10th Dec 2010 07:00
10 December 2010 |
InternetQ plc
('InternetQ', the 'Group' or the 'Company')
Admission to trading on AIM
Placing of 5,641,025 ordinary shares of 0.25p at £1.20 per ordinary share
Market capitalisation at the Placing Price of approximately £31 million
On Admission, the Company will have 25,697,435 Ordinary Shares in issue and a market capitalisation of approximately £31 million at the Placing Price. The Placing involves the issue of 5,641,025 Placing Shares to raise gross proceeds of £6.8 million, (£5.7 million net of expenses) for the Company. The Placing was conducted by both the Company and Jendens Securities Limited, the Company's Broker, with Grant Thornton Corporate Finance the appointed Nominated Adviser. Trading in the Company's shares on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange commences today, 10 December, under the ticker "INTQ".
Key Points:
·; InternetQ is a fast growing, cash-flow positive, profitable technology business, offering mobile marketing solutions and digital entertainment in a number of key markets including Poland, Turkey Brazil and Russia and with a desire to expand in Latin America, the Middle East and CIS, as well as selected countries of Southeast Asia
·; The Group designed and operates a proprietary technology platform that provides mobile marketing solutions to its clients, namely network operators, media companies and brands. Consequently, the Group's clients gain greater access and improved interaction levels with their own clients through targeted and measurable marketing campaigns
·; The Group is currently connected with 55 mobile network operators in 24 different countries, reaching over 573 million mobile subscribers
·; The Group also provides digital content directly to mobile subscribers through its Akazoo platform, offering its members premium content within a social network environment and allowing them to interact and get rewarded for their loyalty and usage
·; The directors of InternetQ believe it is well positioned to experience strong revenue growth. The Group is currently cash flow positive and in the first half of 2010 it generated Earnings before, Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortisation ("EBITDA") of €2.6m, from revenues of €18m
·; Since 30 June 2010, the Group has continued to trade profitably, generating revenues of approximately €12.6m for the four months to 31 October 2010
·; The Group's long-term business relations include telecommunications operators, media companies and brands around the world, including Vodafone, Orange, Vimpel, Turkcell, Oi, Wind, COSMOTE, and MTV Network
·; The proceeds of the placing will, among other things, be used to:
·; expand the Group's network technology equipment and enhance "Mobi Dialogue", its mobile marketing interactive platform;
·; further develop Akazoo, the online entertainment content platform; and
·; set up new offices in key markets that require a more permanent presence and which can be used as a platform for further expansion in adjacent regions, while solidifying the Group's presence in existing markets.
Konstantinos Korletis, Chief Executive Officer of InternetQ commented:
"InternetQ has now achieved an important milestone in its quest for global expansion. With mobile marketing predicted to grow strongly in both the developed and emerging economies globally, there is no better time for InternetQ to capitalise on that expansion.
Our listing on AIM and the influx of fresh funds will strengthen our profile globally and also allow us to invest in tapping new markets and improving our technology. We are extremely pleased to be joining the UK market at such an exciting time for InternetQ."
Panagiotis Dimitropoulos, Founder and Deputy Chairman of InternetQ added:
"I founded InternetQ ten years ago with the vision of it becoming a world leading company in mobile marketing solutions. During this time we have achieved much; expanding our business in many markets while also building a name synonymous to quality of service and success.
Today, I believe InternetQ is still a young organisation with tremendous potential for long term growth and development. Our listing on AIM will help us develop that potential further and allow us to focus on our set objectives."
Stuart Cruickshank, Chairman of InternetQ said:
"I am very pleased to be associated with InternetQ in the early phase of its corporate life. The company is well placed to take advantage of developing technologies and rapidly expanding markets. Our AIM-listing signals our progression to the next stage of our plan and matches well with our intent to be a global, world class company."
For further details
InternetQ (Greece) Konstantinos Korletis, Chief Executive Officer Veronica Nocetti, Finance Director
|
Tel: +30 211 101 1101
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Buchanan Communications Tim Thompson/Jeremy Garcia/Christian Goodbody
| Tel: +44 (0)20 7466 5000 |
Grant Thornton Corporate Finance Fiona Kindness / Alex Wright
| Tel: +44 (0)20 7383 5100 |
Jendens Securities Limited Andrew Edwards / Chris Thomas | Tel: +44 (0)20 3372 2500 |
The information below is extracted from the Company's AIM admission document dated 6 December 2010 which is available on the Company's website, www.internetq.com. Defined terms used in this announcement shall, unless the context otherwise required, have the same meaning as given in the Admission Document.
