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(Post 1 of 682) 06/27/1999.09:53:00 |
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This posting from StockTalk is not without substance, although the sentiments could be too strong to consider his recommendation to short. Safer to long. Act at your own risk, pls. ================================================= Subject: more reasons 2 short sell,aviod sell i-one.net...read on........ Date: Jun 27 1999 at 02:36:22 From: reasons 2 sell i-one Location: p2-tp.singnet.com.sg--203.124.2.30 1) financially constrained. Owed money and delayed payment to even company caterers and staff food supplier (oh's farming catering) 2)Its predecessor Synergymedia delayed CPF payments by months...now known as i-one.net 3)Kiosks are white elephants go 2 orchard Road and you'll know..... 4)Goldtron has failed,why should i-one be the exception. back then Goldton was one of the BIG BOYS. Stock at $2/++ and contract manufacturing then. 5)Initial launched supposed to be in JULY 1998,postphoned to april 1999 6)Few brokerages are preparing a sell order soon. 7)internet bubble already at peak 8)I-one not technically inclined,its IT department is so small and backward 9)news by BT that grey market at $1 is analysts hope to exit.its irresponsible to report on rumours not news 10)high staff turnover,imagine all sales staff recruited in march 1998,left by june1998 and subsequent batches left also 11)Chairman made mindless comment: "at 38 cents per share,you'll get a $.38 answer to your question" when analyst file a query on its returns 12)high volume at 166 000 000 million shares how to push up!!!!!!you need at least 120 million to support the price at S$1, it's all a ploy you know..... 120 million 10% of SES average turnover!!!!!!!!!!on a average month!!!! you people think!!!!!!! they analysts have been allocated lion share, they have a vested interest to talk up the share to sell i-one like allgreen will be another allgreen where placees sold off immediately took a month before share prices rise |
| (Post 2 of 682) 06/27/1999.13:13:00 |
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I too was surprised that the take up rate was not as high as one would have imagined given the hype. I agree that it is really not the fundamentals of the share that reflects the share price of these new issues. What attracts institutions to these new issues is the fact that the majority owners are not allowed to sell any of their shares I think, within 1 year of listing. As such, it is easier for institutions to move the share price. As this one, and for that matter Allgreen, is such a large issue, the interest to push this skywards may not be there. |
| (Post 3 of 682) 06/27/1999.23:39:00 |
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Fraser said this on 21 June. Quote: i-One.Net will be offering 160.16m shares at S$0.38 of which 132m are new and 28.16m vendor shares. Of these 35.64m are offered to the public and 124.52m are private placements. i-One.Net is a one -stop integrated communication solution provider offering a wide range of products and services including printed reports, multimedia presentations, web publishing, audio and video broadcasting products, information kiosks and communications consultancy. These activities span the Asia Pacific region with offices in Malaysia, Australia (Melbourne), Hongkong and China (Suzhou). i-One.Net is forecasting net profit of S$6.5m for FY ended 31 July 1999. The main source of revenue and profit increase will come from the i-one kiosks advertisements and design of content on the network. For the following year, we expect more kiosks to be rolled out. We are forecasting net profit of $9.5m for FY2000 assuming that i-one.net is able to continue to receive good demand from advertisements for its kiosks rollout. On valuations, the stock is trading at prospective PER of 20x and 18x for FY1999 and 2000. Its nearest listed competitors in the printing media market, Singapore Press and Times Publishing is trading at prospective FY99 PERs of 36x and 15x respectively. For its internet and e-commerce comparisons, most of these companies are listed in the US. These include Amazon.com and EBay and America Online are trading at over 300x PER. However, like all internet stocks, there is high risks involved and i.One.Net initial foray into the e-commerce arena is still full of uncertainty. Hence we are cautious of the longer term outlook for i-one network. Nevertheless, we recommend a stag for the IPO at current levels due to the good market sentiments especially for internet related stock. Unquote. Only wish to highlight what they said "However, like all internet stocks, there is high risks involved and i.One.Net initial foray into the e-commerce arena is still full of uncertainty. Hence we are cautious of the longer term outlook for i-one network
Do note the high dependency on the i-One network business from 2000 onwards. |
| (Post 4 of 682) 06/28/1999.12:33:00 |
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Looks like hype has taken over this counter. I have just one lot but intend to hold on to this. With 75 mil lots traded today and the price is still going up, looks like this counter will be in play for a while yet. |
| (Post 5 of 682) 07/13/1999.08:50:00 |
