This is the latest in my series of CEO interviews with interesting companies that have passed my 4 key criteria (this is a spin off from the SCVRs) -
- Issued a recent, positive or in line trading update, and reasonably sound outlook comments,
- Strong balance sheet (so little to no dilution or insolvency risk - very important in a downturn)
- Good management (partly subjective!) with a clear strategy, executing well, and a good business model
- Reasonable or cheap valuation, so a possible buying opportunity (long-term).
Although I should add that point 4 above is more difficult to justify with CER - the shares appear quite expensive, but I’ve been saying that for the last 3 years, during which time they’ve risen about 8-fold! So sometimes it makes sense to pay a premium, if a company is growing into a high valuation.
I don't charge any fees for my interviews, so I'm free to ask anything, and I carefully select only companies that I think are good. They're obviously for general interest, and are never tips, recommendations, nor advice. As you know, our whole ethos here at Stockopedia is about everyone doing your own research & taking responsibility for managing your own portfolios.
Summary - these are the key points -
"... the trend towards larger deals with larger customers. The market swinging round to our view of SaaS, cloud, unified products used by all our customers. Those are the main points."
Cerillion (LON:CER)
CEO interview with Paul Scott
Audio is here, and on podcast platforms (“Paul Scott small caps” should find my podcasts). It's done over the phone, so audio quality isn't perfect, but I'm planning on moving to a web-based recording system in future, for much better audio quality, once I've familiarised myself & practised using it. I've bolded key points below.
- Description of the business please.
Founded in 1999, as an MBO from Logica plc. We bought the telecoms product part, got private equity funding, developed the product set & marketing team, and built a customer base. IPO in 2016 - for PE exit, and to gain currency to do M&A. Also it raised our profile, with large customers. We provide enterprise software to telecoms businesses. All kinds of telcos, all about shifting messages, voice, through networks. We provide a suite of software, covering everything telcos do - e.g. apps, CRM, billing software, call centres, campaign management. Connecting those…