Placing Statistics
Placing Price £1.20
Number of Placing Shares being issued pursuant to the Placing 5,641,025
Number of Ordinary Shares in issue immediately following Admission 25,697,435
Placing Shares as a percentage of the Enlarged Share Capital 22.0 per cent.
Number of Warrants in issue immediately following Admission 169,230
Estimated gross proceeds of the Placing receivable by the Company £6.8 million
Estimated net proceeds of the Placing receivable by the Company
(inclusive of applicable VAT) £5.7 million
Market capitalisation of the Company at the Placing Price on Admission £31 million
Introduction
With its first operations being established in 2000 following the incorporation of InternetQ Greece, the Group is now a cashflow-positive, profitable technology business. The Group offers mobile marketing solutions and digital entertainment that enable brands, mobile network operators and media companies to design and implement targeted, interactive and measurable campaigns by engaging with and entertaining mobile network subscribers via their mobile devices. The Group is headquartered in Athens and, as at 30 September 2010, employed 65 people across four offices worldwide and operates two data centres in Greece and Luxembourg.
The ownership of mobile devices and their use for voice communication and data exchange continues to expand throughout the world. Globally, there are now over five billion mobile network subscriptions with around 21 per cent of these having access to high speed services (Wireless Intelligence 2010). This has resulted in the mobile device being increasingly used as a tool not only for communication but also for accessing new media, marketing and entertainment services. These services provide businesses with the opportunity to engage directly with consumers in an interactive manner. For example, consumers may respond to:
·; an advert by texting to a short code in order to receive further information about the promoted product or service; or
·; digital coupons transmitted to their mobile device in order to receive product discounts or top-up services; or
·; an offer to participate in a marketing or promotional campaign, becoming eligible to win prizes or loyalty points from their favourite brand or service.
The Group offers proprietary technology, digital content and marketing services aimed at creating an engaging experience.
The Group has offices in Athens, Istanbul, Warsaw and Limassol. The Group's strategy is to focus on expanding its business in such developing markets, which the directors believe are more receptive to media and social engagement through a mobile device since more traditional communication methods are not as established as they are in more developed economies.
To date, the Group has delivered consistent growth in terms of revenue generation and is currently producing positive free cash flows despite ongoing investments in improving and expanding its technology platform and digital content footprint. This performance is the result of:
·; technology efficiency and scalability;
·; focusing on developing markets, where the mobile subscriber population is growing rapidly and social interaction has been shaped around the use of mobile devices; and
·; a focused approach towards managing costs and resources.
Background to the mobile marketing industry
Over the last 20 years, mass media marketing techniques have changed significantly. For the majority of this period, terrestrial broadcast television was the predominant advertising and marketing medium, using advertising breaks as a method of marketing. This form of communication suffered from the disadvantages of being costly, difficult to change and adapt quickly, interruptive, and for many consumers, unwelcome and irrelevant. With the development of the internet, new methods of mass marketing have been developed to overcome many of these disadvantages. Google ad words, Facebook and recommendation engines on Amazon and iTunes are good examples of interactive and personalised forms of mass marketing.
The global proliferation of mobile technology together with the increasing functionality and affordability of mobile devices has helped to deliver targeted consumer-friendly mass marketing. An era of 'mass-market personalisation' has been created, in which the individual and their personal needs, habits, preferences and desires can be identified, anticipated and marketed to.
Business description
The Group maintains connectivity agreements with mobile network operators in the territories and transacts with its business partners through revenue sharing arrangement under which the revenues generated from the relevant mobile marketing initiatives are divided.
In several cases, those mobile marketing initiatives are devised in cooperation with the operators themselves. In other instances these campaigns are instigated by the Group and may be concurrently rolled out across several mobile operator networks and in a number of different countries.
The ongoing management of mobile marketing campaigns provides the Group with a growing database of ideas and performance/response statistics. The knowledge and experience of these campaigns provides important feedback for future campaigns and is also reflected in improvements to the Group's technology platform in order to maximize its effectiveness.
The Group focuses its business activities on developing markets, where the directors believe there is a better growth opportunity than in developed markets. The main reasons for this are based on the following:
• The number of mobile devices in these markets grows approximately three times faster than in developed markets. Hence the number of mobile network subscribers is expected to grow faster than in developed markets.
• The age profile of mobile subscribers in developing markets is lower than in developed markets.
• People are more accustomed to use mobile internet than in developed markets and are therefore more receptive to mobile marketing.
Consequently, the Group has focused or further intends to focus its business development activities in Russia and certain CIS countries, Turkey and the wider Middle East, certain African countries, Brazil and Latin America, as well as selected countries of Southeast Asia.