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hi, belive it or not i-1 will fly to $6.00 by end Aug. |
| (Post 6 of 682) 07/13/1999.08:59:00 |
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Personally, I'm not too supportive of i-one... hope you are right if you are holding it. Aayway, think the market today may not be quite too good, at least in the morning: 1) DJ did not give another surprising performance. 2) Saw in Straits Time that interbank rate up ny 12.5 basis points to 2% (late news?). 3) Market sentiment is still quite sad. 4) Lack of any fantastic news to give reasons to buy. Personal opinion...don't think the counters I'm looking at will fly any time soon. --cheers!!-- |
| (Post 7 of 682) 07/13/1999.10:34:00 |
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I don't think it is very likely that i-1 will hit the level that you indicated. Don't forget that its offer price was like only 38cts!! Unless something very huge happens, I think that i-1 will be lucky to stay above 1 dollar in the next few months.... Just my 2 cts |
| (Post 8 of 682) 07/13/1999.17:45:00 |
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It will take a miracle to hit $6.00. And miracles don't happen during this lull period. Put another way - would SES null and void all trades transacted last Monday to Wednesday. It's not the time to be naive. |
| (Post 9 of 682) 07/13/1999.18:05:00 |
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Could have happened 2 weeks ago when the bull was running wild. Not any more. Shares are slowing falling to attractive levels once more and money will go to these now. |
| (Post 10 of 682) 07/13/1999.20:07:00 |
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If i-One will fly, then KK Fong can fly too! Sorry, I just can't help making snide remarks over such statements that are more fitting on StockTalk than here. It makes a mockery of people working in factories, sales people fighting for orders with their competitors, operations people pushing for higher efficiencies to shave a few cents off the cost of their products, etc. |
| (Post 11 of 682) 07/19/1999.14:49:00 |
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look out for this counter it will move soon, why? just look around Orchard road and bus interchnage. u will see i-1 terminar. |
| (Post 12 of 682) 07/20/1999.03:47:00 |
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Granted the infrastructure is setup for public use. But more importantly, is anyone using it for transactions? Do u see long queues at these booths? The stock will rebound but to $6 a piece by Aug? $6 could be a possibility but definitely not by Aug99. i-One will need lots of magic from now |
| (Post 13 of 682) 07/20/1999.08:44:00 |
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I don't see long queues at these booths there are not 4-D or TOTO booths. We are taking about information. We should look at the number of company using this booths to advertise. If your company need to promote a IT product, will you use their net work. |
| (Post 14 of 682) 07/20/1999.08:46:00 |
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My initial assessment of was a 50cents counter, i.e. intention to sell it anything above 50 cents my 1lot of IPO... imagine my surprise when it ran to 1.50.. of course, STAG to the greatest of my joy.. who cares if the counter ever reached 2$?! as somebody somewhere else commented, if ione really that good, wld Fong want to ipo it at 38 cents?! nevertheless, cos of the initial 'craze', the stock does not have any basic support line. a few weeks back me and my friend were commenting that this counter only has 'psychological' support, i.e. everytime a support will be found at some nice round up level, from 1.5 it dropped to 1.4, then 1.3, 1.2, 1.1, 1.0, anyway its now 80/90cents.. once it breaks the support at 80 will go to 70, etc.etc.. 8-P |
| (Post 15 of 682) 07/20/1999.22:54:00 |
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Classic quickie fengshui punt with double properous Chi formation and rotation of yang at daily fengshui chart....Good luck |
| (Post 16 of 682) 07/21/1999.13:14:00 |
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With a master PR-man at the helm, impressions and perceptions are his best bet. The company's fundamental's are just so-so. High turnover rate is not a myth! What we see now is good packaging effect but... nothing much inside the box yet. Results needs to be produced first. Getting all those booth up is just a PR strategy for their ipo launch, like lining the walkway with plants and flowers. Just my thoughts, no offence. |
| (Post 17 of 682) 07/28/1999.00:46:00 |
