TelePlus Provides Business Update to Investors
Tuesday March 4, 7:00 am ET
MIAMI, FL--(MARKET WIRE)--Mar 4, 2008 -- TelePlus World, Corp. (OTC BB:TLPE.OB - News) (Frankfurt:YT3.F - News) (www.teleplusworld.com), a telecom reseller offering specialized communication products and services, is pleased to provide investors with a comprehensive update on TelePlus' business.
STRONG FUNDAMENTALS IN THE TELECOM BUSINESS
Our telecom business which includes the Telizon, Avenue and Freedom businesses has performed very well in 2007. Revenue, EBITDA and operating income reached $12.6 million, $1.5 million and $775k respectively as of the third quarter of 2007 (ended Sept 30). We anticipate year end results to be in line with the performance experienced in the first 9 months of 2007. 2008 outlook is positive with an increase in revenue, EBITDA, operating income and number of subscribers expected to continue. 89% of our users are small to midsize businesses with the remaining 11% being residential users. Included in the business users are 43 municipal governments and school boards.
Our telecom services include value added bundled commercial telecommunications packages including local lines, long distance, toll free and high speed internet services to customers in 53 distinct Centrex Serving Areas. The value added component, in addition to significant cost savings, results from us acting as a virtual telecommunications department for our clients, interfacing on their behalf with the underlying wholesale carrier providers for all items pertaining to their existing services and future needs.
In addition to also providing stand-alone long distance services to the commercial market, our telecom division provides long distance and internet services to targeted residential markets.
POSITIVE IMPACT TO FINANCIAL RESULTS OF WIRELESS DIVESTITURE
The positive performance of our telecom division was offset by the weakness experienced in our wireless operation. Thus the recent divestiture of our wireless business which operated the Liberty Wireless and MX Mobile brands will have a positive impact on our financial results moving forward. Our wireless revenue, EBITDA and operating income were $3.8 million, ($486k) and ($1.4 million) respectively for the first nine months of 2007. We incurred more losses in the fourth quarter from wireless operations. Market conditions deteriorated during 2007 making it increasingly difficult to maintain an adequate gross margin, retain existing users and attract new ones. In addition we experienced severe service issues resulting from our transition to a new back office provider announced mid last year. Although unfortunate, the divestiture of our wireless division was appropriate to improve our company's financial performance.
We look forward towards the profitable growth of our telecom business in 2008. We continue to evaluate potential acquisitions and/or business combinations that would increase shareholder value. In addition we continue to evaluate available financing instruments that would reduce non-cash items impact on our statement of operations as well as increase shareholder value.
INVESTOR CALL AND WEBCAST
We would like to advise investors that our full year 2007 results will be presented during an investor call on March 31st, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. EDT.
To access the call:
Call in Number: U.S./Canada (800) 322.5044
International (617) 614.4927
Event Code: 67476959
Instructions: The conference call will begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. EDT, so participants should call in 5-10 minutes prior to the call to ensure that operators have sufficient time to record your name and company affiliation. A webcast link of the call will be available in the Investor section of the Company's web site.
Internet Access: A live listen-only simulcast of the conference call via the Internet will be webcast by Thomson/CCBN through the following link:
phx.corporate-ir.net/playerlink.zhtml?c=144803&s=wm&e=1785086
Investor Presentation: An investor presentation will be available 20 minutes prior to the call. The presentation can be accessed through the internet access outlined above.
Email questions: Investors are also welcome to send any questions via email at investorrelation@teleplusworld.com.
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