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OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED
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TSX Venture Exchange: FGD
Frankfurt Stock Exchange: 1G5
TORONTO, May 15, 2017 /CNW/ - First Global Data ("First
Global" or the "Company") is pleased to provide the following
letter to our shareholders from the Company's Chairman and CEO.
Dear shareholder,
I would like to offer my sincere gratitude for your unwavering
support of our company. For those of you who have been long term
shareholders, I trust that you have witnessed that your long-term
view is paying off and we look forward to your continued
support.
First Global is a solid company with an amazing future. We
operate in the FINTECH sector which is one of the hottest sectors
in the world today. You are part of a company that is becoming
recognized on the global stage as a leader in the FINTECH
sector.
We have benefitted from a number of factors which includes,
among other things, the great people around us, our technology
which is in high demand today, our business strategy of partnering
with large organizations, our global focus, our foundation of
compliance and licensing, and our corporate philosophy and business
approach. We are very thankful for the incredible progress we have
made thus far.
I would like to emphasize the following key points:
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1)
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Our Vision: First
Global is aggressively moving toward becoming the world's first
portable, interoperable mobile wallet/payment solution.
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Here is an example of
what this means:
- Our customer in India downloads the Vpayqwik
mobile app, loads Indian Rupees, they shop and spend directly on
the mobile app, on ecommerce sites, and at real-world physical
locations.
- That same customer decides to travel to Toronto to
visit family. As they land in Toronto, they convert the currency in
the Vpayqwik mobile wallet to Canadian dollars, they shop and
spend.
- The customer then decides to travel from Toronto to
Mexico. As they arrive in Mexico they convert the currency in their
Vpayqwik mobile wallet to Mexican Pesos, they shop and spend.
- As funds run out, they reload the Vpayqwik mobile
wallet by reach back to their bank account in India, reload and
continue shopping and spending in Mexico.
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2)
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We Are Profitable:
This is a significant statement as it is rare to find a profitable
FINTECH company. We are highly motivated to ensure that the company
remains profitable on a going forward basis.
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3)
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Revenue Growth: We
are accelerating toward our near-term objectives. As part of our
revenue growth plan, we:
- Have sold licenses which have facilitated our ability
to penetrate key geographies, form strategic partnerships and
deploy services.
- Are increasing the number of new customers and the
number of new transactions, which drive per transaction revenues,
which is our end-state revenue model. We have experienced good
growth in this regard.
- Our next objective is to penetrate 1M active users who
generate average Annual Revenue Per User (ARPU) of approximately
$280 from fees and foreign exchange gains.
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4)
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Balance Sheet
Improvements: We continue to focus on improving our balance sheet.
It must convey strength as we move forward interacting with top
tier global companies. In addition to what has already been
announced we are working to finalize another debt
conversion including additional debt forgiveness which
occurred in November, 2015 and which had been pending TSX approval
since that time. In addition, other debt is currently being
negotiated for conversion at prevailing market pricing. Beyond
these debt conversions, as we launch into high impact, high margin
revenue mode in the near term, we believe that our fully diluted
share count will remain at a standstill save and except for
strategic financing from potential high level and high profile
partners or through strategic M&A activity.
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The last few months have been hectic as we initiate and
integrate new business deals. A compilation of all our published
news can be found on the corporate website
(firstglobaldata.com).
In addition to our sales and business development efforts, we
are fortunate to have proactive investors who assist by bringing
business opportunities to the company. Our news pipeline continues
to fill as more and more partnerships are continually being
introduced. Examples of such initiatives include:
- LianLian Pay/WeChat
- Other China opportunities
- Colombia initiatives
- Nigeria
- Ethiopia
- North America
Some of these initiatives have been announced, and others will
be announced at the appropriate time.
We have spent years developing and continuously fine tuning and
enhancing our technology so we remain best in class. As a
consequence of our highly evolved stage of development, we are able
to capitalize on significant revenue opportunities as they are
presented. All of these deployments are expected to drive
significant revenues. Our FINTECH revenue model is robust,
recurring and high margin.
First Global operates in a part of the FINTECH universe with the
highest margin of profitability, this being the payments and
remittances segment. To compound profitability and add diversity
and versatility, we also now offer prepaid card technology and
services. We believe this full suite FINTECH model will drive more
business opportunities and revenue growth.
We are moving quickly now to launch the LianLian Pay initiative
on the WeChat platform. This social messaging cross border
remittance platform is a world's first.
Not only will we have access to LianLian Pay's 100 million user
database but the service is housed in a social environment, WeChat,
with close to a billion users. We have explained the revenue model
of this deal in a prior news release and wish to add the sheer
scale and scope of this program has the potential of hundreds of
millions of dollars in recurring annual revenue.
LianLian Pay intends to spend considerable marketing dollars on
this initiative to penetrate the highest possible percentage of
users given the revenue rich scenario. The project will begin in
the USA and is expected to expand
to additional countries.
The initial trip to China was
so successful we intend to return in the very near future to
capture additional business in various stages of evolution. Some of
these offer compelling large revenue scenarios, so it becomes
imperative for us to expedite matters in rapid fashion.
Our optimism for the future has never been higher as we move to
rapid growth, high margin, exponential revenue mode with deployment
of the various business deals already signed.
Some shareholders have expressed concern over the volatility in
our stock. It is important to note that in a natural order stocks
trade organically. There are many different agendas in the
investment world and as a result investing in junior speculative
stocks is not an exact science.
We are focused on building shareholder value through solid
growth and execution. We feel that given the dynamics of our
business model and the stage of our evolution we are undervalued
when compared to our peer group.
The best comparison was made by one of our stakeholders who
said, we are "a combination of PayPal and Western Union". We won't
argue with that hybrid fusion.
As the Chairman and CEO of First Global you have my personal
commitment to continue acting always in the best interests of our
shareholders. I am a shareholder also and look at things from your
perspective every day. We are driven and will continue focusing on
building value through execution, market penetration, and
innovation.
Please accept my sincere gratitude for your ongoing support.
Andre Itwaru
Andre Itwaru
Chairman and CEO
First Global Data Limited
About First Global: (www.firstglobaldata.com)
First Global is an international financial services technology
("FINTECH") company. The Company's two main lines of business are
mobile payments and cross border payments. First Global's
proprietary leading edge technology enables the convergence of
compliant domestic and cross border payments, shopping, Peer to
Peer ("P2P"), Business to Consumer ("B2C"), and Business to
Business ("B2B") payments. First Global enables its strategic
partners and clients around the world with our leading edge
financial services technology platform.
Caution:
Neither TSX Venture Exchange Inc.
("TSXV") nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is
defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the
adequacy or accuracy of this release.
The securities offered have not been registered under the
U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or
sold in the United States absent
registration or an applicable exemption from the registration
requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to
sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any
sale of the securities offered in any jurisdiction in which such
offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.
Forward Looking Information:
This news release
contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of
applicable securities laws. Although First Global believes in light
of the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions
and expected future developments and other factors that have been
considered appropriate, that the expectations reflected in this
forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should
not be placed on them because First Global can give no assurance
that they will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned to not
place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Actual results
and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by
these statements. The statements in this press release are made as
of the date of this release. First Global undertakes no obligation
to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by
third-parties in respect of First Global, its securities, or
financial or operating results (as applicable). First Global
disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any
forward-looking information, whether as a result of new
information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as
required by applicable securities laws.
SOURCE First Global Data Limited