EasyCall hikes investment for shift to data technology

MANILA, Philippines — Listed EasyCall Communications Philippines Inc., a company which used to be the country’s top provider of pagers, is hiking its investments in line with a new strategic direction to become a data technology company.

In a stock exchange filing yesterday, EasyCall said its board of directors approved an additional capital expenditure budget of up to P25 million.

The amount is in addition to the P50 million investment approved last March to support additional business lines.

EasyCall said the additional capital expenditure will be funded through a mix of internally generated cash and debt financing.

In line with its new strategic direction, the company announced last March a plan to re-acquire 100 percent ownership of EasyNet Communications Philippines Inc. through the purchase from Synetcom Philippines Inc. of its 40 percent stake, equivalent to 40,000 common shares, at an agreed price of P4 million.

EasyCall was originally registered as a telecommunications company initially engaged in the paging industry and later evolved to engage in contact center outsourcing business and information technology related business.

Acquired by Transnational Diversified Group in 2001, EasyCall shifted its direction following the onset of short message service and text messaging in the 2000s.

In 2018, EasyCall’s consolidated net income after tax reached P55.45 million, a 434 percent increase from the previous year’s P10.37 million.

The company attributed the increase in net income primarily to its acquisition of 11.76 percent of TDG Ventures Inc. (TVI) in November last year.

TVI is the technology and lifestyle operating holding company of Philippine-owned Transnational Diversified Group.