ICT GROUP Comments on 2007 First Quarter
~ Updates Guidance for 2007 ~
Newtown, PA, March 29, 2007 – ICT GROUP, Inc. (NASDAQ: ICTG), a leading global provider of customer management and business process outsourcing (BPO) solutions, today announced that the Company currently anticipates first quarter 2007 revenue of approximately $115 million and diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $0.02 to $0.04. This estimate compares with the Company's previous expectation of revenue in the range of $116 to $118 million and earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.20 to $0.23.
The earnings revisions were primarily caused by capacity-related issues with two clients, both of whom are serviced exclusively from North American customer care centers.
John J. Brennan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "The volume of work associated with two of our clients exceeded what we had originally projected. As a result, ICT GROUP incurred significantly higher training and staffing costs as well as certain penalties that reduced revenue, all of which impacted profitability for the period."
"We are actively engaged in discussions with each of these clients and are working with them to address future program requirements," Mr. Brennan noted. "Although we are making substantial progress, we still expect these conditions to impact second quarter profitability."
"While we are disappointed by the earnings shortfall, we continue to be encouraged by the overall demand for our services and the strong pipeline of new business opportunities," Mr. Brennan said.
Based on the current business outlook, ICT GROUP still expects that revenue for full year 2007 will exceed $500 million. Diluted earnings per share for the full year are now expected to be in the range of $1.00 to $1.10. ICT GROUP will report first quarter financial results on Thursday, April 26, 2007.
Conference Call:
The Company will hold a conference call tomorrow, Friday, March 30, 2007, at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Investors may access the call either by dialing (877) 407-4018 or by visiting the ICT GROUP website at www.ictgroup.com. A replay of the call will be available through April 6, 2007, on the Company's website or may be accessed by dialing (877) 660-6853 and entering the account # 3055 and conference # 237034.
ICT GROUP, headquartered in Newtown, Pa., is a leading global provider of customer management and business process outsourcing solutions. The Company provides a comprehensive mix of customer care/retention, acquisition, up-selling/cross-selling, technical support, market research and database marketing as well as e-mail management, data entry/collections, claims processing and document management services, using its global network of onshore, near-shore and offshore operations. ICT GROUP also provides interactive voice response (IVR) and advanced speech recognition solutions as well as hosted Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technologies, available for use by clients at their own in-house facility or on a co-sourced basis in conjunction with the Company's fully integrated contact center operations. To learn more about how ICT GROUP can help your business, click here, or call 800-201-1085.
Important Cautionary Information Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, such as expected call volumes, offshore call production, workstation expansion, revenue and earnings and the anticipated demand for ICT GROUP's services. The forward-looking statements involve assumptions and are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties. Whenever possible, forward-looking statements are preceded by, followed by or include the words "believes," "expects," "anticipates" or similar expressions, which speak only as of the date the statement is made. ICT GROUP assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. For such statements, ICT GROUP claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual events or results of operations, cash flows and financial condition of ICT GROUP may differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including without limitation, those discussed in ICT GROUP's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, and other documents, such as reports on Form 8-K and reports on Form 10-Q filed by ICT GROUP with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although ICT GROUP believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct and we undertake no obligation to update such expectations.
Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from ICT GROUP's expectations, or that could materially and adversely affect ICT GROUP's financial condition, may include, but are not limited to, the following, many of which are outside ICT GROUP's control: customer demand for a client's product or service, the client's budgets and plans and other conditions affecting the client's industry, interest and foreign currency exchange rates (including the effectiveness of strategies to manage fluctuations in these rates), a client invoking cancellation or similar provisions of the client contract, demand for labor and the resulting impact on labor rates paid by ICT GROUP, unanticipated labor difficulties, unanticipated contract or technical difficulties, identifying and opening planned contact centers within timeframes necessary to meet client demands, reliance on strategic partners, industry and government regulation affecting ICT GROUP or its clients, reliance on telecommunications and computer technology, general and local economic conditions, competitive pressures in ICT GROUP's industry, the cost to prosecute, defend or settle litigation by or against ICT GROUP, judgments, orders, rulings and other developments in or affecting litigation by or against ICT GROUP, ICT GROUP's capital and financing needs, ICT GROUP's ability to integrate acquired businesses, terrorist attacks and the impact of war. These factors, as well as others, such as conditions in the securities markets and actual or perceived results or developments affecting companies in our industry, could affect the trading price of our common stock.
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