Market opportunity
Currently, there are over five billion mobile subscribers worldwide, expected to increase to over six billion by 2013. The mobile device is now regarded as an integral part of people's daily lives with it being the only permanently internet connected portable technology. Mobile devices therefore have the potential to be a medium for delivering marketing messages which are highly specialised, targeted and focused.
Key strengths
The directors believe that the Group has, among other things, the following key strengths to support the delivery of its strategy:
·; established in 2000, a history of successful operations;
·; an experienced management team;
·; an integrated technology platform;
·; long term business relations with high calibre partners; and
·; a focus on developing markets where the directors believe a better growth opportunity exists.
Strategy and Prospects
The Group is operating in an expanding market. Mobile devices are increasingly being used for marketing campaigns because they are effective at reaching the advertisers' target audience directly and in a manner in which the responses of the end-user can be measured.
Mobile network operators, who are the Group's principal customers, are keen to encourage and use these services because marketing campaigns are often designed to be interactive with the mobile subscriber. Through the subsequent engagement, mobile network operators can drive the average revenue per user higher.
The Group is seeking to become a leading provider of mobile marketing solutions, including the provision of digital content. The principal elements of its strategy are as follows:
Acquire new clients in the markets in which the Group already operates in
The Group intends to make use of its existing relationships with principal mobile network operators in the markets in which it currently operates in order to broaden its customer base. The directors believe that the development of these markets will cause the brands, mobile network operators and media companies to use mobile marketing as an integral part of their marketing strategy. With a track record of successful campaigns, the Group's ideas can be adopted by new customers, who will need to be educated about the advantages of mobile marketing, the breadth and distinctiveness of the Group's solutions and ideas and its ability to satisfy their marketing requirements. Accordingly, the directors believe that the Group can grow its business presence in each of the markets in which it already operates.
Penetrate new emerging markets
The directors have identified a number of markets which satisfy the Group's principal business development criteria. These include Russia and certain of the CIS countries, South East Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The directors are preparing to increase the Group's efforts to penetrate these markets by building and strengthening relationships with key mobile network operators in their chosen area of operation.
Continue to invest in the technology platform
The directors believe it is key to continue to invest and enhance the functionality of the Group's mobile marketing platform, by developing new technology solutions that will further strengthen and broaden the platform's capabilities and its user applications. A significant part of that investment will be focused on improving the Akazoo hub, both in terms of user interface as well as content provision and management.
Pursue strategic acquisitions
The Group intends to continue its geographic expansion into new markets. Consequently, the directors will evaluate and pursue acquisitions in those markets in which they feel the Group can gain a competitive advantage and in a faster and more cost effective manner. In addition, the directors may evaluate acquisition propositions which will enhance the technological capabilities of the Group or give it access to important new client relationships.
Expand sales coverage in new and existing markets
The Group bases its business development on its ability to expand into markets adjacent to those in which the Group is already present. For example, the Group will use its presence in Brazil to consider opportunities in the wider South American continent or Latin American region. In addition having penetrated new markets, it is the directors' intention to expand throughout new territories such as Russia, South East Asia and Africa. To achieve that, the Group needs to continue to invest in growing its physical presence in key locations and strengthen its sales force in existing locations.
Strengthening the organisational structure
As the Group's strategy entails a strong emphasis on both technology design and quality, the functions of technology design and software development have been separated into two distinct and focused departments. This allows for the provision of reliable interfaces and applications that fulfil the end-user demands and needs, whilst freeing up the development team to focus on innovation and harnessing new technologies.
Furthermore, the Group intends to enhance its technology design and software development department with talented new staff, increase the number of experienced professionals working in the mobile marketing units for MNOs, media and entertainment companies and increase the number of finance and administration staff to take control of growing operations.
Summary of financial information
Six months
Year ended Year ended Year ended ended
31 December 31 December 31 December 30 June
2007 2008 2009 2010
€m €m €m €m
Revenues 9.1 14.0 17.2 18.0
EBITDA 1.8 1.9 1.2 2.6
Profit/(loss) before tax 1.0 0.6 (1.1) 1.4
Total assets 8.0 12.7 14.2 15.2
Operating cash flow 0.4 0.3 2.6 3.1
The Group's revenue compound annual growth rate over the last three years has been 29 per cent. and in the first six months of the current financial year, revenue has increased by 111 per cent. when compared to the first six months of 2009.
Current trading
Since 30 June 2010, the Group has continued to trade profitably, generating revenues of approximately €12.6 million for the four months to 31 October 2010. The Group is currently connected with 55 mobile network operators in 24 different countries, reaching over 573 million mobile subscribers.
