Wameja Di Regulatory News (WJA)

1 Oct 2009 07:00



AGM Statement

At the Annual General Meeting to be held at 3.00 p.m. in Sydney on 1st October 2009, David Smart, Chairman, will make the following statement:

"eServGlobal provides solutions for telecommunications carriers across the globe, with particular focus on emerging markets in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America, amongst the fastest growing telecoms markets worldwide. Since 2005 this global approach has resulted in rapid and profitable growth and we felt that we were well positioned to endure short-term market changes.

However, we all know now that the recession had an impact globally, with an unprecedented collapse in first credit then new investment activity. Few of our customers escaped the difficulties and the result was a 17% decline in revenue, to $147 million in the year to 30 June 2009.

Management took decisive action in the first half of the year and commenced cost reduction, through a range of actions including recruitment, travel and marketing. These measures were extended to include a significant reduction in headcount, with over 100 people leaving the company (13% of the workforce).

It also became apparent during the course of the first half that business improvements were needed, to become more responsive to rapidly changing market and customer requirements, while delivering greater operating efficiency. As a result we sought and appointed a new senior management team, being Richard Mathews as Chief Executive and Craig Halliday as Chief Operating Officer.

Richard and Craig also made a substantial investment in the company, which we believe demonstrated that the significant business potential of the company was apparent to them and also ensures the alignment of their objectives with all shareholders.

Following these changes, we reviewed the size and makeup of the board and concluded that a smaller board was more appropriate. As a result Graham Libbesson, Jim Pratt and Anthony Gilbert have retired and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all for their many years of excellent service. Our review also agreed that the Chairman should be independent, resulting in my appointment as Chairman and Ian Buddery moving to a non-executive director role.

I would like to thank Ian for his outstanding contribution dating back to the founding of the company in 1991. Since taking up the role of Executive Chairman in 2001, Ian achieved five fold revenue growth, while producing the product innovation that today underpins our future potential. I am delighted that he continues to be part of the new board.

We have entered the 2010 year with a lower cost base, a sharply focused sales team and with a strong and relevant product portfolio. The Telecoms industry faces many challenges and great opportunities and there has never been a stronger need for close partnerships between operators and innovative technology suppliers such as eServGlobal.

Overall global economic conditions continue to be challenging however we continue to have every confidence in our people, our products and our customers and believe that we will be well positioned to take advantage of any upturn in the telecoms markets.

Richard Mathews, Chief Executive Officer, will make the following statement:

"I joined the company after the close of the 2009 financial year, a year which saw a significant slowdown in the global telecommunications industry. This led to a disappointing result in 2009 at both a revenue and EBITDA level.

Since joining the company, Craig and I have conducted a thorough review of the product strategy and the plan for 2010. The new solution plan will focus on Charging, Payment and Retention, all of which are the core technologies of eServGlobal. 

Our sales, solutions, innovation, channels, marketing and engineering teams will focus on these three solution families. We will however continue to grow and support our existing Messaging and Network solutions and customers as part of these solution families.

Our goal is to achieve consistent, profitable growth through supporting our customers and achieving new sales. It will be a priority to support both the sales team and our customers and by doing that we will increase revenues. We have had some recent successes in this area, including significant new contracts for our ChargingMax platform in Pakistan and Nepal and installed customer upgrades in India and Poland.

We believe that we have the solutions to help telecoms operators grow and prosper. Among them are international remittance, mobile commerce, stimulation and social networking. These are all characterised by generating value around the transaction and eServGlobal intends to be the market leader in this new field.

While we expect the upcoming financial year to be tough, we also expect it to provide the basis for taking our company forward on behalf of our shareholders.

I would like to thank our staff whose commitment and teamwork has enabled us to weather the difficult conditions and will allow us to succeed in the future.

I thank our shareholders for their support and I look forward to our continuing success."

Richard Mathews

Chief Executive Officer

About eServGlobal

eServGlobal (LSE: ESG & ASX: ESV) provides smart communication and payment services for telecommunications service providers operating on all generation networks. 

Over 80 of the world's leading service providers, with over 500 million mobile subscribers in more than 50 countries, are taking advantage of eServGlobal's end-to-end solutions and expertise to quickly deliver revenue-generating services. With 15 offices around the world and 650 staff, we provide flexible solutions, based on a deep understanding of our customers' requirements and challenges.

eServGlobal is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX: ESV) and the London Stock Exchange AIM market (LSE: ESG). More information can be found at: www.eservglobal.com

Cautionary statements 

Statements in this document expressing the beliefs and expectations of management regarding future performance are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's expectations as of the date of this document and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may differ materially from these expectations due to risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, uncertainty in communications spending, the implementation of the Company's strategic repositioning and market acceptance of the Company's new solutions strategy, six-monthly fluctuations in financial results, the Company's ability to exploit fully the value of its technology and its strategic partnerships and alliances, the availability of products from product component vendors and other risks. In addition, while management may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point in the future, management specifically disclaims any obligation to do so, even if its estimates change. Any reference to our website in this press release is not intended to incorporate the contents thereof into this press release or any other public announcement.