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In case u miss this "interesting" article abot I-One in BT.... ============================= From cash crunch to IPO darling i-One.Net's phenomenal debut on the mainboard came barely six months after it was in CPF arrears By Catherine Ong LESS than six months ago, i-One.Net International Ltd, or Xpress Print as it was then called, was facing such a severe cash crunch it could not pay its share of Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions to employees. On June 28, the company launched one of the most successful Initial Public Offerings (IPO) in Singapore in recent memory. Its shares rocketed nearly five times from its offer price of 38 cents on its first day of trading on the Stock Exchange of Singapore (SES), buoyed by brokers' hype about its Internet prospects. Mr Fong: 'Three months ago, when I was in the middle of the sea, nobody even threw me a piece of wood. Keng Loke (Kim Eng Securities' director) assured me that they've got connections and they can help me get the funds.' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the process, Xpress' founder and chief executive, K K Fong who barely three months ago was struggling to pay off a $10 million debt he owed the company, is now worth more than $200 million on paper for his 42 per cent shareholding. Welcome to the new business environment in Singapore where a more liberal regime for vetting IPO applications means that companies like i-One will find it easier than ever before to tap the domestic capital market. It is good news for entrepreneurs like Mr Fong, a chatty, energetic man whose family started Xpress Print in 1986 to print name cards and office stationery before establishing itself as a leading printer of time-sensitive publications such as stocbkrokers' research reports. But the new regime means greater risks for retail investors, many of whom either lack the skills for analysing financial data or will not be bothered with studying IPO prospectuses. Stock exchange officials, it is clear, are particularly concerned that these investors wake up to the new reality and accept that when caveat emptor rules, investors should not point their fingers at the exchange when they lose money in investments whose risks they do not fully understand. Since the end of last year the exchange has implemented recommendations from a government-appointed corporate finance committee for approving IPO applications. A new disclosure-based system replaces the so-called merit-based system. The new approach, modelled on US practice, requires companies to comply with a high standard of disclosures so that information is readily available for investors to assess the merits of transactions. Investors make their decisions based on the information disclosed, and SES and Securities Industry Council officials, unlike previously, exercise limited discretion in screening out candidates once they meet a set of mainly quantitative criteria. Stockbrokers said under the old regime, it was extremely unlikely that i-One, given its recent cash flow problems, could have made it to the mainboard. Eyebrows were also raised in other quarters. Some former employees of Xpress Print were amazed when they read that i-One was given the go-ahead for a listing. One of them showed BT a letter written to him last October by the CPF to inform him that his employer, a subsidiary of Xpress Print, had not paid his CPF contributions since August. Asked about this, Mr Fong admitted that several companies in his group had fallen behind on their CPF payments but they settled the outstanding contributions prior to going public. They paid a total of $887,357.50, including interest, to the Bishan branch of the CPF in March. He said Xpress Print wasn't unique in being cash-strapped. "During the Asian crisis, cash flow problems were very common. Every businessman had to negotiate with bankers," Mr Fong added. The group's revenue slumped 22 per cent in financial year 1998 from $29.5 million in 1997 to $23.1 million. Net profits more than halved from $5.3 million to $1.1 million. He said he could have retrenched workers to improve cash flows but chose not to do so. Xpress Print's coffers, he revealed, were also depleted by a $10 million loan which he had borrowed to tie him through some personal investments which went "bad". A SES spokesman said i-One did not disclose its CPF problems to the exchange. Nor was it revealed in the prospectus. The spokesman, however, pointed out that i-One's cash shortfall is evident from its balance sheets which showed net current liabilities from 1994 to 1998. Last year, current liabilities exceeded current assets by $7.5 million while non-current liabilities were higher at $20.5 million. The spokesman added that in general, companies seek a listing because they require additional funds, and cash flow short-falls are reversed on successful fund-raising. Listing approval by the SES is not to be taken as a statement on the merits of the IPO, he stressed. So how did Mr Fong, who had bounced back once before from bankruptcy, manage to get out of his more recent financial bind? Help, he said, came from a few sources. Malayan Banking extended him a $5 million loan while a group of private investors pumped in another $5-$6 million in equity. Prior to the listing, they were issued i-One shares at prices ranging from 21 cents to 30 cents a share, representing discounts of 21 to 45 per cent to the IPO price. These investors whose names were disclosed in the prospectus included Kwek Leng Kee and CAM-GTF Ltd, an investment company headed by Colin Lee whose wife, Low Siew Kheng, came to know Mr Fong when she worked as head of research at the former UBS Securities. The UBS group uses i-One as its printer and is among its top six customers. Another investor, Christopher Chong, is also a former research head and his former employer, HSBC James Capel, is i-One's top three largest customers. Mr Fong said Kim Eng Securities' director, Chan Keng Loke, was also a great help in time of need. The broking firm had promised to