globo plc
globo plc is a global provider of complete enterprise mobility solutions and saas. our
globo plc - notice of move from administration to dissolution (form 2. 35b )
one of the mobility vendors that i spent time with last month at mobile world congress was globo plc .
london (alliance news) - globo plc tuesday said its performance in the first half of 2015 was ...
among value investors, globo plc, a uk listed mobile phone software company is no stranger. almost any screener will have globo as one of the top investments .
the consolidated financial statements (
the financial statements
) of globo plc (
the company
) consists of the following companies: globo plc, profitel communications s. a. , globo mobile s. a. , globo it and telecom services srl, reach further communications limited, globo holdings ltd, gmip limited, globo services (cy) ltd, globo emea holdings limited, globo mobile technologies international fz - llp, globo international llc, globo us holdings llc, globo mobile inc (
the group
). globo technologies s. a. was consolidated until its disposal on 3 december 2012 .
the consolidated financial statements (
the financial statements
) of globo plc (
the company
) consists of the following companies: globo plc, profitel communications s. a. , globo mobile s. a. , reach further communications limited, globo holdings ltd, gmip limited, globo services (cy) ltd, globo emea holdings limited, globo mobile technologies international fz - llc, globo international llc, globo us holdings llc, globo mobile inc. , globo mobile technologies inc. (
the group
), sourcebits inc. , gmip ltd. jersey, globo mobile software services ltd, sourcebits pbvt limited .
this is operated by a business or businesses owned by informa plc and all copyright resides with them. informa plc' s registered office is 5 howick place, london sw1p 1wg. registered in england and wales. number 8860726 .
( reuters) - british mobile technology firm globo plc said on monday its chief executive and chief financial officer had resigned after they disclosed financial irregularities at the company .
ennismore fund management have held a short position in globo plc for over a year now, so it is interesting that a high conviction small cap fund with an outstanding investment track record is, along with goldman sachs, inflection and global asset management now appearing on globo plc’s shareholder register – collectively they have built new positions totalling nearly 45m shares .
our relationship with barclays bank plc and east west united bank luxembourg remains strong, providing us access to additional capital should it be needed .
as for me, value investing is foremost about protecting the downside, globe plc is not something i am interested in as a potential investment and not worth additional analysis .
globo plc (lse - aim: gbo), the international provider of enterprise mobility management (emm), mobile solutions and software as a service (saas), announces preliminary unaudited results for the year ended 31 december 2014 .
london (alliance news) - globo plc tuesday said its performance in the first half of 2015 was ahead of market expectations, and it expects the successes it saw in the first half to continue throughout the remainder of the year .
. services are deployed on - premise hosted on customers' infrastructure; globo also offers hosting services and support services. globo' s
globo plc (lse - aim: gbo / otcqx: gobpy), the international provider of enterprise mobility management (emm), mobile solutions and software as a service (saas), notes the significant move in its share price since 22 july 2015. globo is not aware of any material reason for the decline in its share price .
informa uk limited is a company registered in england and wales with company number 1072954 whose registered office is 5 howick place, london, sw1p 1wg. vat gb365462636. informa uk limited is part of informa plc .
trading in globo’s shares were suspended on friday at the request of the company .
in 2014 globo invested €23. 5 million in research and development (2013 :
globo enables fips 140 - 2 on all apps built with go! ...
globo buys sourcebits in push for u. s. mobile app development market – techcrunch
mbs is a division within globo, which provides
app development lifecycle services
.
while it is true that investing in the stock market naturally involves unknown risks, no one that allocates his or her capital in a business should worry that the financial fundamentals of that business are not trustworthy. the reported accounts should serve as the most trustworthy source to conduct the company valuation. however, the past cannot be changed – we made the mistake of investing in globo plc. what can we do now? we can learn from our mistake. this article looks at the ‘symptoms’ that set the alarm across the capital markets that globo plc is a fraudulent company. the signs are presented in an objective manner and are not tailored after globo’s situation because they can serve as the basis for uncovering fraud in other industries, markets or jurisdictions .
prior to the share suspension, globo had a market capitalisation of gbp105. 6 million .
globo said it had asked for further information on the timing and nature of the sales .
fully - integrated as part of globo' s mobility business solutions (mbs) division .
shares in globo were up 3. 7% at 49. 00 pence tuesday morning .
globo plc is an international leader and technology innovator delivering mobile, s. a. as and telecom software products and services. globo has established itself as one of the market leaders in the ict market, offering a wide range of products and services to the corporate, public and consumer market. the group operates internationally through subsidiaries and offices in us, uk, europe, middle east and south east asia. for more information visit the company' s website at
globo go! enterprise is bringing together mobile apps, mdm, and an app - development platform .
in 2014, globo expanded its distribution and reseller partnerships, providing access to more than 50 countries .
