Last week saw internet marketing group XLMedia exit the SIF portfolio with a tasty total return of 24% in seven months. Bangladeshi pharma group Beximco Pharmaceuticals also headed for the door, leaving the portfolio with a tidy 69% gain.
These virtual sales mean that the SIF portfolio’s cash balance has now been restored to a healthy level. So now I’m on the hunt for new stocks.
The question is whether there any stocks are available which pass my screening rules and qualify for the portfolio.
Unusual stability
I usually check the Stock in Focus screen most days, not just on Tuesday when I write this weekly piece. What I’ve noticed recently is that the shares qualifying for the screen aren’t changing much. Most of the qualifying stocks have been regular fixtures in the screen results for weeks or even months.
As a result, a significant proportion of these stocks are already in the portfolio. At the time of writing, 17 stocks qualify for the screen. Of these, eight are already in the SIF portfolio. The majority of the others are sector peers that I’ve excluded on the basis that they don’t meet my criteria for diversification.
However, last week’s portfolio sales have opened up two new slots in the portfolio. That means I’m free to consider adding Taptica International, an Israeli mobile marketing group I rejected on diversification grounds in April.
Why Taptica?
When I last looked at Taptica International, I noted that this AIM-listed digital marketing group looked potentially attractive but overlapped too heavily with fellow Israeli marketing firm XLMedia.
However, whereas much of XLMedia’s profit comes from the gaming sector, Taptica works with some of the biggest consumer brands in the world. Here’s a snapshot of a few of the companies featured on its website:
Source: www.taptica.com
Taptica operates in more than 15 countries with over 600 apps and brands. The company’s user database handles more than 22bn requests each day and contains 220m user profiles with more than 100 data points for each user!
It seems to me that Taptica must be becoming a significant player in this sector, providing tailored marketing for big brands, mainly through targeted mobile advertising.