extend a $8 million credit line to him. As a result, Kim Eng, a co-placement agent for the IPO, received a larger share of the 111.32 million private placement shares than DBS Bank, the manager and lead underwriter. "Three months ago, when I was in the middle of the sea, nobody even threw me a piece of wood," Mr Fong recalled. "Keng Loke assured me that they've got connections and they can help me get the funds." Under SES rules, Kim Eng Securities isn't allowed to give loans unless it is for the purpose of share margin financing. But other Kim Eng companies such as Kim Eng Holdings doesn't face the same restriction. Kim Eng officials declined comment. Mr Fong said Kim Eng also has access to investors in the US who, he felt, would better appreciate the potential of i-One's Internet business. When told that this has caused unhappiness among DBS, its customers and other broking houses, Mr Fong responded: "DBS has half of the issue, what's wrong with them?" Market sources said Kim Eng in fact walked away with the lion's share of the placement tranche, leaving DBS with the public tranche of 35.6 million shares or about a quarter of total shares on offer excluding those reserved for management, staff and business associates. Mr Fong denied that former king of remisiers, Peter Lim, is directly or indirectly involved in his company. He said he has heard widespread rumours of the link. "Even DBS asked me whether it is true," he added. ====================== |
| (Post 18 of 682) 07/28/1999.14:24:00 |
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Echo, Good that you posted the article. I would have given KK Fong the exposure myself. Rgds |
| (Post 19 of 682) 08/03/1999.19:22:00 |
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(from August99 Financial Planner pg68) Can Fantastic Spice Up Those i-One Kiosks? Having served as rain shelters, sun shades and anything but, those i-One kiosks along Orchard Rd may hopefully -and soon- get a new lease of life with Fantastic Corp now in the picture. The company has clinched the deal to supply i-One Net International with Channel Editorial Centre Pro, a software solution that enables content providers to plan, manage and broadcast multimedia broadcast channels. This means the 100-plus Internet kiosks will be broadband-enabled and able to receive broadcast content, including audio, video, text and graphics, via ATM/ADSL. Consumers using the public kiosks can soon find online information such as entertainment news, shopping tips, popular eateries, flight information, travel news and other tourist information. If this takes off, the 500 i-One kiosks expected at year-end ought to be doing-serving up online information to Net-hungry pedestrains. hee..hee...until tht happens, i-One is the most expensive umbrella along Orchard Rd (not part of article, just my comments) |
| (Post 20 of 682) 08/04/1999.03:10:00 |
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Just my own opinion. Even from the start I dont quite understand whats the big deal with all these kioks. Other than out of curiousity that maybe I would stop by one of them and take a closer look, I think I should have better thing to do in orchard rd than to surf. Personally I havent got a chance to play with one yet, but after feedbacks from some of my friends, I dont think I'll even bother now. Maybe later if it manages to get more useful info into the system, I might check it out. But rite now, its a hands off for me. As for the shares, for me, if there's a very drastic dip, I might use it for pure punting only. I always feel that this counter is a big hoax, it might do damages to future genuine technology stocks with good potential. Anyway, this is just my 1 cent worth of personal feeling towards this counter. But I would urge more caution if you are thinking about investing in this stock. |
| (Post 21 of 682) 08/06/1999.19:10:00 |
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Announced in SES today : With reference to the article entitled "From Cash Crunch to IPO Darling" which appeared in the Business Times on 27 July 1999, it is true that some of our subsidiaries were in arrears of their contributions during the economic crisis period as we then had a temporary cash flow problem. The CPF Board was fully aware of the Group's situation. Immediate steps were, in fact, taken to rectify the situation prior to our application for IPO listing.The professionals who helped us to prepare our IPO application were fully informed of the facts. This was not disclosed in the prospectus as it was deemed an administrative matter which was resolved prior to the IPO application like all routine debts. This point was also not brought to the attention of the independent directors in the due diligence meeting. Again it was based on the reason and rationale that all outstanding issues including a director's borrowing from the Company would be settled before inviting public to invest via the prospectus. Had the independent directors been advised of the facts, their view would concur with the professionals and management that it was not a material information warranting disclosure in the prospectus. Collectively, the professionals and the Company decided that this issue was not a material information that merited a disclosure. It was a past event that was fully resolved. |