costis papadimitrakopoulos founded globo plc in 1997 out of a small office in athens, greece. costis has followed an unconventional career path for a tech entrepreneur. costis initiated his career as a professional windsurfer. he then joined his family business, a food processing company. this experience apparently involved plenty of travel abroad, especially in eastern europe, where costis claimed he formed many business contacts which, as we will see later, might play a part in the subsequent globo affair. following his family business experience, he then completed a degree in electrical engineering and subsequently started globo .
at a first glance, globo plc looks like a highly profitable, strong growing and incredible cheap software company suffering only from overall bad sentiment against anything which is related to greece. a second short look however shows clearly that there are a lot of issues in their accounts (capitalization of expenses, revenue recognition) which in my opinion already raises a couple of red flags .
established us presence through acquisition in february 2012 of dialect technologies inc. (renamed globo mobile inc. )
holding of 49 per cent of globo technologies s. a but does not exercise operating or financial control .
in globo’s case, one part of the explanation is pretty easy: globo started out as a greek company, is run and owned by greeks and still does (some) business in greece. so the recent mayhem in greece has clearly taken its toll on globo’s stock price as we can see in the stock price chart :
u. s. hedge fund quintessential capital management had raised questions last week about globo’s revenue model and finances .
globo’s industry recognition continues, with the announcement on 27 july 2015 of our inclusion in the gartner madp magic quadrant, making globo the only pure - play mobility vendor globally in both magic quadrants (emm and madp) .
. these services are mainly hosted by our clients' own infrastructure; globo also offers hosting and support services .
in a nutshell, we are of the view that globo plc is massively overstating its revenue and profit by generating fictitious sales invoices from shell companies created and controlled by globo to pose as legitimate clients. in order to justify the resulting cash shortfall, other shell companies pose as suppliers to globo and generate fictitious expenses, part of which are then capitalized. the results of our investigation suggest that the company relies on its fabricated financial statements to issue shares and to secure credit to cover its ongoing expenses and to finance the acquisition of legitimate businesses, in the hope of diluting the
fraudulent
part of its business and eventually listing itself on the nasdaq .
globo to move headquarters to silicon valley from greece in bid for u. s. market (and better weather )
wiplus consists of a fully managed service provided to hotels, airports, marinas and similar locations with globo receiving revenue from venue owners. globo has continued to invest in expanding this product offering and is now well positioned to accelerate growth .
in 2014, globo delivered a strong financial performance with substantial growth in revenue, profitability and positive free cash flow .
globo' s industry recognition continues, with the announcement on 27 july 2015 of our inclusion in the gartner madp magic quadrant, making globo the only pure - play mobility vendor globally in both magic quadrants (emm and madp) .
in 2012, globo sold 51% worth of globo technologies (gt), a subsidiary engaging in software development and distribution, to globo’s management. although the consideration was about $ 15m, the terms of payment were unusual and one of the net effects of the disposal was to effectively decrease the amount of trade receivable on globo’s balance sheet. this is because at less than 50% gt assets, including receivables, get consolidated and treated as a long - term investment .
following the report, globo' s stock initially dipped, but after several denials by management promptly regained its previous highs .
globo, a greek company that makes enterprise mobility products, is reversing the normal migration pattern of silicon valley technology companies .
during 2012 globo participated in industry analyst events held by gartner, forrester and others, and in major industry events including the gsma world mobile congress in barcelona, ctia in new orleans and san diego, and infocom. this has raised globo' s profile significantly amongst industry players. for example, recently globo' s name has been included in the following reports :
this worldwide industry recognition is having a significant positive impact on globo' s business development activities and efforts to win customers .
during 2012, globo delivered a strong financial performance with substantial growth in revenue, strong profitability and positive operating cash flow .
in response to the rapidly changing demands of our target market globo has developed a unique position in the mobile enterprise space .
globo denied on friday all allegations made by the hedge fund and called an emergency board meeting on saturday to discuss the allegations .
i have no doubt that globo apps exists. but i still feel uncomfortable with their official numbers for users and earned returns .
we are confident that 2013 will be another excellent year for globo when we will further increase our international market presence and recognition .
globo has several business lines with different end customers which vary in nature and terms of payment. the main business lines are :
one of the mobility vendors that i spent time with last month at mobile world congress was globo plc. they don’t have have a very big profile in the space right now, but they’re busy bringing together all the components to become a full - featured player in the emm space, including their own mam and productivity apps, an app development platform, and mdm from their acquisition of notify technology. with all these parts coming together, it’s definitely worth taking a closer look .
the recent storm caused by the aim listed globo plc (lon: gbo), the mobility enterprise developer and provider which is investigated for market abuse, accounts falsification and insider dealing does not come without important lessons for all its shareholders and other market participants that look for exciting opportunities. the company is currently under investigation by the financial conduct authority, the serious fraud office and the city of london police, according to investors chronicle (30 october – 5 november 2015 issue) .
