SRT StarTek Inc

William Blair & Company Initiates Coverage of StarTek, Inc. With Market Perform Rating CHICAGO, Aug. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- William Blair & Company today announced that it initiated research coverage of StarTek, Inc. (NYSE:SRT) ($30.40), a leading provider of business process outsourcing services, with a Market Perform rating and company profile of Core Growth. Analyst Troy Mastin estimated that the company -- which has a network of 20 contact centers throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom offering services including provisioning management, wireless number portability, receivables management, customer care, and activation -- would earn $1.89 per share in 2004 and $2.26 per share in 2005. "StarTek has shown an ability to grow meaningfully when pursuing new clients or new industries," Mastin said. "The company's impressive penetration into the telecommunications industry and its rapid growth with its largest clients are clear evidence of this success. This record of success provides a favorable backdrop for growth in the future, in our opinion, and recent progress has been encouraging." Mastin also said he believes industry trends are favorable for StarTek, as many companies are turning to third parties to outsource customer-care functions including customer and technical support and fulfillment. "We view the opportunities for outsourcing as vast and growing, as the return to global economic growth, combined with an increase in mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures, likely will lead to an increase in outsourcing activity." William Blair & Company, L.L.C. is a Chicago-based investment firm offering investment banking, asset management, equity research, institutional and private brokerage, and private capital to individual, institutional, and issuing clients. Since 1935, we have been committed to helping clients achieve their financial objectives. As an independent, employee-owned firm, our philosophy is to serve our clients' interests first and foremost. For more information, please visit http://www.williamblair.com/ . William Blair & Company, L.L.C. has received compensation for investment banking services from the company within the past 12 months, or expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services in the next 3 months. For important disclosures and information regarding the firm's rating system, valuation methods and potential conflicts of interest, please visit: http://www.williamblair.com/pages/news_story.asp?uid=702 . Additional information is available upon request. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers, CRD number 1252. DATASOURCE: William Blair & Company, L.L.C. CONTACT: Tony Zimmer of William Blair & Company, L.L.C., +1-312-364-8611, Web site: http://www.williamblair.com/pages/news_story.asp?uid=702 http://www.williamblair.com/

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