| (Post 22 of 682) 08/11/1999.03:24:00 |
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I-one - Looks like symmetric is more realistic than a descending formation.  |
| (Post 23 of 682) 08/14/1999.19:17:00 |
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Was KK Fong as candid during the IPO? He was more interested to pleased those with i-One placement shares, at investors expense! KK Fong on 13/08/99: "I've projected for this fiscal year and next fiscal year e-commerce won't contribute significantly to our bottom line. Anything coming from e-commerce income is a bonus for shareholders. I would not think e-commerce will carry a significant profit contribution in the medium term. Nobody can predict e-commerce income" "I'm delivering by stages now. When a baby is born, people expect the baby to run and make millions of dollars. Give me a chance to grow. Everybody expects me to run, sure kena." |
| (Post 24 of 682) 08/14/1999.20:32:00 |
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I still rate this as a very high risk share. The current business makes a profit of $1 mil or 0.3cts a share. Add to this the high cost of the multiple booths and the likelihood that even if these were successful, revenues will be many years down the road. If I recall the launch prospectus, next year's rev will be in the region of $6 mil. Where does that additional $5 mil come from? I would have thought that next year it will be in deficit due to the high cost of installing and maintaining these booths. If they can maintain this year's profit of $1 mil, its PE at 75cts is 250. |
| (Post 25 of 682) 08/14/1999.22:47:00 |
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Oldman YOu must have read this BT article too. Filing here for future reference. I've no interest in i-One, and intend to keep it that way. Rgds =================== i-One launches e-commerce trials -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Toh Han Shih Major contribution not expected for 1-2 years, says CEO -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [SINGAPORE] Electronic commerce will not contribute significantly to i-One.Net International's bottom line for the next one or two years, the company's founding chief executive K K Fong said yesterday. Although i-One.Net launched its first e-commerce trial yesterday, the company, which is listed on the Stock Exchange of Singapore (SES), is taking a cautious step-by-step approach towards e-commerce. "I've projected for this fiscal year and next fiscal year e-commerce won't contribute significantly to our bottom line. Anything coming from e-commerce income is a bonus for shareholders. I would not think e-commerce will carry a significant profit contribution in the medium term. Nobody can predict e-commerce income," Mr Fong said. The company's fiscal year ends on July 31. Yet the company is already deriving substantial revenue from its e-commerce kiosks. It has installed 521 kiosks on the island, but only 231 are connected to SingaporeONE via Singapore Telecom's Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) while the rest are not operational, he said. i-One.Net charges $12,000 to $18,000 to advertise on each kiosk per year. This means advertising on 521 kiosks will fetch over $6 million in the next 12 months, which is significant considering its revenues for fiscal year 1998 was $23.2 million. For the six months ending Jan 31, i-One.Net earned revenues from its kiosks for the first time, at $2.4 million mainly from advertising. This is roughly a fifth of its revenues for that period. Mr Fong said he has no intention of using the billboard as a permanent source of income, but merely to fund the infrastructure costs of i-One.Net's e-commerce. The company has invested $30 million in its e-commerce including its kiosks, he said. In the medium term, the company expects to gain revenues mainly from its core printing business and advertising, he said. Mr Fong was speaking at a press conference announcing the launch of i-One.Net's first e-commerce trial, involving online sales of Swensen's mooncakes. Consumers can buy the mooncakes from i-One.Net either through the Internet at www.i-One.Net, SingaporeONE at www.s1.i-One.Net, or i-One.Net's kiosks. On this online mooncake business, Ricky Goh, chief executive of ABR Holdings, said: "We do not expect substantial returns in the beginning, but we see good prospects in the long term. As time goes by, we expect to offer more products (online via i-One.Net)." Sesdaq-listed ABR has the rights to the Swensen's franchise in Singapore. If the trial is successful, i-One.Net will launch e-commerce on a commercial basis starting in the last quarter of this year, with one e-commerce project launched every month, Mr Fong said. About 100 companies, mainly small and medium enterprises, have signed up to do e-commerce via i-One.Net, he said. However, Mr Fong could not specify when all these firms will start doing e-commerce. Speaking in a mixture of Hokkien, English and Malay, he said: "I'm delivering by stages now. When a baby is born, people expect the baby to run and make millions of dollars. Give me a chance to grow. Everybody expects me to run, sure kena." Yesterday i-One.Net's share price fell to 75.5 cents from 79 cents the previous day. |
| (Post 26 of 682) 08/15/1999.13:34:00 |