, a mobile backend service which simplifies connectivity with third - party systems, and enables management of deployed mobile apps. globo believes that
at globo' s last quoted price before suspension of 29. 45 pence, the share sale would amount to gbp11. 9 million .
throughout 2012 and so far in the current year, globo has continued to develop its portfolio of products and services, focusing on its mobile business and international expansion. we have continued to benefit from healthy demand and to push globo' s expansion into new markets throughout the world .
time will tell who has made the better call and it is of course conceivable that both could make money from their respective positions albeit over different timeframes – however, my money is on forum, as their long term investment track record is simply in a different league – and unlike ennismore, they have actually spent a week with the globo plc management, senior staff, sales people in the field, customers and major suppliers, as part of the extensive due diligence they do on the relatively small number of investments they make .
globo to move headquarters to silicon valley from greece in bid for u. s. market (and better weather) - silicon valley business journal
they say of globo: “globo is using cash flow from a mature business to build up a new business in a high - growth category. we feel we have paid for the mature business and get the optionality of success in the new business – or a take - out – for free”
i am sure if you ask globo, they have a good answer. as far as i know the say that they sell “direct” whatever that means…
globo plc is a global provider of complete enterprise mobility solutions and saas. our go! enterprise (emm) and go! appzone (madp) offerings help businesses expand their engagement with employees and customers through the mobile channel via a secure and extensible environment that runs on all smart devices. the group operates internationally through subsidiaries and offices in u. s. , u. k. , europe, middle east and south east asia. globo was included in the 2014 gartner enterprise mobility management magic quadrant report, in ovum' s 2014 - 15 decision matrix for emm solutions and in idc' s january 2015 report on mobile enterprise application development platforms. for more information visit www. globoplc. com .
this bolt - on acquisition is in line with globo' s strategic objective to build its presence in the enterprise mobility market, and will accelerate its progress as a mobile application development platform (
madp
) provider. since then, sourcebits has become part of globo' s mobility business services division (
mbs
), providing substantial resources that allows globo to expand its offerings faster and to a broader marketplace, particularly the united states. sourcebits' scale provides globo with more powerful and compelling assets to compete for new clients and develop custom mobile applications with its flagship go! enterprise platform .
these features have been part of go! enterprise from the beginning, and most recently globo announced go! appzone studio, a new wysiwyg development tool .
research suggests ennismore have what can only be politely described as mixed success in their shorting strategies and their position in globo should be seen in this context .
following an excellent financial performance last year, in 2013 globo is well positioned to accelerate its growth and development in all areas of the international mobile business .
notes the significant move in its share price since 22 july 2015. globo is not aware of any material reason for the decline in its share price .
- - in september 2014 globo was included in ovum' s 2014 - 15 decision matrix for emm solutions. ovum noted that ;
globo offers a well - rounded, end - to - end emm solution, and is one of very few vendors to offer five out of six of our defined components .
globo said on monday that would appoint an independent forensic accounting team to investigate qcm’s claims and had suspended chief operating officer gerasimos bonanos pending the outcome of the investigation .
and will also be accessible via a live conference call, dial - in no. : + 44 (0) 20 3059 8125, conference id: globo .
the ongoing repayment schedule for the acquisition of the 51% of globo technologies shares, undertaken from the management team of globo technologies s. a. , is on track with all instalments having been collected as per the schedule. for 2015 we expect to receive €3. 0 million plus interest as part of the payment schedule .
the ongoing repayment schedule for the acquisition of the 51% of globo technologies shares, undertaken from the management team of globo technologies s. a. , is on track with all instalments having been collected as per the schedule. for 2015 we expect to receive eur3. 0 million plus interest as part of the payment schedule .
last october globo expanded into mobile device management by acquiring notify technology for $ 5 million. notify’s products included basic mdm and notifysync, software for syncing older blackberry devices directly to any exchange activesync - based email server without getting blackberry enterprise server involved. globo is currently in the process of integrating mdm into the go! enterprise suite .
globo said ceo konstantinos papadimitrakopoulos and cfo dimitris gryparis had brought to the attention of directors “certain matters regarding the falsification of data and misrepresentation of the company’s financial situation. ”
globo is a greek software company with two main product categories: text - based services that make web content such as social networks available for feature phone users, and a remote access product that employees can operate using their own personal smartphone or tablet (in the first half of 2013 these two products accounted for nearly 90% of globo’s revenue) .
it is good for globo to be a challanger in the madp quadrant after not been mentioned previously. on the other hand, there are 5 leaders and 2 challangers ahead .
