Call centres are last resort

By ADAM GIFFORD

Stockmarket minnow Newcall Group is making a last-ditch effort to develop call centres, as its latest half-year results show revenue falling at its sole remaining business, internet service provider Iprolink.

Newcall's biggest expense was currently managing director Jim Bracknell's $227,000 salary, but that could change next year.

"We might not have a managing director, we might let the directors run the company," Bracknell said.

He said the call centre scheme was the last throw of the dice.

"If we can't raise the money we will probably sell Iprolink, liquidate and do a distribution. That is logical."

In the six months to June 30, the company which started life as New Zealand Salmon made an after-tax profit of $45,000 on revenue of $759,000, compared with a surplus of $144,000 on revenue of $11.69 million in the corresponding period last year.

In the interim it sold off its 75 per cent stake in electricity trader Energy Online, which provided the bulk of its revenue and profits, to Genesis Power for $4.4 million.

Bracknell said the events of last winter confirmed Newcall's view that trading on the wholesale electricity market was too risky without guaranteed supply contracts.

It had already quit the telecommunications market, and a plan to buy computer reseller UCC and expand into wireless broadband fell through in March.

Bracknell said he was now going round banks and investment houses looking for $1.5 million to establish call centres, which would service international customers contracted by Arizona-based Olympus Telecommunications.

Olympus runs call centres in Mexico for companies, including American Express and Citibank.

Some of the money would also be invested in Iprolink, whose revenue dropped to $693,000.



Without a new line of business, the prospects for Newcall look bleak.

It has $690,000 in cash after paying off more than $2 million in loans to related parties, and shareholders' equity is negative $1.97 million.

It still owes $2.2 million to main shareholder Charoong Thai Wire, which was converted to shares at a shareholders' meeting last week, raising the stake the Thai-listed company and its CTW Beta subsidiary have in Newcall to 49.55 per cent and leaving a debt-free balance sheet.

That transaction was made at 5.2c a share, compared with the 3.2c at which the company last traded.