"This has been a formative year for our company and one in which we have achieved a great deal, building a leading company providing secure payment systems for the world of electronic commerce.
We are continuing the strategy, outlined in our March fundraising document, of proliferating the earthport wallet in Europe and where possible in Asia, Australia and South Africa. This is being achieved by allowing the own branding of the earthport wallet by substantial organisations such as banks, telcos and portals. These organisations provide the wallet as a standard part of their offering and then market the concept to their customers. earthport benefits from the substantial number of potential wallets and the marketing push of the organisations.
We were delighted to announce last week the next stage in the evolution of the Group with our intention statement to join the Alternative Investment Market during the first quarter of next year. This is a positive step for the company and for our shareholders who have shown their continuing support for the company during this year. earthport was accepted for listing on the Official List of the UK Listing Authority under chapter 25 of the Listing Rules. However chapter 25 requires that the company raises a minimum of £20m as part of the listing. Following the successful fundraising of £25m in March 2000 the company has no requirement to raise funds and feels that it is not in the best interests of shareholders to do so at this time.
We have achieved a number of commercial successes this year, which have moved the company forward to the next stage in its development. In June 2000, earthport was chosen by Egg plc to test the functionality of a bespoke e-wallet system amongst a select number of e-merchants currently affiliated to Egg Shop.
Also in June, earthport agreed in principle to a non-exclusive strategic alliance with Ztango.com Inc., a supplier of mobile data solutions, including the empowerment of vending machines for m-commerce. The earthport secure m-commerce gateway, which is unique, was launched in April.
The acquisition of 101010 Limited in June strengthened earthport's technical and developmental capabilities and provides the Company with the ability to integrate directly to a large range of different trading and transaction platforms. The existing and potential revenue streams from 101010 are a valuable part of the Company's operations.
In July 2000, Nokia and earthport agreed to co-operate in the worldwide marketing of the Payment System to significant Nokia customers over the next two years.
Since September 2000, earthport has announced agreements with Contempus AS (the Norwegian-based supplier of B2B invoicing and enterprise functionality) and International Payment Systems, an Australasian-based payment gateway provider.
In November, earthport concluded a formal agreement with Egg Financial Products for the operation of a managed e-wallet service branded as the Egg Wallet, which formalised the association announced in June.
We also announced an agreement in principle with Mviva, the Internet portal owned by Carphone Warehouse and AOL to develop and trial an interface to the earthport payment system.
earthport is at the forefront of P2P and C2C commerce. In January 2001 we will be launching , a product that enables earthport wallet holders to send cash to anyone with an e-mail address. is being launched in Hong Kong and is primarily aimed at migrant workers who send money home.
Over the last year we have made a number of key management appointments and non-executive appointments to the Board. In December 1999, Graham Newall was appointed CEO and Simon Deane-Johns an Executive Director. In July of this year Lars Ljungwaldh joined the Board as Chief Technology Officer having joined the Group on the acquisition of 101010 earlier in the year. Bob Tucker joined earthport as Financial Controller in June and has now joined the Board as CFO.
We have made three key independent non-executive appointments; Lyle Procter, who was Head of Financial Systems at the Reserve Bank of Australia, Philip F Lynch CBE, who was CEO of Exchange Clearing House and a director of the SFA and most recently, the Earl of Shrewsbury & Talbot DL, former president of the Building Societies Association.
We have a strong Board and a senior management team with a broad range of expertise across financial services, technology and commerce that I believe is unmatched amongst our peers. I am very encouraged by the excellent progress we have already made to date and look forward to another year of significant achievements for the company.
Notes to Editors:
earthport plc, a company providing a secure payment system for on-line commerce, is intending to list on the Alternative Investment Market ("AIM").
The payment system makes use of a virtual wallet, which holds personal details, including bank details, credit card details and delivery information, on earthport's secure servers. Users only provide their details once via a secure Internet connection to earthport; thereafter all transactions are effected from their wallet using multiple recognition procedures to authenticate the user.
The payment system can be used for a range of transactions from micro payments to large fund transfers, in multiple currencies, via a wide range of payment methods and without communicating sensitive personal information over the Internet. Secure electronic transactions can be conducted from mobile telephones, over the Internet using PCs, via interactive digital television and over B2B trade exchanges. The system services all types of transactions, including B2B, B2C, G2C, P2P and C2C.
earthport's revenue model involves a charge to merchants as a percentage of the value of each transaction; a flat rate charge for P2P payments; and affiliate rewards, or "t-tax". earthport also supplies trading infrastructure software for which it charges licence fees and time and materials for systems integration."