our acquisition of dialect technologies inc. (recently renamed globo mobile inc .) has been successful in all respects. today it operates as the us operations and sales arm for
following its us acquisitions, globo’s ceo has moved to palo alto in order to lead globo’s expansion in the united states, although the company’s headquarters remain in athens. in june 2015 globo attempted to raise $ 180m on the high yield bond market. 6 the move raised many eyebrows in the investment community7 since these bonds would be issued at a very high interest rate. according to its financial statements, globo sits on $ 104 of cash (though most of it held in banks with speculative credit ratings) and it is unclear why it would be willing to pay a 8% + interest rate while having cash sitting unused in the bank. the bond issue was first reduced to $ 120m and then suspended altogether because it failed to generate sufficient interest from perspective buyers. according to our research, prior to their attempt to issue junk debt, globo tried unsuccessfully to raise a senior secured loan of $ 120m from a large global investment management firm. t he apparent inability of globo to pass serious creditor due diligence lately should be seen with concern .
usually for me the next step is to look into the last annual report in order to get an “unprejudiced” view of the company. globo’s 2014 report came out 4 weeks ago .
million), excluding the impact of the sourcebits acquisition. this is the third consecutive year in which globo has generated positive free cash flow whilst maintaining strong revenue growth. cash conversion
globo, an enterprise mobile messaging and device management and application development software developer traded on the london stock exchange’s small - cap aim market, has bought the mobile application development service sourcebits .
if this would be the only explanation, then globo would be very interesting. getting a stock for cheap because sentiment is bad, i mean that’s what value investing is all about .
according to people more familiar with globo, this is due to the fact that they get “research tax credits” in cyprus. which i find strange as they talk about r & d “in ohio us, greece and bangalore”. no wonder that the greek and cyprus governemnt has revenue problems…. anyway, i would find it quite aggressive to assume that globo will continue not to pay any taxes in the future. one should also take into account the possibility that the tax collectors at some point in time actually do not aggree with globo and then globo will have to pay past taxes. i don’t know about other countires, but in germany for instance this can hit you until 10 years after a business year if they do a special audit .
i think it is not a coincidence that they released it after the bond flopped. with the bond, globo could have continued for some time, now the “endgame” is prettty close .
and no, i don’t need to contact the company. i rather spend my time on better companies. there are just too many issues with globo to make them interesting for me ,
actually, the majority of their cash reserves lie within their greek subsidiary globo mobile s. a. (according to their annual report 2014 – you can check it up at urltoken). this does not mean that the money cannot be in a cyprus bank – i just wanted to let you know which legal entity of globo claims to have the cash reserves .
globo offers services under the s. a. a. s model to several customers. these services include hosting, disaster recovery, telecom services, sms, wi - fi etc .
- - in june 2014 globo was the only new vendor added, amongst the fourteen included in gartner' s new magic quadrant for emm report. globo was positioned furthest on the
completeness of vision
axis within the
niche players
quadrant, and recognised for the ability to augment device management (emm solutions) with provision for mobile application development (madp )
i’m not the right person to comment on how globo’s mobile app development platform compares to others, but we can look at how the whole go! enterprise suite fits in the emm space .
the acquisition in february 2012 of dialect technologies inc. (recently renamed globo mobile inc .) has been successful in all respects. today it operates as the us operations and sales arm of
during 2012 globo achieved significant growth at the same time as securing our position as a leading provider of enterprise and consumer mobility solutions. we succeeded in growing both our consumer mobile solutions offering and
are now being offered in 30 countries in europe, africa, latin america, north america, asia and the middle east. globo receives a fixed service fee per month per active user .
addition of fips 140 - 2 validated encryption, which has been added to the entire globo solution suite. globo achieved the validation of its cryptographic modules from national institute of standards and technology (nist) cryptographic module validation program (cmvp) as per federal information processing standards (fips) 140 - 2 security standard for cryptographic modules. this addition is an important milestone for globo' s strategy for expansion in united states as it can compete more effectively for customers in highly - regulated markets such as government, finance and healthcare, which demand the highest level of validated encryption
the us is by far the largest and most important enterprise mobility market – for globo to become a leading player in the quickly evolving and fast growing emm and madp sectors it was considered essential by the ceo to successfully enter this market – he quickly validated this decision – us revenue growth is up over 300% in a year and this market is already globo’s second largest by revenue .
- - addition of fips 140 - 2 validated encryption, which has been added to the entire globo solution suite. globo achieved the validation of its cryptographic modules from national institute of standards and technology (nist) cryptographic module validation program (cmvp) as per federal information processing standards (fips) 140 - 2 security standard for cryptographic modules. this addition is an important milestone for globo' s strategy for expansion in united states as it can compete more effectively for customers in highly - regulated markets such as government, finance and healthcare, which demand the highest level of validated encryption
globo has been under short attack by ennismore for around 2 years, during which time they will have been increasingly erring on the side of caution by conserving cash to prevent an intensification of the attack .
during 2012, globo achieved excellent growth resulting in record revenues and profits with mobile applications driving the group' s international expansion, where it is experiencing strong demand in both the consumer and enterprise sectors .
still it remains strange that there are quite few independent homepages and users talking and discussing about their experiences or only their problems with globo software. for airwatch mdm eg. there is much more to find .
during the past three years, globo has transformed itself from a european software company into a leader in one of the most promising technology markets, combining mobile enterprise solutions, enterprise mobility management and applications development .
