Makati City, 04 April 2008 -- Publicly-listed information technology firm IPVG Corp. (PSE: IP) posted its consolidated Group Revenues of P923M in 2007, an increase of 233% from P277M in 2006, an emphatic turn-around story for the Information Technology company.
Net Revenues or Group Revenues less Distributors margin and extra-ordinary income, increased by 250% from P242.7M in 2006, to P848M in 2007.
“IPVG is definitely on track with our 5-year roadmap. The triple digit growth we have achieved is a testament to our resilience and stability as an organization. We are confident that the value proposition offered by our subsidiaries and our new ventures will continue to boost our business in a continuing upward trend,” says Roger Stone, Deputy Chairman of IPVG Corp.
2007 was IPVG’s first profitable full year. The Group recorded a consolidated Net Income of P159.8M for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2007, as compared to a Net Loss of P102.1M in 2006.
The increase in revenues and income is attributed to the continued growth of the group’s data center business, IP Converge Data Center, Inc. (IP-Converge), which comprises 46% of its core revenues, the sustained leadership of its online games business IP E-Game Ventures, Inc. (IP E-Games) at 42%, and the contribution of its BPO business, IP Contact Center Outsourcing, Inc. (IPCCO) at 7%. IPCCO started operations only in August 2007.
Quality of earnings was achieved through recurring revenues for the data center and BPO business. The gaming business, although experiencing cyclicality throughout the year, grew as the subscriber base of gamers rose.
Milestones and Highlights
Recently, IPVG announced the acquisition of a network security services firm, Prolexic Technologies Inc. (Prolexic), and a US-based Call Center company, Interactive Teleservices Corp. (Influent).
Prolexic is a US-based managed security service provider of distributed denial of service (DDoS) mitigation solutions. The acquisition represents IPVG’s roadmap of growing the company in key areas in the IP domain and global market. IPVG now offers a unique DDoS protection value proposition for customers of all industries, worldwide.
IPVG entered into a stock purchase agreement with Interactive Teleservices Corporation (Influent), a US-based contact center with facilities in the US, Panama and the Philippines. The company acquired 70% of Influent which shall be paid by way of cash and issuance of IPVG shares.
Several strategic alliances were also established by the company. A joint venture between IP E-Games and GMA New Media Inc., the digital media arm of GMA Network Inc., was formed for the creation of a new gaming subsidiary called I-Play, Inc.. A tie-up between international gaming company Infocomm Asia Holdings (IAH) also allowed E-Games to be the exclusive publisher and distributor of Korean fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Granado Espada in the Philippines, along with other IAH titles.
A joint venture corporation named First Cagayan Converge Data Center, Inc. was formed by IP-Converge and First Cagayan Leisure and Resorts Corporation during the first quarter of 2007. IP-Converge also forged a partnership with Salesforce.com, a worldwide leader in on-demand customer relationship management (CRM) services. Before the end of 2007, IP-Converge approved the acquisition of a carrier neutral, telco-grade Internet data center in Singapore through the purchase of 100% of IP-Converge Pte. Ltd., which owns and operates the Singapore IDC.
IPVG continues to stay focused and committed to investing in the BPO sector through IPCCO. An agreement between IPVG, IPCCO, and leading Hong Kong telecommunications provider PCCW Teleservices made IPCCO its exclusive partner to service the English speaking requirements of its clients. IPCCO also acquired the fixed assets, material contracts and existing customer accounts of Globalstride Corporation and Globalstride Holdings Ltd., a premier provider of outsourced call center solutions that primarily serves inbound/outbound voice support for United States clients. An agreement was also formed between IPVG and Credence Analytics, an India-based, specialist financial solutions company with strong domain and technology skills in the banking and financial services arena.
Lastly, I-Pay Commerce Ventures, Inc. (IPCV), a newly organized subsidiary of IPVG, was launched to provide personalized ATM card, e-commerce and remittance services.
