Spantel President Issues Open Letter to Shareholders
21 October 2004 - 2:01AM
PR Newswire (US)
Spantel President Issues Open Letter to Shareholders FUENGIROLA,
Spain, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Spantel Communications,
Inc. (OTC:SPAL) (BULLETIN BOARD: SPAL) today has provided the
following open letter from its president, Jose Ramon Basterra, to
shareholders and the investment community at large in order to
update all parties on the Company's operational progress. To Our
Shareholders I would like to take this opportunity to update you on
the remarkable progress our company has achieved over the last six
fiscal quarters. We have been able to realize revenue growth in
every quarter since we began operations and this sustained growth
has been instrumental in bringing us to profitability. This past
year has been a good year for us as we have seen sales increase in
the third fiscal quarter by 18.4%, from $4,063,108 in the third
fiscal quarter of 2003 to $4,812,481 in the third fiscal quarter of
2004. Year to date revenues increased by 21.87%, from $12,210,638
in fiscal 2003, to $14,881,092 in fiscal 2004, staying within
management objectives with a 43.21% gross operating margin. During
the third fiscal quarter of 2004 we redeployed some assets and took
some one-time extraordinary charges to position us in what
management has identified as future growth markets that we have
developed in the past year. This includes access into the mobile
phone sector, in addition to a wholesale department. With the
introduction of our own prepaid calling card platform in Madrid we
have also seen margins increase in the calling card sector.
Additionally we have added operator assistance service and premium
numbers to better optimize our resources at our call centers. We
believe that we are well positioned to continue to grow into 2005.
Although last year we reported earnings of $0.05 per share, we
expect that earnings for this fiscal year will be negatively
impacted due to capital expenditures and extraordinary charges
associated with the start-up of some of our newer services. We
believe that these capital expenditures were essential to enable us
to remain competitive as well as operate with a healthy operating
margin. My staff and I are fully committed to giving our customers
and shareholders the confidence to know that we are in a dynamic
growth industry located in one of Europe's strongest economies, and
we believe that we are poised for a fantastic future. By any
measure, the story of this past year is one of a turnaround. We
believe that the real success, however, lies not in this year's
achievements, rather it is found in the resolve and focus we
developed during the process that we hope will equip us for the
future. My philosophy, and one that I try to instill in our
management team, is that if we successfully manage our core
business, such success will lead us to new opportunities.
Deregulation and competition have pushed us to be lean and
efficient, to measure the performance of every employee and every
business practice, and to have a financial toughness in managing
and leveraging our assets. This mindset has imposed a rigid
discipline on our operating practices, which puts this year's
results in the proper context. More importantly, it instills within
us optimism for the future. This mindset has also enabled us to
explore new opportunities in markets where our core business can be
expanded or otherwise complemented. We at Spantel are proud of our
accomplishments and look forward to continued growth in the future
as we have seen in the past. Although we have grown steadily since
inception and are now profitable from an operating standpoint, we
believe that the share price of our common stock is not reflective
of these accomplishments. As many of you are aware, in an industry
such as telecommunications, many companies trade at price multiples
significantly higher than ours. We are hopeful that as word of our
accomplishments spread, our potential as a competitor in our market
and our corresponding market value will follow. We look forward to
an exciting future and invite you to visit our facilities in Spain
anytime. Regards, Spantel Communications, Inc. Jose Ramon Basterra
President Footnote: Third quarter 2004 financials are unaudited
Spantel Communications, Inc. is a provider of telecommunications
services throughout Spain. To learn more about Spantel, visit the
Company's website at http://www.spantel.es/. SAFE HARBOR: Except
for historical information contained herein, the statements in this
release are forward-looking and made pursuant to the safe harbor
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and
uncertainties, which may cause the Company's actual results in
future periods to differ materially from forecasted results. Those
risks include, among other things, the competitive environment in
the telecommunications industry in general and in the Company's
specific market areas, inflation, changes in costs of goods and
services and economic conditions in general. Those and other risks
are more fully described in the Company's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Contact: Spantel
Communications, Inc. Mr. Robert Carlin +34.952.66.93.29 This
release was issued through eReleases(TM). For more information,
visit http://www.ereleases.com/. DATASOURCE: Spantel
Communications, Inc. CONTACT: Mr. Robert Carlin, Spantel
Communications, +34.952.66.93.29, Web site: http://www.spantel.es/
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