- - mobility business solutions (mbs): globo also undertakes bespoke projects for clients such as the development of custom branded apps for use internally within a corporation or externally for the customer' s clients .
. ovum noted that ;
globo offers a well - rounded, end - to - end emm solution, and is one of very few vendors to offer five out of six of our defined components .
if globo turns out to be a actual great company and continues to grow like crazy then the upside is of course there. on the other hand, for me value investing is mostly about protecting the downside. and in a case like globo, the downside case for globo is clearly there. i do not want to own companies where the chance of a total loss is relatively high. my “style” of investing works better with very boring companies where in the worst case i don’t loose much. there is a sometimes invisible line between investing and speculating, but for my this line is crossed if i cannot trust the accounts of a company .
when the report emerged globo' s ceo promptly refuted
all allegations
made in the report, and requested its shares be suspended from trading in order to give it more time to provide a more detailed response .
on december 2012, the group sold the greek e - business operating entity, globo technologies s. a. , to management for a consideration of €11. 2 million plus interest. the consideration is receivable in installments
( identity services engine), a system which monitors the status of mobile devices to enforce appropriate network access policies. overall, this enables globo to offer an added layer of security, control and compliance to enterprise it
over the years globo showed an impressive sequence of increasing sales and profits (albeit with increasingly negative free cash flows) and was active in m & a transactions, both as a buyer and as a seller. in 2013 and 2014 it acquired notify and sourcebits, two california - based mobile software companies for $ 5m and $ 12m respectively. each transaction was performed at a valuation of 1x sales so globo acquired $ 17m worth of sales .
additionally, i don’t know why they do not appear for you, but there are some reviews for the go! enterprise app (urltoken), but the positive ones are mainly from globo employes anyway (lol) .
for the period until 3 december 2012 being the date the group divested 51 per cent its greek subsidiary, globo technologies s. a. recorded revenue of €12. 1 million via several projects, principally from private sector clients. since the divestment of globo technologies s. a. , the group has ceased to operate in e - business software products and services but expects to benefit from future profits through its ongoing 49 per cent share of this associate .
during 2014, globo has received market recognition from global analysts following the mobile technology sector and is now well - positioned within the top players in a multi - billion dollar industry which is set to grow over the coming years .
all in all, globo likes dropping names regarding customers (e. g. coca cola / us army etc .), but if you look for hard facts you will only find about three “big” customers which can actually be verified as customers (e. g. oracle, milton keynes, nsw australia). then they still have like 10 smaller companies (mostly greek actually), where you can actually find some information about the connection to globo .
globo first entered the emm space in 2011 with a product called go! enterprise. (they’ve actually been around since the late 90s, though, with other telecom products as well as messaging and social applications for feature phones. )
chief operating officer gerasimos bonanos was also suspended, as the company - now without any leadership -
investigates further
it said monday in a statement. globo told its lawyers to report the matter to authorities and its principle bankers .
services are offered on a white label basis with an emerging markets emphasis. for these services globo receives a fixed service fee per active user on a monthly basis. in 2014 revenue in this segment increased by 10. 6% to
during 2014 globo acquired the services division of sourcebits inc. , (
sourcebits
), a developer of mobile applications and proprietary products for enterprise customers, for a cash consideration of us $ 12. 2 million (€9. 1 million). the acquisition agreement was signed on 27 june 2014 with a completion date of 27 july 2014 through existing companies sourcebits inc and sourcebits pbvt limited which are now fully owned subsidiary companies (100 %) within the globo group
during 2014 globo acquired the services division of sourcebits inc. , (
sourcebits
), a developer of mobile applications and proprietary products for enterprise customers, for a cash consideration of us $ 12. 2 million (eur9. 1 million). the acquisition agreement was signed on 27 june 2014 with a completion date of 27 july 2014 through existing companies sourcebits inc and sourcebits pbvt limited which are now fully owned subsidiary companies (100 %) within the globo group
“the current globo share price and valuation means that in effect you can buy the citrongo! / go! social & telecom business for what is very nearly a single digit pe multiple and the go! enterprise business is in for free. ”
if my rough calculation is right, ennismore has more than 11m eur “on the line”. i think their fund aum is something like 290m gbp, hence c2. 8% of the fund is short globo. that’s what i call conviction. 🙂
mbs is a division within globo, which provides
app development lifecycle services
. this division offers the customer a holistic solution, whilst collaboration forms the basis of longer - term relationships with clients and a source of recurring revenues as new requirements arise .
