TRANSCOM TO CLOSE FOUR SITES IN NORTH AMERICA AND EXPAND IN THE PHILIPPINES. NET COST IN Q1 2012: €1.6M.
Luxembourg, 21 February 2012 – During the past year, Transcom has experienced a shift in the demand from its installed client base towards an increased proportion of offshore delivery. In addition, due to the strong performance of its Asian operations, Transcom has been successful in winning significant new business to be delivered from its centers in the Philippines. This positive growth trend in the company’s Asian operations is expected to continue through 2012, driven by client requirements and market demand. As a result, an onerous lease provision related to the Iloilo site in the Philippines will be written back, positively impacting Q1 2012 results by €3.7 million. Future lease payments for the Iloilo site will thus be classified as expenses in the ordinary course of business. This will reduce the negative cash flow impact associated with the restructuring & rightsizing plan, announced in June 2011, by approximately €1.2 million per year in fiscal years 2012, 2013 and 2014.
In addition, Transcom announced today that four of its current sites in North America will be closed by the end of the second quarter of 2012. The sites in question have been underutilized for some time, and management does not anticipate that a satisfactory utilization can be achieved within a reasonable time. The company has experienced a significant decrease in volumes delivered through its onshore centers in North America, while volumes delivered in Asia have increased.
The cost to close these sites amounts to €5.3 million. The total cash impact is €4.5 million: €0.6 million in Q1 2012, €3.0 million in Q2 2012, €0.2 million in Q3 2012, €0.2 million in Q4 2012, and €0.5 million in subsequent quarters.
Once finalized, the closures will generate annualized cost savings amounting to approximately €1.7 million. Savings to be realized in fiscal year 2012 are estimated at €1.4 million.
The net cost of the actions described above, impacting Q1 2012, is estimated at €1.6 million.
Furthermore, in response to client demands, Transcom is planning to increase the number of agent positions at its Bacolod and Manila sites in the Philippines.
“The optimization of our capacity utilization is key to value creation, and will always be a central priority for Transcom. The decision we announce today, to make further capacity adjustments in North America, should be viewed in this context. Achieving an adequate utilization of our resources will continue to be an important focus area this year as we evaluate our global delivery footprint”, commented Johan Eriksson, the President and CEO of Transcom.
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For further information, please contact:
Johan Eriksson, President and CEO +46 70 776 80 22
Aïssa Azzouzi, CFO +352 27 755 021
Stefan Pettersson, Head of Investor Relations +46 70 776 80 88
About Transcom
Transcom is a global outsourced service provider entirely focused on customers, the service they experience and the revenue they generate. Our customer management and credit management services are designed to strengthen our clients’ customer relationships and secure their revenue streams.
Our broad service portfolio supports every stage of the customer lifecycle, from acquisition through service, retention, cross and upsell, then on through early and contingent collections to legal recovery. Expert at managing both customers and debt, we make a positive contribution to our clients’ profitability by helping them win customers, maintain their loyalty and secure their payments.
And, while our services are designed to maximize revenue, our delivery operations are built to drive efficiency. Through our global network we can provide service in any country where our clients have customers, accessing the most appropriate skills and deploying the best communication channels in the most cost effective locations.
Every day we handle over 600,000 customer contacts in 33 languages for more than 350 clients, including brand leaders in some of today’s most challenging and competitive industry sectors. The experience we gain is used to constantly refine our service portfolio and business processes, allowing us to respond quickly to changing market conditions and client requirements.
Transcom WorldWide S.A. Class A and Class B shares are listed on the Nasdaq OMX Stockholm Small Cap list under the symbols ‘TWW SDB A’ and ‘TWW SDB B’.