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McCool, Considering all your periodic updates and information retrievals, you must have a very systematic archive collection of your own. Thanks for all the good work. |
| (Post 27 of 682) 08/15/1999.14:21:00 |
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Wile, You're welcome. You contribute lots of research materials too. I believe it is worth understanding the companies before investing. This way, one can keep a cool head even in a consolidation or bear phase and not panic over the worth of my investments. Of course, we will never know everything about companies, which is why I (and same for fund managers too) will always support greater transparency of listed companies corporate performance and development. Quarterly reporting, SES policing, investors expressing views in the presss, etc., will all help. Have a nice day. Rgds MC |
| (Post 28 of 682) 08/16/1999.23:37:00 |
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i-one news from CNet. Any mooncake lovers? i-One.Net launches first e-commerce site Friday, August 13 1999 SINGAPORE--Sesdaq-listed i-One.Net International will help about 100 small and medium-sized enterprises in Singapore take the e-commerce route by year-end. After a trial, launched today, the company will roll out one e-commerce project a month, said company chief executive KK Fong. i-One.Net today launched its first e-commerce project, allowing Singapore consumers to buy Swensen's mooncakes online. Consumers can also buy Swensen's mooncakes at i-One.Net's 231 kiosks around the country. Credit cards can be used for payment on the Internet and at the kiosks. Said Fong: "The site www.emooncake.com is our pilot e-commerce project and it will be used as a testbed for our upcoming online global shopping mall which will be launched later this year." Fong said he does not expect e-commerce to contribute significantly to its earnings this year and the next. To date, i-One.Net has committed about S$16 million in building its e-commerce infrastructure. The company has also spent about S$10 million building 500 Internet kiosks throughout Singapore. |
| (Post 29 of 682) 09/17/1999.21:57:00 |
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I noticed not many people using these kiosks except probably curious foreigners. & this is a stock based on future prospects. A danger sign? Likely. Even though the stock is already halved from its high. |
| (Post 30 of 682) 09/21/1999.17:57:00 |
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The results look impressive with a 545% gain in earnings. Going into details, the printing business, as expected is pretty stable with revenues of around $20 mil and earnings of about $4 mil. What is remarkable is that the revenues from the internet business jumped from $800K to $14.5 mil and its earnings improved from negative $2 mil last year to positive $5 mil this year. This means to say that the company makes a gross profit margin of 35% in its internet business. Remarkable. Given that there is negligible ecommerce element in the kiosks, all these must come from the web designing business. They must have a magic formula of getting so much money from their web designing business and even better, to maintain such high margins. I guess, the proof of the pudding is next year's results. This will show if the profitability and margins can be maintained. Also, I did not see any depreciation cost in the kiosk setup which, like all computer related equipment should be depreciated sharply within one year. This must be massive. Yes, the only time I see the kiosk in use is when it is raining or when some Japanese tourist is curious as to what these booths are for... -------------------------------- The Company was incorporated on 23rd April 1999, specially for the initial public offering. It was admitted to the official list of the SES on 28th June 1999. Despite a difficult operating environment, the Group registered a successful year. Turnover soared from $23.1million in the previous year to $34.3 million, an increase of 48%. The higher turnover was due to higher contribution from the Electronic Media business sector which recorded an increase of 1700% to $14.5 million sales. This increase was partly offset by a lower turnover in the Print Media business sector of $19.3 million, a slight decrease of 11% over the $21.8 million reported in FY1998. The economic crisis and sluggish stock market had resulted in a fall in demand for time-sensitive reports and this had led to reduced contribution from the Print Media business sector. The Group's strong performance for the period under review led to an improvement in profitability. Group operating profits before tax, minority interest and extraordinary items rose to $9 million, an increase of 545% over FY 1998. The increased operating profit margin was attributed to a change in sales mix as well as greater operational efficiency. Despite the lower turnover in the Print Media business sector, profit before tax from the sector increased by 17% due to a prudent cost management programme. In addition, the Group's successful venture into the Electronic Media business sector also yielded better margins, reversing a loss position in FY1998 to a profit before tax of $5 million in FY 1999. With this positive development, the Group will continue to pursue investments in the Electronic Media