- - telecom services - s. a. a. s: globo offers services under the s. a. a. s model to several customers. these services include hosting, disaster recovery, telecom services, sms, wi - fi etc .
while a minor portion of its business is authentic, the results of our investigation strongly suggest that at least 60% of globo’s turnover is fabricated. the company’s alleged activities, in our view, suggest possible criminal behavior and to cause its total demise if exposed .
the magnitude of recognition provided through this contract to globo has resulted in numerous other distribution agreements and contracts in other countries including spain, germany, italy, australia and uae, while creating an additional revenue stream for the existing resellers that are already working with us .
products against the background of limited smartphone penetration in emerging economies. our proven solution brings smartphone capabilities to feature phones and enables mnos and vasps to earn revenues from a single product via a single service provider (globo), thereby maximizing return and efficiency of advertising budgets .
at the end of the period, 113 employees were located within the group' s us operations, namely palo alto (headquarters), san francisco, new york and canfield ohio. globo' s founder and ceo, costis papadimitrakopoulos, relocated to palo alto mid - year
one reason for the move to the u. s. is the company’s desire to list on one of the u. s. exchanges, according to papadimitrakopoulos. globo is considering jumping from the aim to potentially the nasdaq as it rolls up more businesses in the u. s. “shifting from aim to nasdaq… we consider to be much more favorable, ” says globo’s chief executive. “u. s. tech investors are much more knowledgeable. having a fairer valuation against our peers will give us the ability to compete on a much more equal basis. ”
the article tried to offer an overview of the symptoms globo showed investors that a fraudulent company is illustrating. however, it should be obvious that the list is not exhaustive – feel free to add more to it from your own personal experience or from the literature that you pursue .
following the divestment of the legacy greek business, globo is now growing as a fully international business in the hottest technology sector of mobile applications and the byod trend. our business model is based on increased recurring revenues arising from products and services licensing, underpinning confidence in future growth .
we are determined to become a global leader in the field of mobile applications and byod and have already made significant progress. our mobile product line has demonstrated its strength and innovative positioning against our competitors, and we are really excited about globo' s prospects for 2013 and beyond .
globo sells licenses for its go! enterprise suite of products through partners, distributors and resellers. the resellers engage with their customers in order to promote their products and place orders, through the company' s partner portal, that are executed by issuing license keys for the products .
- - at the end of the period, 113 employees were located within the group' s us operations, namely palo alto (headquarters), san francisco, new york and canfield ohio. globo' s founder and ceo, costis papadimitrakopoulos, relocated to palo alto mid - year
thanks for the long comment. however i do think that the question who owns a share is not that important compared to the actual isssues of globo. why do they capitalize their costs so aggresively and why do they draw on expensive credit lines despite sitting on a big pile of cash ?
i guess the 834, 000 active users are the 834, 600 “licenses” which globo refers to in their annual report 2014. these 834. 600 licenses only refer to their emm segment, which generated €12. 6 million revenue in fy 2014 (= ~ 15euro / year per license) .
globo’s technology is very highly rated by ovum, gartner and idc and is one of the few independents left at the top end of this very rapidly growing and consolidating market. considering the market valuation of a heavily loss making pure emm play like us quoted mobileirion, and the m & a prices for companies in the sector over the last few years, shorting globo carries the additional risk of a high premium takeout, which a number of us industry commentators believe is highly likely considering the pace of consolidation that is occurring in an industry which continues to grow at a cagr of around 25% .
first of all, there’s no disputing that globo has a huge task in front of it if it wants go! enterprise to take attention away from its more established competitors. however, the fact that it has a fairly full - featured emm platform directly integrated with a mobile app development platform is attractive. there are other vendors that do this, too, of course. (ibm is one example. ibm mobilefirst is bringing together worklight for app development and fiberlink for emm, among other products .) however, globo could still find a sweet spot, perhaps for companies looking for less complexity .
so far, globo said that they have some m & a projects ready to sign and tha they need only the money to close. now they say “with the proceeds expected to be used within two years, mainly for future acquisitions of an anticipated value in excess of us $ 150 million. “
globo, which is traded on the london stock exchange and has revenues of about $ 100 million annually, already maintains offices in san jose and new york. but with a new office opening in palo alto which will serve as its headquarters, the company is shifting its center from athens to silicon valley .
during 2012, globo initiated the registration of a number of patents with the us patent office. we consider this as a significant step as it both documents innovations from our r & d team and creates an asset of value for the future. currently the company has submitted 16 patents to the us patent office .
globo reiterated that it remains well - prepared to weather any hit from the current situation in greece, citing reduced revenue exposure from greece, an expected reduction in its cost base in the scenario that greece reverts to a local currency, and only around eur100, 000 held in greek bank accounts amongst other measures .
