22nd Sep 2014 07:00
22 September 2014
SyQic plc
("SyQic" or the "Group" or the "Company")
Receipt of February 2014 PTNP payment, completion of acquisition and activation of mobile phone payment service for OTT offering
SyQic (AIM: SYQ), the fast growing OTT provider of live TV and on-demand paid video content across mobile and internet enabled consumer devices, is pleased to announce the receipt of the February 2014 payment from PT Nextnation Prisma ("PTNP"), the completion of its acquisition of Maaduu and the activation of a mobile phone payment service for its Yoonic Over The Top ("OTT") direct to consumer platform.
Jamal Hassim, CEO of SyQic, commented: "We can confirm that the February 2014 PTNP payment has been received and we are also delighted to be able to announce the completion of our acquisition of Maaduu.
In addition, we are extremely pleased to be partnering with Fortumo in providing a mobile phone payment facility to our OTT customers. The facility will greatly simplify the process by which Yoonic customers can buy our content and we are confident this will lead to an increase both in OTT customer numbers and in customer retention. Fortumo's wide geographic reach will also better enable us to roll-out our services into new geographies, in line with our strategic plans."
Receipt of PTNP payment
SyQic has received the February 2014 payment of approximately £280,000 from the Company's major Indonesian telco customer, PTNP. As announced on 13 June 2014, PTNP had previously confirmed to the Company that 2014 billings will not be on a payment plan and will be paid much more promptly. The receipt of the February 2014 brings the total sums received from PTNP in respect of 2014 revenues to approximately £630,000. Given PTNP's confirmation that 2014 will not be on a payment plan and the fact that the Company has now received consecutive payments for January and February 2014 within the previously notified timeframe SyQic will not continue to announce the receipt of PTNP payments going forward.
At the same time, PTNP continues to adhere to the previously agreed payment plan for 2012 and 2013 revenues. To date RM6.785 million (approximately £1.28 million) has been received under the agreed payment plan and the debt is continuing to be paid down.
Completion of Maaduu acquisition
The Company has completed its acquisition of Maaduu, an online video-on-demand service providing Korean content across multiple devices that is advertising supported. Further details of the Company's acquisition of Maaduu are contained in its announcement on 18 August 2014.
In addition to the advertising revenue generated by Maaduu, SyQic also expects to be able to use Maaduu's content to generate significant additional revenue for its core Telco business as a result of having up-to-date Korean content and through cross-selling of the Yoonic product to Maaduu users. Maaduu has approximately 850,000 registered users as well as over 3.3 million Facebook Fans to add to SyQic's current subscriber base of over one million.
The board of SyQic believes that considerable synergies are created by the acquisition providing opportunities for the Company to generate additional revenues through pay-per-view and advertising across both the Maaduu business as well as SyQic's existing business lines. Maaduu also allows SyQic to address different target demographic groups via its differentiated product offerings.
Activation of mobile phone payment service for OTT offering
The board anticipates that the activation of a mobile payment service for its OTT offering will complement Yoonic's current scratch-card payment method providing a simple process by which customers can pay for content directly via their mobile phones. The new payment service is expected to help facilitate the proliferation of the Yoonic TV service into new markets globally.
The mobile phone payment service has been developed in partnership with international mobile payment provider Fortumo. The service enables simple "one-click" purchasing of SyQic's content through mobile phones with the purchase price being automatically deducted from the customer's phone credit. This greatly simplifies the process of purchasing content and renewing subscriptions, thereby improving the attractiveness of our Yoonic offering and potentially encouraging increased consumption from individual customers.
Fortumo works with circa. 300 mobile operators worldwide, directing customers' payment requests to the relevant operator and collecting SyQic's share of fees following completion of the transaction. SyQic will then collect payment from Fortumo on a monthly basis leading to an expected improvement in overall cash collection.
Fortumo currently has live mobile payment services operating in 81 countries over six continents, with a strong focus on emerging markets. As a result, the partnership will also facilitate SyQic's plan to introduce its OTT services into new geographies.
SyQic will announce its results for the 6 months ended 30 June 2014 on 25 September 2014.
For further information:
SyQic plc | |
Jamal Hassim, Group Chief Executive Officer | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7933 8780 |
Steve Elliff, Chief Financial Officer | www.syqic.com |
Allenby Capital Limited | |
Alex Price / Jeremy Porter | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3328 5656 |
www.allenbycapital.com |
Walbrook, Financial PR and IR | |
Bob Huxford / Guy McDougall / Sam Allen | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7933 8792
|
Notes to editors:
SyQic is a fast growing OTT (Over The Top) provider of live TV and on-demand paid video content across mobile internet-enabled consumer electronics devices such as mobile phones and tablets through its "Yoonic" platform. Yoonic utilises efficient mobile video streaming as its core offering and allows for close to high definition streaming, utilising adaptive bit-rate streaming technology that matches the available bandwidth through the Group's proprietary encoding methodology, and can stream as low as 80kbps.
The Group has access to over 40,000 hours of online video-on-demand content as well as over 200 live television feeds comprising English and International video content as well as content for a number of 'home markets.' The content is delivered through SyQic's platforms via a number of channels in the movies, drama, music, sports, news, lifestyle and general entertainment genres.
The Group, which is incorporated in Jersey and headquartered in the UK, already has a significant service footprint in the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. The Group has recently launched international OTT services for the Bangladeshi and Filipino communities in the UK, Malaysia, and Singapore and these services will soon be launched in other regions. Other migrant content launches are planned in the near term.
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