business sector, primarily through the provision of multimedia and web services and the i-One network. In comparison with the disclosure made in the IPO Prospectus, the actual performance of the Group in terms of turnover and profit before tax was close to that forecast. However, profit after tax exceeded that disclosed in the IPO Prospectus by 7.7%. In the opinion of the Directors, no item, transaction or event of a material and unusual nature has arisen in the interval between the end of the financial year and the date of this report which will affect substantially the results of the operations of the Company and of the Group for the financial year in respect of which this report is made. 8. Commentary on current year prospects Based on a recent Singapore Department of Statistics' survey, e-commerce transactions in Singapore are expected to grow by 25% to reach $1.5 billion in 1999. Worldwide demand for interactive communication and e-commerce solutions will continue to grow. Our growing strength in electronic publishing and the i-One initiative is expected to continue to contribute significantly to turnover and profitability. The Group is currently working to make the i-One network a leading portal through which contents, commerce and communications are delivered over multiple interactive channels. Our print media is also expected to improve our print media business with more contribution anticipated from the time-sensitive reports and annual reports printing as the economy recovers. |
| (Post 31 of 682) 09/21/1999.18:08:00 |
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If you consider that every little sign put up in well-regulated and administered Singapore requires a licence fee, but this company gets to put up all those kiosks at prime Orchard Road locations, and the right to sell advertising space, you should realise how well they have been treated by the authorities. Govt is bending over backwards for their e-commerce initiative. People like i-one are the beneficiaries. |
| (Post 32 of 682) 09/22/1999.11:10:00 |
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Could the Kioks be rented or leased from "Owner" ? That's why there is no deprecation costs ? |
| (Post 33 of 682) 09/22/1999.11:37:00 |
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As I-One owns the kiosks as well as operates them, I like to see next year's results to see where they have placed the depreciation and other costs. |
| (Post 34 of 682) 09/22/1999.11:54:00 |
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As McCool has rightly pointed out that you would need a license to display any signs in Singapore, I would speculate that the Kiosks agreement for i-One must be running terms like 10 years or could be longer. In that case, the depreciation costs are minimized. (I assume that the Kiosks are classified as Fixed assets. Could not imagine other creative accounting methods.) |
| (Post 35 of 682) 09/22/1999.14:23:00 |
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It is in Today's BT that the average term for the Kiosks is 3 years. It is also reported that these Kiosks can be up for tender (for another 3 years, I suppose). In this scenerio, the accounting treatment of the Kiosks can be operating lease expenses. You would be able to note the outstanding commitments for less than 12 months and longer than 12 months in the notes to the financial statements. |
| (Post 36 of 682) 09/29/1999.15:03:00 |
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Hi everyone Could some1 help to provide TA on i-one, indicating what is the likely support level and the trading range in near future? Thanks in advance |
| (Post 37 of 682) 09/29/1999.17:34:00 |
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From Cnet i-One.net's big plans for e-commerce By Jimmy Yap Wednesday, September 29 1999 SINGAPORE--The chief executive of i-One.net predicts that e-commerce will contribute 10 percent of total revenue in the next 12 months. Revenue from its electronic media business will also surpass that from printing, driven mainly by e-commerce, said chief executive KK Fong. "Turnover will be very big next year, possibly double," he predicted. The company recently reported that for the year ended July 31, it earned S$19.3 million from printing, while electronic media brought in S$14.5 million. However, because of better margins in the electronic media, that segment brought in more than 50 percent of pretax profits of S$9 million. Fong said the plan was to be the ultimate e-commerce destination in the Asia Pacific. The company's e-commerce plan begins with a food site called www.i-One-Food.com, where people can order food and have it delivered. Future e-commerce sites will follow, focusing on festive occasions, travel and cosmetics. i-One.net is also venturing into China. By year-end, Fong said the company would announce its China plans, beginning with e-commerce enabled kiosks in Shanghai. E-commerce is key to the company's overall turnover. While it brings in revenue, it also brings in more business for the rest of the company. As Fong explained: "The more e-commerce clients I have, the more multimedia clients I have. By getting a merchant to join the network, Fong not only gets a commission on sales, he also earns revenue from designing and maintaining that firm's Web site. Last year, Web and multimedia services contributed 34 percent, while Web hosting contributed 46 percent. Panel advertising from its kiosks only contributed 20 percent. In response to criticism from users that the kiosks have been disappointing, Fong admitted there were problems. "I would be very surprised if you were not disappointed," he said. However, he said by mid-October, the content in the kiosks would be revamped. |
