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By Likha C. Cuevas-Miel, Reporter
E-TELECARE Global Solutions told the Philippine
Stock Exchange that it will add more seats to provide inbound
services for a digital television entertainment services firm.
In its disclosure, the Nasdaq-listed business
process outsourcing (BPO) company said that it signed an agreement
with its new client involving an additional 250 seats with agents
selling new service activations from prospect inquiries. These
inquiries will originate from the service provider’s website,
toll-free telephone numbers and customer service transfers.
“Being selected by the industry leader with a
reputation for customer satisfaction is another validation of our
value-driven customer satisfaction business model,” John Harris,
eTelecare president and chief executive, said.
Last January, the BPO company said it would form
a wholly-owned unit in the UK where its new client, Virgin Media, is
based. The client is part of the Virgin group founded by billionaire
Sir Richard Branson. eTelecare said the unit would serve as a
juridical entity in the said country, with the board approving the
injection of up to $2 million to make its UK office operational.
Last year, the company’s profits jumped 88.5
percent to $23 million or to $0.79 per diluted share on 29.3 million
outstanding shares. In 2006, it registered earnings of $0.50 per
diluted share on 24.5 million shares outstanding. This was due to
the increasing demand for offshore services in the Philippines
despite the appreciation of the peso against the dollar.
Revenues for the period went up by 33 percent to
$259.9 million, with eTelecare bringing in $71 million in revenues
during the fourth quarter alone. The fourth quarter’s revenues
were 21 percent more than the prior year, allowing eTelecare to book
a higher net income of $7 million, 52 percent up year on year or
$0.23 per diluted share on 31.2 million shares outstanding.
By the end of this year, eTelecare expects its
revenues to climb by at most 19 percent to $310 million and its
profit to reach $16 million to $19 million. To come up with this
estimate, the firm took into account the peso’s
appreciation—which strengthened by 20 percent against the
greenback the past two years—given a hedging program. eTelecare
also expects expenses to be $24 million higher than what would have
been if the foreign exchange stayed at 2006 levels.
Revenues for the first quarter are estimated to
be within $70 million to $72 million. Less the one-time $1-million
expense to make the company compliant with the Sarbanes-Oxley law in
the US and other investments in personnel, technology and
infrastructure, profits will break even at $0.7 million.
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