IPVG profit jumps 16% in H1

Information technology and gaming group IPVG Corp. said its first half net profit rose 16 percent from a year ago as revenues skyrocketed to a record P1.79 billion due to a sustained momentum in outsourcing.

In a press briefing yesterday, IPVG chief executive officer Enrique Gonzalez said net earnings reached P50.51 million, net of a P45.4-million one-time financing charge due to the acquisition of a 70-percent stake in US-based contact center Influent. Without the one-time expense, IPVG’s net income would have grown 121 percent year-on-year to P95.97 million.

In the second quarter alone, IPVG registered revenues of P981 million, its highest revenue ever in a quarter, on the strength of its business process outsourcing business (BPO) which accounted for more than 60 percent of total revenues.

“We’ve reported record-breaking revenues in spite of the challenging macroeconomic environment. This is a historical milestone for the company which has been growing 300 percent year-on-year in terms of revenues in the past three years,” Gonzalez said.

“Our results are showing that we’re well on our way to achieving our goal of dominating the communications, content and BPO sectors regionally. This marks our transformation from a garage start-up company five years ago to a top 100 company,” Gonzalez added.

From P923 million in 2007, IVG’s revenues are forecast to more than triple to P3.3 billion by the end of this year as the firm completes the integration of its acquired businesses.

“Some of our businesses like MegaMobile are still in the gestation period of its businesses and we expect to reverse losses the rest of the year,” Gonzalez said.

IPVG acquired 70 percent of mobile content developer MegaMobile early this year for P6.4 million.

Gonzalez said while the group is putting the brakes on acquisitions in view of the volatile business environment, it is still committed and driven to grow into a global company. The company has so far acquired five companies, giving it a more substantial presence in both global and local markets.

In the six months ending June this year, IPVG’s BPO revenues hit P1.07 billion from a meager P1.58 million last year, mainly driven by the contributions from Influent which registered sales of P1.03 billion and local BPO units IP Contact Center Outsourcing Inc. and I-Pay Commerce Ventures Inc. which chipped in P53.03 million and P270,000 in revenues, respectively.