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Gold/Mining/Energy : BCE Emergis - global e-commerce -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: rocki who wrote (777)	5/21/1999 12:15:00 AM
From: rocki	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 1341

BCE Emergis revenue rockets ALESON MacGREGOR The Gazette 20 may99 BCE Emergis Inc., the fast growing electronic commerce arm of BCE Inc., Will focus on establishing a bigger foothold in the U.S. market this fiscal year and will post higher revenues than originally expected, president Brian Edwards said yesterday Yesterday, Edwards predicted fiscal 1999 revenue will hit $175 million be-cause of an expected explosion in E-commerce. He said the revenue growth will be partly fueled through acquisitions in sectors, where "we have a chance of becoming an important player." For example, he said, BCE Emergis might buy a company in the U.S health-insurance industry "We have a team that is specifically looking to grow the business through acquisitions'," Edwards said. "To find a good acquisition is the hard part "Once we have a bigger; more important position in the U.S.. then we will look at the rest of the world," he added. Edwards said the global E-commerce market is expected to soar to about $300 billion U.S. over the next couple of years - in the business-to-business sector alone. "Everybody is interested in electronic commerce and how it's going to af-fect their world," he said. "Every business is trying to figure out how it affects them." He made the comments after the companys annual shareholder meeting at Montreal's Marriott Chateau Champlain. Last fall, the company formerly known as Mpact Immedia Corp., merged its operations with part of a division of Bell Canada, another BCE unit. In Januaary, Mpact changed its name to BCE Emergis. The company's share prices have experienced a fivefold increase over the past seven months. Yesterday the stock was up 5.52 per cent and closed at $43.in Montreal trading. In April, BCE Emergis and partners Bell Canada and Microsoft Corp. un-veiled an "electronic-bill-presentment service" that has been touted as one of the largest E-commerce initiatives in the world. The service will enable Canadians to receive and pay bills electronically through E-route Inc., a firm owned by six major financial institutions, including the Royal Bank of Canada and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Edwards said the E-route project is still in the develop-ment stage. "We're spending monev to get organized so there's no revenue just ex-pense at this point," he said. "Initially we'll probably have to spend a little bit more money than we get in revenue but it will eventually generate about a billion dollars over the next 10 years." He said that there are no plans to extend the service into the U.S. banking sector It's a "Canada only deal right now," he said, adding that the U.S. banking system is fragmented and might not be the best "central point for all of these bills." Instead, he said, they are looking at opportunities in other areas, including the car industry; banking, mortgages, government, the health-insurance industry and consumer transactions. Parent company BCE should be able to lend a helping hand. BCE chief executive Jean Monty has said he will use part of the $5.1 billion from the sale of 20 per cent of Bell Canada to Ameritech Corp. in March to help fund Emergis's expansion. "If we have an interesting opportunities (BCE) will be able to finance that opportunity and they will be able to maintain their position so I think it's very good for us," said Edwards, adding that the company's name change has been extremely positive. "The market likes it"' he said. "They get the combination of a technology company - which is generally viewed as a higher risk company with the backing of a more stable company like BCE." >>It's a "Canada only deal right now I guess Benny and CKFR can relax for a little bit longer! >>BCE Emergis might buy a company in the U.S health-insurance industry Is this a hint?? I think so. Prior ASM sounded like EDI bus-bus acquisition. Last weeks hit list looked like financial side(e-bill), wonder if this is 2nd choice because of not finding Co with proper fit,