“. . capitalizing costs is not illegal but it is aggressive accounting. a software company like ige & xao for instance does not capitalize at all r & d. so in order to compare globo’s numbers to other software companies, one should expense most of this which is roughly 2 / 3 of the shown profit…”
- - integration of go! enterprise emm (enterprise mobility management) with cisco ise (tm) (identity services engine), a system which monitors the status of mobile devices to enforce appropriate network access policies. overall, this enables globo to offer an added layer of security, control and compliance to enterprise it
we believe we can grow our wiplus service substantially, through franchising agreements with selected international partners, providing them with the technology and a business model to develop wiplus hot spot networks around the world. we expect to achieve attractive returns from franchising wiplus, taking into account the absence of any investment and operating costs for globo .
the sourcebits acquisition is just the first step in globo’s transition to become a more north american - facing business — so venture investors be prepared. “we are going to execute several acquisitions in the u. s. , ” says papadimitrakopoulos. “the company is shifting to more of a u. s. centric technology company. ”
only this time, the ceo' s denial failed, and we were surprised to read this morning that following a saturday board meeting of the u. k. - based software maker saturday, ceo costis papadimitrakopoulos and cfo dimitris gryparis told the board admitted
the falsification of data and the misrepresentation
of globo’s financial information .
there will be an analyst presentation today at 10. 30 bst at 55 old broad street, london ec2m 1rx. the presentation will also be webcast live at urltoken and will also be accessible via a live conference call, dial - in no. : + 44 (0) 20 3059 8125, conference id: globo .
revenue is derived from licenses for the development and operation of cross - platform mobile applications for use by employees, associates or retail customers, branded as go! enterprise reach. services are deployed on - premise hosted on customers' infrastructure; globo also offers hosting services and support services. globo' s go! appzone madp solution enables cloud - based mobile app development based on a single source code for one - stop deployment on all operating systems - android, ios, windowsphone, windows8, blackberry, html5. this enables significant savings in manpower, development time and overall cost. 2014 madp revenue totalled eur20. 0 million (2013: eur9. 1 million) .
product, underpinning our confidence that the us market will become a very significant contributor to future group performance. overall, we are confident that 2013 will be the year in which globo secures its position alongside traditional leaders in the mobility arena as an innovator and challenger to current standard solutions less distinguished in terms of user experience or simplicity of use .
- - go! enterprise products (emm & madp): globo sells licenses for its go! enterprise suite of products through partners, distributors and resellers. the resellers engage with their customers in order to promote their products and place orders, through the company' s partner portal, that are executed by issuing license keys for the products .
increased free cash flow generation to €7. 3 million (2013: €5. 2 million), excluding the impact of the sourcebits acquisition. this is the third consecutive year in which globo has generated positive free cash flow whilst maintaining strong revenue growth. cash conversion of profits remained healthy at 72% , supporting organic investment and working capital needs .
forum european smallcaps gmbh investment performance since inception shows they clearly have a methodology, process and team for making smart investment decisions. they hold a far more concentrated portfolio which means a greater degree of conviction in any position – as of early 2015 they only held 11 positions (including globo), in the part of the portfolio they term “tactical” .
parts of globo are sited in cyprus, as it is known as a tax lap hole and also another greek speaking country with many economic relations toward greece. if 44% of your staff works in greece and has to be payed, but you want to hold nearly no money in greek banks, cyprus banks may be the best alternative option .
excellent analysis. i first looked at globo in june 2011 and kept an eye on them ever since. when i look in my notes, i have exactly the same remarks. let’s see how this will end. interesting to see that you mention reply, where i had the same experience. have you looked at utilitywise? revenue recognition could be a problem here .
revenue increased by 94% to €57. 9 million (2013 €29. 9 million), reflecting demand for both emm and madp licenses and services. as originally projected, go! enterprise revenues represent the major revenue contributor for globo (54. 4% of total revenue) and this pace of growth provides us with confidence in growth over the next few years .
as for shareholders who suddenly have absolutely nothing, maybe they can address their complaints to the regulators or the auditors who allowed this fraud to continue for years, or perhaps to globo' s corporate broker, canaccord genuity, which moments ago also resigned with immediate effect, effectively admitting it never did any underwriter due diligence on the company for the duration of its paid tenure .
being seen as an american company is increasingly critical in globo' s industry, which provides businesses with ways to manage mobile devices and develop mobile apps in a way that doesn' t compromise their network security. most of his major competitors are located in the u. s. , and the u. s. market is one of the biggest worldwide, papadimitrakopoulos said .
