IPVG ends contract with Lucid Multimedia

MANILA, Philippines - Publicly listed IPVG Corp. disclosed yesterday that it has delivered a notice to terminate its subscription agreement with Lucid Multimedia Tech, Inc.

Under the agreement, IPVG agreed to subscribe to shares of common stocks of Lucid representing 51 percent of the latter’s outstanding capital stock while Lucid agreed to issue the shares to IPVG.

IPVG said it terminated the agreement due to failure of the transaction to close or complete. No shares have been issued by Lucid to IPVG up to the present.

IPVG earlier reported net revenues of P762 million for the first half of 2009, from P23.7 million in the same period last year.

Net income before tax for the first half of this year amounted to P24.3 million. Second quarter net income was up by 49 percent compared with the first quarter earnings of P9.7 million.

Gross profit was up by 12.7 percent at P404 million for the first half of 2009. Company officials noted that this is evidence of the improved growth in IPVG’s core business, partially due to recovery of the global economy and continued growth of sectors that IPVG operates in.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the first half of 2009 is at P86.7 million, 13 percent higher than the same period last year.

“While 2008 proved to be the height of the global financial crises, IPVG’s lines of businesses remained resilient to an extremely challenging global marco-environment. Our continued improvements in financial performance is an indicator of our ability in servicing the needs of our client (customer) base and the successful launch of new products and services across our business lines,” according to IPVG CEO Enrique Gonzalez.

He noted that their strategies included mitigating risks from global expansion and investment programs, and redefining IPVG’s core businesses that are high growth and high margin, where IPVG has a strategic differentiator.

Gonzalez adds that IPVG’s strategy also included selling non-core businesses to streamline corporate focus. “We successfully executed our strategic plan of raising cash, reducing debt, and strengthening our balance sheet,” he said.

IPVG’s communications business represents 73 percent of revenue, content at 16 percent and business process outsourcing (BPO) at 11 percent.

One of IPVG’s major deals included a P300-million investment agreement with private investment groups GEM Global Yield Fund Limited, GEM Investment Advisors, Inc. and ELITE Holdings Inc.

IPVG also closed a major transaction with PCCW Teleservices for the sale of its call center business for $22 million. IPVG will retain a 30 percent stake at the BPO Teleservices subsidiary which shall own and operate call center activities in the Philippines.