Conference Call Highlights 1I’ve just finished reviewing the conference call; a long one (~40 minutes) with lots of information. If you don’t have time to check it out yourself, here are some highlights.
I won’t go back and cover the content from the 2009 Review posted here already. It’s full of information, beyond what was covered on the call.
Seems that many seeds planted in 2009 will be taking root in 2010. I remember a question posed at a previous AGM about timing…how long does it take after a client is signed/announced until revenues begin to flow? If my memory serves me right, much depends upon the amount of infrastructure required, but a minimum of 6 months is often the norm. Given that, we’ll begin to see the results of many of the license agreements this year. That includes Thailand (signed May 2009), but especially:
- India (signed Nov 2009, launch in 2010)
- Nigeria (Oct 2009, 8 anticipated products to be launched, launch to be early 2010)
- Kenya (Oct 2009, launch first half of 2010)
- Swaziland.
- The South African Development Region (14 countries) ( November 2009 with launch in 2010.)
I’m especially interested in these developments, since as previously discussed, the profit margin for licensing sits at about 95%, compared to 5% or so for Canadian sales.
Questions posed in discussion
Glen Jamieson, MacQuarrie Capital asked if CEO Buchanan could review the 5 licenses and which of those licenses VSI is most optimistic about over the next couple years in terms of the ability to generate revenue and EBITDA.
Swaziland, the South African Development Region, and Thailand will purchase their own servers and set up their own back office systems. The SaaS model will be deployed in Nigeria, Kenya and India. Nigeria has moved most quickly…it has a “ large, large population of prepaid mobile users” and security is a recognized and important issue. First product, however, will be prepaid satellite TV with 8 more products to follow.
While India has the largest potential over the long term, “Nigeria, Kenya and the African countries we’re working with have more of an urgent need for solutions that we’re providing, for security reasons and also converting cash to digital value.”
Jamieson also asked about Privinvest. Response: “we are aware that Privinvest has been developing their business in a number of international markets. We have not yet signed any further license agreements on additional markets.”
Jamieson also asked: “Would you anticipate signing a few more of these SaaS agreements through this fiscal year?” Response: “That’s certainly our goal.”
Ooh, this is getting to be a long post. I’ll finish the comments/questions in the next one.