The directors believe that the mobile marketing industry is in the early stages of its development and there are still opportunities to be taken advantage of, especially in the developing markets of Russia and the CIS, Turkey and the Middle East, Brazil and Latin America and Southeast Asia. For example, in November of 2010, the Group initiated a relationship with Azercell, Azerbaijan's largest mobile network operator and a subsidiary of Turkcell. Furthermore, the Group extended its cooperation with Rotana, a leading satellite TV network in the Middle East and the joint mobile marketing campaign that was already under execution has been extended until the end of 2010. Moreover, the Group was awarded another ORANGE Poland mobile marketing campaign, to start towards the end of this calendar year and extend well into 2011.
Directors
Stuart Cruickshank, aged 56, Chairman
Stuart is currently a non-executive director of Psion plc and of Cambridge Building Society. He was a non-executive director of Barking, Havering and Redbridge University NHS Trust from 2008 to 2010 and had consulting roles with Ernst & Young LLP and Gerson Lehrman Inc from 2008 to 2009. He was Director General and Chief Finance Officer at HM Revenue and Customs and has considerable technology sector experience, having served as CFO of technology services group Morse plc and as Group Finance Director of the video games company Eidos plc between 2001 and 2006. Earlier in his executive career he worked at Kingfisher as Finance Director of Woolworths PLC and held senior roles in United Biscuits, Diageo/Grand Metropolitan and Whitbread.
Panagiotis Dimitropoulos, aged 39, Deputy Chairman and Founder
Panagiotis founded the Group in 2000 following a brief career in Alpha Bank and academic studies in Law at the Athens University and an MBA from ALBA. Panagiotis is considered a pioneer in the MVAS industry and has grown the business to one with international presence and operations.
Konstantinos Korletis, aged 41, Chief Executive Officer
Konstantinos joined the Group as a non-executive in 2008 and assumed his current role this year. He holds an MSc in Marketing and an MBA from the New York University Stern School of Business. Lead positions include Vice President of Citigroup's Corporate Finance Division in Greece, Chief Finance Officer of AGP, a major industrial group and General Manager of Liberis Media, the leading consumer magazine publisher and radio operator in Greece. Konstantinos has managed companies with numbers of employees ranging from 500 to 2,000 and turnover from €75 million to €250 million. Furthermore he has worked in public companies and has managed several M&A transactions, capital raising initiatives such as IPOs, delistings and business and operational reorganisations.
Veronica Nocetti, aged 41, Finance Director
Veronica joined the Group as Finance Director in August 2010. She has a degree in Economics from North Carolina State University and a Masters in International Management from Thunderbird A.G.S.I.M. She has extensive international experience in project financing and international development, having worked in Sudan, the Middle East, Malaysia, Romania and Greece. Prior to joining the Group she worked for four years in Sudan as Chief Finance Officer of the Real Estate Division of the largest conglomerate in the country. Her managerial experience also includes five years in a senior role in a FTSE-40 listed company in Greece.
Michael Jolliffe, aged 60, Non-executive director
Michael is Deputy Chairman of Tsakos Energy Navigation SA, a shipping company which owns 51 tankers and is quoted on the New York Stock Exchange. He is also Chairman of StealthGas Inc, a shipping company with a fleet of 46 LPG and product tankers quoted on the Nasdaq National Market. In addition, he is a Chairman of Wigham-Richardson Shipbrokers Ltd, one of the oldest established shipbroking companies in the City of London, and of Shipping Spares Repairs and Supplies Ltd, an agency company based in Piraeus, Greece. Furthermore, he is the Joint President and Deputy Chairman of Hanjin Eurobulk Ltd, a joint venture between Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd of Seoul, Korea and Wigham-Richardson Shipbrokers Ltd. Mr. Jolliffe is also Chief Executive Officer of Titans Maritime Ltd., a newly established shipping company in the process of purchasing modern but secondhand container and dry bulk ships.
Iain Johnston, aged 44, Non-executive director
Iain is a non-executive director of Alterian PLC. He is Chief Executive Officer of Loewy Group, a fast growing group of eight specialised branding and marketing communications businesses. Previously, he was managing director of customer database management start-up, GB Information Management, from its foundation in 1990 to its listed status in 1998, culminating with it being awarded a place on The Independent Top 100 and Virgin Fasttrack 100 and the Financial Times Top 100 Companies of the Future. Formerly a board member of the Direct Marketing Association, Iain has been a nonexecutive for a number of fast-growth marketing and technology businesses, including Event Marketing Solutions, a fast-growth experiential marketing business where he is Chairman.
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INTQ.L