Talk Visual Corporation (fka TVCP)

[scu8452]

Good news for TVCP...Yak scores Nasdaq listing

By SHOWWEI CHU
TECHNOLOGY REPORTER


Wednesday, October 2, 2002 – Page B13


Yak Communications (USA) Inc. has obtained a Nasdaq listing, which the long-distance discount telephone services provider says could allow it to tap the public markets to raise money for future expansion or acquisition purposes.

The Toronto-based company, which targets its long-distance discount service mainly to recent immigrants and small to medium-sized businesses in Canada and the United States, said yesterday that it has been approved to trade its stock on the Nasdaq Stock Market's over-the-counter bulletin board under the symbol YAKC.

While Yak has no immediate plans to raise money, president and chief executive officer Charles Zwebner said in an interview yesterday that the listing will help in the future if the company decides to acquire rivals for their subscribers, expand its service offerings, or move into other countries.

"Over the next 18 months, we'll see what opportunities come our way," Mr. Zwebner said.

Yak, whose 350,000 subscribers get cheaper rates on long-distance calls by entering seven digits -- 10-15-945 -- before dialing the number they want, started in Toronto and Montreal in 1999. More recently, it expanded its dial-around services to Western and Eastern Canada and is now in 11 cities with plans to expand to Regina.

The company recently entered the United States and is marketing its services in 10 states. So far, it has about 6,000 subscribers in Las Vegas, San Diego and Miami, Mr. Zwebner said.

Yak would eventually like to expand to the Middle East and Europe, Mr. Zwebner said. It is negotiating to offer its service in a South American country, which he declined to name.

Yak purchases its capacity from the major phone companies and provides long-distance services through its own gateway switches that have direct access to the carriers' networks. By aggregating volume and gaining access to the carriers, it can buy time on those networks at deep discounts, according to company documents.

The company is taking advantage of the fact telephone calling minutes are increasingly becoming a low-margin commodity because of a trend toward the resale of excess capacity, which puts great pressure on companies to focus their business on new phone services that have higher margins, Yak documents said.

Yesterday, Yak reported a profit of $1.2-million (U.S.) or 20 cents a diluted share on sales of $24.5-million in the year ended June 30, compared with a loss of $663,260 or 17 cents on $14.9-million the previous year.

For the fourth quarter, Yak posted a profit of $778,000 or 12 cents on sales of $7.1-million. That compares with a profit of $105,000 or 2 cents on $4.5-million a year ago. Looking ahead, the company said it expects sales of more than $8-million in the first quarter ended Sept. 30, a 14-per-cent jump from the fourth quarter.

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/TGAM/20021002/RYAKK/Business/business/busine....