GV, has achieved and exceeded the forecast figures published in the circular relating to the reverse takeover of Horizon, issued on September 30, 2004.
Singapore, ASIA – 28 February 2005 – Global Voice Group Limited (“GV”) (formerly Horizon Education & Technologies Limited (“Horizon”), the Singapore listed owner and operator of fibre networks across Europe, is pleased to announce its financial results for the year ended 31st December 2004.
The acquired European businesses of Global Voice Networks, which now comprise the entire business of GV, have achieved and exceeded the forecast figures published in the circular relating to the reverse takeover of Horizon, issued on September 30, 2004.
Mr. Noel Meaney, GV’s Chief Executive Officer, said “I am pleased to announce that our businesses in Europe, which now represent the entire business of GV, surpassed their forecast revenue by more than 15%, to achieve revenues of Euros 20,4 million (S$43.7 million (S$: Euros, 2.1395)). When consolidated with the results of the former Horizon businesses this resulted in revenues of Euros 21 million (S$ 44.95 million). Further, the EBITDA performance of our European businesses of E6.98 million reflected a 28.3% improvement over the forecast, on the back of increased revenue and reduced operational costs.
These results were achieved from strong sales in our traditional product line, namely the leasing and sale of fibre and private fibre networks to corporate clients. Moving forward, we believe this product line will be supplemented by our major product growth area, namely sales of on-line business continuity and information management products, which we began implementing and selling in late 2004.
Looking ahead, our priority will be the continued execution of our strategy of exploiting our network asset base by aggressively growing our core business and actively developing selective third party business alliances. Further, recent market initiatives have shown a number of new applications which require the use of fibre and which we expect will contribute to our continued growth.”
Deputy Chairman Christopher Nightingale observed “Within our core data services business we are encountering larger requirements than we predicted and there is no sign of this abating as the need for secure data management expands.
Our business prospects are growing and evolving as we encounter additional needs for our fibre networks such as FTTH (Fibre to the Home) provided by specialist companies and the cable operators who do not have the capacity required to roll out these services.
According to industry analysts IDC, the storage service market will be worth over US$10 billion in 2005. This growth is fuelled by increasing demand for information lifecycle management (ILM), regulatory compliance, business continuity, and storage consolidation from GV’s target industry sectors such as pharmaceutical, public sector, and banking and finance.”
Mr Nightingale also pointed to the recent increase in merger and acquisition activity within the sector, such as Verizon’s US$5.3 bn offer for MCI and Cable and Wireless’s recent acquisition of UK DSL provider Bulldog Communications as a sign of returning confidence.