- - increased free cash flow generation to eur7. 3 million (2013: eur5. 2 million), excluding the impact of the sourcebits acquisition. this is the third consecutive year in which globo has generated positive free cash flow whilst maintaining strong revenue growth. cash conversion (2) of profits remained healthy at 72% , supporting organic investment and working capital needs .
founded in 1997 as a content management company, globo went public on the aim in 2008 as it transitioned from content management into mobile device and messaging management for the enterprise. with the sourcebits acquisition the company does two things according to chief executive konstantinos (“costis”) papadimitrakopoulos — gets more of a foothold in the u. s. market and adds to its mobile product suite .
fully - managed wifi service for hotels, airports and marinas, which generates income through monthly fees. via our further communications unit we provide mvas offerings to other mnos and to other value - added service providers. globo mobile inc. , provides other telecom services to international telecom operators. investment in this division has been ebitda - enhancing and has contributed positively to overall group performance .
according to our research, in 2007 globo went public not through a customary ipo, but by way of a reverse merger with an israeli shell company. while a legitimate instrument, reverse mergers have historically been used by numerous fraudulent companies to float their shares and their reputation is doubtful, since they allow a company to go public while avoiding the scrutiny and due diligence typical of an ipo .
btw, there is another questionable area of revenue within globo. it is their citrongo! / go! social segment. they claim to generate €40 million revenue per year, but there is not even a single customer known for this product. in their annual report / trading updates they always provide minimal to none information regarding citrongo! , besides the revenue / active users. nothing else .
in february 2012, the group acquired dialect technologies inc. , (recently renamed globo mobile inc .) a new york - based specialist provider of ip telecom technologies and services to international telecom operators and businesses in the us. the cash consideration for the acquisition was a maximum of us $ 800, 000 payable in installments. the company today operates as the us operations and sales arm for
consumer mobility services: globo sells its consumer - use mobile solution principally in emerging markets via resellers who in turn have relationships with the mobile network operators who provide services to the end user. these are the citrongo! and go! social apps. the company' s agreements with mnos and mobile value added services providers are based on a revenue sharing and a resulting fee per active user.
globo plc provides enterprise mobility management ( emm ) and mobile application development ( madp ) software and services . globo is listed on the london stock exchange 's aim market ( gbo : ln ) " share price information " . retrieved 27 january 2015 . globo acquired notify technology in october 2013 , adding mobile device management ( mdm ) capabilities to its emm product offering and expanding its operations in the usa . in june 2014 , globo acquired sourcebits , a designer and developer of apps . on 23 october 2015 , trading in globo shares was suspended . on 26 october , ceo konstantinos papadimitrakopoulos and cfo dimitris gryparis resigned , having informed the board of directors about " certain matters regarding the falsification of data and misrepresentation of the company 's financial situation " . globo stated that they would appoint an independent forensic accounting team to investigate allegations raised by quintessential capital management , an american hedge fund . on 22 october , papadimitrakopoulos sold 42 million shares . zero hedge noted that these events showed that " the company was a pure fraud as so many short sellers had claimed in the past " . 
globo plc provides enterprise mobility management (emm) and mobile application development (madp) software and services. globo is listed on the london stock exchange's aim market (gbo: ln) " share price information ". retrieved 27 january 2015. globo acquired notify technology in october 2013, adding mobile device management (mdm) capabilities to its emm product offering and expanding its operations in the usa. in june 2014, globo acquired sourcebits, a designer and developer of apps. on 23 october 2015, trading in globo shares was suspended. on 26 october, ceo konstantinos papadimitrakopoulos and cfo dimitris gryparis resigned, having informed the board of directors about " certain matters regarding the falsification of data and misrepresentation of the company's financial situation ". globo stated that they would appoint an independent forensic accounting team to investigate allegations raised by quintessential capital management, an american hedge fund. on 22 october, papadimitrakopoulos sold 42 million shares. zero hedge noted that these events showed that " the company was a pure fraud as so many short sellers had claimed in the past ".
globo plc provides enterprise mobility management (emm) and mobile application development (madp) software and services. globo is listed on the london stock exchange's aim market (gbo: ln) " share price information ". retrieved 27 january 2015. globo acquired notify technology in october 2013, adding mobile device management (mdm) capabilities to its emm product offering and expanding its operations in the usa. in june 2014, globo acquired sourcebits, a designer and developer of apps. on 23 october 2015, trading in globo shares was suspended. on 26 october, ceo konstantinos papadimitrakopoulos and cfo dimitris gryparis resigned, having informed the board of directors about " certain matters regarding the falsification of data and misrepresentation of the company's financial situation ". globo stated that they would appoint an independent forensic accounting team to investigate allegations raised by quintessential capital management, an american hedge fund. on 22 october, papadimitrakopoulos sold 42 million shares. zero hedge noted that these events showed that " the company was a pure fraud as so many short sellers had claimed in the past ".