OK, CC just ended.
My own feeling was that it was very upbeat. They purposely addressed the issues that are of concern to the onstitutions and shareholders in general.
I will only go over the Q&A session, assuming that everyone knows the details of the press release.
Sand Brothers analyst: Nice revenue growth!
What will Gross margins be going forward? -pretty much in historical range.
End of trading operations will result in high GM in handset sales division.
ML analyst (expect an upgrade tomrrow to 1-1) Was SG&A expense increase a one time event? -a resounding YES! AT LEAST 2 million in on recurring items relating to integration of acquisitions and buildout of infrastructure in anticipation of huge growth...
Will seasonality of value added services (VAS) result in decline in this business in 4Q, which has been traditionaly handset sales heavy? -No. Evening out in VAS into 4Q. good for margins.
How many handsets did you handle and how many had VAS performed on them?
35% of the 2.6 mm handled.
WDC analyst- does 4.4% margins sound right for 4Q? -Right on!
Can you break down VAS by region? -no, we don't break those off.
Can you detail growth opp for VAS in regions? did not say specifically, jut that they were extremely surprised by growth in VAS market, and that they have created a new corp office to deal with it.
JW Genenis analyst- More acquisitions? Not right now, still digesting, but we are defintely looking to expand into new key markets, and to consolidate existing markets if necessary.
Also mentioned that prepaid is becoming much more popular.
very confident that in 4Q, many major VAS contracts will be issued for '99 and '00.
Also, "very, very comfortable" about meeting 4Q expectations.
SG Cowen analyst- YTD numbers: 40+% nokia 30% ericy 20% mot.
ASPs rock solid.slightly cash flow negative, but cash is going toward growth of inventories and accounts receivable, which are very reliable and liquid and all that.
discontinuation of trading division result in 10% loss of revenue, but the idea is that it will be a zero sum gain, since it is favored by the manufacturers, and will result in a better allocation.
--------------------------------
Those are my notes. Sorry if they are cryptic. If you have something else, I'll try to remember what they said, but these things tend to escape me quickly! <g>
Let's go for $13 tomorrow....
Brian |
