment of a maiden dividend.

In the year to March sales increased 14% to £9m as adjusted pre-tax profits jumped 68% to £1.1m. There was no tax to pay due to the historic tax losses it has amassed of more than £20m, but the strong growth in the business has enabled Eckoh to declare a 0.1p a share payout.

Eckoh has secured new contracts with Premier Inn, Addison Lee and Lead the Good Life. Moreover, it has won renewals with 02, Enterprise Rent-a-Car and Ideal Shopping. The sales cycle is still lengthy but Eckoh is typically winning deals of up to three years, it is also in the enviable position that 91% of total income is recurring.

Its speech processing platform is one of the largest in the world - it can handle over 8,000 simultaneous calls from any country, and in any language. Due to there being a great deal of unused capacity there is little need to spend heavily, indeed just £500,000 is earmarked in capital expenditure over the next two years.

New business drops through to the bottom line quickly so investors should reap the rewards from new contract wins. The balance sheet is also very strong, with cash up 46% to £5.7m. With acquisitions not on the agenda there is scope to buy in its own shares.

House broker Singer predicts 2012 pre-tax profits of £1.2m and EPS of 0.6p, rising to £1.9m and 1p respectively in 2013. We urged readers to buy at 7.125p, largely due to the solid nature of its business and the blue-chip client base. Eckoh remains significantly undervalued. Buy.

Tags: AIM market, Cash balance, Dividend payment, Huge tax losses, Speech recognition

Sector: Support Services

Companies: Eckoh

Market cap: £15.5mPE Forecast: 12.9
Share price: 7.75p By SpikeyDT ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ECK.L&display=discussion&id=8549366&action=detail Mon, 18 Jul 2011 21:18:00 GMT SpikeyDT tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8356295 7:20 am
The Times


Tiddler to Watch: Eckohs return to form has continued after the speech recognition company was contracted by Northern Irelands largest electricity supplier to develop a smartphone app. The deal topped a return to operating profit for Eckoh as sales for the year rose by 14% after a spate of new contracts. Shares, which have almost doubled on the year, rose 1/4p to 8p.


http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/columns/guardian-cfd-s-newspaper-briefing/5539/newspaper-briefing-including-lloyds-slides-on-chiefs-downbeat-forecast-financial-times-5539.html
By SpikeyDT ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ECK.L&display=discussion&id=8356295&action=detail Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:26:00 GMT SpikeyDT tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8355773 Prelims read well this morning, and I'm pleased with my (modest) holding. I think with a company like this, with good clarity over earnings, it's difficult to surprise the market. The forecasts on digitallook were pretty accurate (Revenue of £9.02M and pretty similar profit). Doesn't mean they weren't very good results.

Would have been nice to see a bit of re-rating today, but at the least this should provide a solid floor at 8p, and will keep a few bears away.

See you in 6 months time for some more unexciting double digit growth ;-)

Chrysus By Chrysus ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ECK.L&display=discussion&id=8355773&action=detail Mon, 06 Jun 2011 22:37:00 GMT Chrysus tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8351155
Dividend payment

Great results

New contracts

Loads of contracts renewed

By tw1n ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ECK.L&display=discussion&id=8351155&action=detail Mon, 06 Jun 2011 07:21:00 GMT tw1n tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8253102
Says James Faulkner of Wt.comatsHo

Having profiled Eckoh (ECK) on WatsHot.com just over a week ago, editor James Faulkner believes that, with strong recent growth looking set to continue and net cash accounting for over a third of the company's current market cap, the speech recognition firm offers great value right now.

On WatsHot.com, James provides two hot new tips like this each month, as well as regular updates and a daily column. Although past performance is no guarantee of future success, and some tips have gone down in value, the average gain per tip as at 31st December 2010 across the 23 stocks tipped last year on WatsHot.com was 73.28%. To get more top tips like this from James, join WatsHot.com now.

Eckoh works with BT (exclusive reseller) and Nuance (speech recognition software provider) to supply a variety of industry sectors with hosted speech recognition services. Its speech-enabled, self-service platform is one of the largest in Europe, capable of handling 8,000 calls simultaneously and up to 650,000 calls per hour. The company provides services predominantly over the telephone, but also through the mobile and web channels, for organisations that are looking to automate high volume but repetitive customer service activities that traditionally call centres would have managed. By using Eckoh's products and services for these activities, organisations can reduce the waiting time required to speak to an agent, extend the hours of availability to the consumer and manage unpredictable or seasonal peaks of demand at a fraction of the cost of a live agent. The fact that these 'on-demand' services improve the customer experience whilst helping to reduce agent churn by removing the repetitive activity, all without the need for capital expenditure on the part of the client, has proven very attractive to large companies and this interest has increased further recently due to the tough economic outlook.

When I first tipped Eckoh around two years ago, the company operated through two divisions: Speech Solutions and Client IVR (Interactive Voice Response). Speech Solutions works with its clients to build a tailored interactive voice response system to suit their individual needs. Earnings visibility is high as clients are usually blue chip institutions on long-term contracts with minimum fees. Meanwhile, through its Client IVR division Eckoh was one of a small number of companies to be granted permission by PayPhonePlus (the regulator formerly known as ICSTIS) to operate premium rate services in the media sector. I say was because Eckoh merged its Client IVR business with Telecom Express back in May 2010. This came as a welcome move as the Client IVR business had been in decline for some time due to tough competition and falling call volumes to premium rate numbers, and was acting as a drag on group performance. Under the agreement with TE, Eckoh took a 27.5% minority stake in the enlarged business, which will benefit from improved economies of scale and synergies derived from combining the two entities.



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With Eckoh now a pure-play speech solutions business, the stage was set for an improved performance going forward. At the interim stage the company delivered 12% revenue growth and a 15% increase in gross profit By SpikeyDT ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ECK.L&display=discussion&id=8253102&action=detail Sat, 14 May 2011 13:44:00 GMT SpikeyDT