After down 8%, P/E still 28, too expensive, page-17

With nervousness comes opportunity, and for outstanding companies like Hansen it has been a while since value has presented itself.

Here are a few unreported comments I picked up from the 1H2017 results teleconference:
* Management is very pleased with the performance of the company year-to=date, being disappointed only by the scale of the movement in the exchange rate (they won't hedge because of a partial natural hedge brought about by some operational costs in foreign countries). A full 6 months contribution from the HiAffinity business in the UK will boost the natural hedge further.
* There have been no customers lost in the last 6 months. The new Indonesian Pay TV provider client is significant (as usually they don't announce new clients).
* The estimated earnings for FY2017 were described as 'conservative', due to general global uncertainties (currencies, geopolitical etc.)
*2H2017 will see a slightly higher effective tax rate.
*The newly acquired Solutions business dragged down overall margins, but there were integration costs in 1H2017.

As a characteristic of this business, in order to grow the client base we should expect further acquisitions. While its nice to have a sticky, loyal customer base who can not easily switch to another provider, it seems the downside is that it is difficult to poach competitor's clients and grow market share organically. Hence the need to acquire customers. And this has been Hansen's strength to date, to find suitable targets who are agreeable to doing a deal, an ability to allocate capital astutely, maintain a pristine Balance Sheet and not to stray from their competencies that have taken them to where they are today IMO.