| (Post 38 of 682) 11/12/1999.17:38:00 |
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Hi, Does anyone knows the target for i-1? thanks |
| (Post 39 of 682) 11/16/1999.22:21:00 |
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hi Oldman, My broker had recommend I-one. Care to comment as the last info on this share was Sept. The last time he recommeded CSE, it did surged. I bought PCI / CMtel both on Friday after going thru this forum and true enough these 2 counters are performing well esp PCI. Just for info and thanks. |
| (Post 40 of 682) 11/17/1999.11:31:00 |
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Jen, I have decided to follow your broker's recommendation and have just bought this at 96cts. Firstly, allow me to say that this is a high risk investment. A few things have changed since my last write up. The Chairman recently said that the internet business is already starting to bring in money and is expected to contribute a few million dollars. Now this is just from memory as I am not able to trace that article. Secondly, MediaRing is going to launch tomorrow and I have been told that this is going to be a stunning launch with the share price expected to open in the $1 region! If that is the case, then all related internet companies will be in play. Hence, I bought into I-Net as well as First Engineering. But once again, a high risk play and I will be one of the first to bail out in the event things do not go as planned. I will post in this site if that happens. |
| (Post 41 of 682) 11/18/1999.16:07:00 |
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oldman Your 'gamble' is paying off now. There seems to be a sudden renewed interest in I-one in the afternoon. What price will u be selling? Wish u good luck. Cheers |
| (Post 42 of 682) 11/18/1999.17:25:00 |
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Lighbulb, sorry I am just back and missed the fun. I was told to look out for $1.30 but I think this is a little bit high. Let's see how Mediaring does. I have been told to expect a really spectacular performance not unlike I-One when it first listed. You know, the real difficult part is when to sell. I will post in here as soon as I have sold. Take care. |
| (Post 43 of 682) 11/18/1999.18:42:00 |
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Oldman, I have join you in the ride. Sold my TAC and bought I-One |
| (Post 44 of 682) 11/18/1999.20:53:00 |
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Hi oldman, I bought 2 lots yesterday at 0.975 and 0.96 and then it went down but the closing today give some confidence. Can you advise your target price to sell? I have today sold PCi - succumb to the good profit. i bought at 0.86 cts last Friday and sold today at 1.05. I am optimistic that tomorrow will be a good trading day as these 2 days were mainly normal healthy consolidation of the market - that's what my broker assure me as i am still unable to associate with news, market and its implications. Hope everyone here has a good trading day tomorrow and next week. |
| (Post 45 of 682) 11/18/1999.21:05:00 |
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Wow! I-One closed @ 1.02. Am glad that I took a gamble and bought some. Got to thank the forumers here for the posting especially Oldtimer and Oldman. Had I not noticed they (2 big names in this forum) bought into it yesterday, would have given it a miss. Hope Media Ring will open with a BIG BANG and I-One will ride along it. Wish all of us luck |
| (Post 46 of 682) 11/18/1999.23:55:00 |
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Year end coming..... Maybe some consolidation will be good. the trend is moving to big stock. un get stuck with small stock and when liquidity dry up. |
| (Post 47 of 682) 11/19/1999.09:47:00 |
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I don't like the look of this share. There is a heavy buyer and an equally heavy seller. I have decided that this is a game for giants and I better get out of this. Can go either way. 2% profit after commission is still a profit. Sorry folks, I am out of this tug of war. |
| (Post 48 of 682) 11/19/1999.12:23:00 |
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Hi Guys, Have bailed out. Decided not to take the risks. |
| (Post 49 of 682) 11/20/1999.22:18:00 |
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To Oldman, The price went up to as high as $1.40 on Friday morning but down to $0.93 at closing. What could have gone wrong ? I have bought this share @ $0.945 but did not manage to sell on Friday as I was out the whole day. Do you think the price will move up abit next week or should I contra at a loss ? I really need your kind advice. Thank you. |
| (Post 50 of 682) 11/21/1999.00:25:00 |
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I don't believe that $1.40 trade is a genuine one. You can discount that there was ever such a trade. |
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