Esprit Financial Group (ESPRIT) (EFGO.PK) is pleased to announce that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Money Check International Limited, a Hong Kong based company, to deploy ATMs in China on a Joint Venture basis.
Esprit management has had very productive meetings over the last week with Money Check, a Hong Kong based vendor of ATMs. The parties have agreed to proceed to detailed negotiations in order to develop a joint venture to deploy ATMs within mainland China.
Esprit CEO Garr Winters advised, "The market opportunity for ATMs is tremendous. Current estimates place the number of ATMs in China at roughly 10,000. Industry forecasts suggest that this will grow to 1 million over the next 5 - 7 years.
Importantly, ATM technology is quite mature so the Chinese market can leapfrog past the initial deployment stages experienced within the North American market when ATMs were first introduced here. Thus, growth can be accelerated at a much higher pace.
Gross revenue per transaction within China is currently 7.5 times higher than mature markets like North America. A typical ATM transaction in China generates roughly USD $3.00 in revenue, versus roughly USD $0.40 in North America in interchange fees alone.
We will be working together with Money Check building a business case and business model to support the deployment of ATMs in the Chinese Market. Our pre-existing relationship with Government and banking officials will be invaluable in defining our approach to market".
In other Company news, senior management reports that there will be a 2-3 week delay in obtaining 'Pink Checkmark' status from the Pink Sheets.
Garr Winters explained; "This is a major disappointment for us, and our loyal shareholders. In discussions with our legal counsel, we had been under the impression that all of the required paperwork had been completed and submitted for approval by the Pink Sheets. However, Pink Sheets advised us on July 25th that our documentation was still incomplete.
Our legal counsel obviously underestimated the sheer volume of legal documentation, which consists of literally hundreds of pages, and failed to notify us that there would be any problem providing Pink Sheets with the required disclosure ahead of the deadline. Apparently, it will take an additional 2-3 weeks for our lawyers to compile all of the outstanding documentation".
Winters added; "I have to take full responsibility for this delay. Management has been focused on corporate developments within China, and working on a major transaction that is time sensitive and that could conceivably supersede the value of our classification as a Pink Checkmark Company. However, it does not excuse me from the responsibility of ensuring that all of the documentation required by the Pink Sheets was in place and properly completed on a timely basis to meet their deadline.
It is still our intention to submit all of the required documentation to Pink Sheets as quickly as possible. Other announcements will be made as appropriate. In the short-term, Esprit may possibly be classified in a lower category for several weeks until all of the required documents have been submitted and approved".
In closing, the company is on target to release the 2nd quarter results by August 15th 2007 with initial review showing much better results then previously expected.