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Vocalis Plc Shares Surge on Deal with Freeserve Plc

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

Vocalis Plc, a leading supplier of speech recognition telephony products, has seen its shares rise 15.5% to 111.5 pence after announcing a deal with Freeserve Plc, the UK's largest ISP. The partnership will enable users to access their email via telephone, with the revenue from telephone calls to be split equally between the two companies. However, the exact benefits of the deal for Vocalis are unclear, with only a promise of a statement next week from Freeserve.

Key Takeaways:

  • Vocalis Plc shares surged 15.5% to 111.5 pence on the announcement of a deal with Freeserve Plc.
  • The partnership will enable users to access their email via telephone, with the revenue from telephone calls to be split equally between the two companies.
  • The exact benefits of the deal for Vocalis are unclear, with only a promise of a statement next week from Freeserve.
  • Vocalis is in urgent need of a new source of revenue, having made a £1m loss last year and with revenue falling 22.6% to £4.8m.
  • In April, Vocalis raised £8.7m to finance the marketing and development of products, including speecHTML.
  • Freeserve receives only 6% of the charge levied by telcos to customers accessing its service.

Statistics:

  • Vocalis Plc shares rose 15.5% to 111.5 pence on the announcement of the deal.
  • The potential gain to Vocalis from the deal was estimated at up to £1.5m per year.
  • Vocalis made a £1m loss last year, with revenue falling 22.6% to £4.8m.
  • Revenue in the year fell to £3.2m from £4.1m at the same time a year ago.
  • Vocalis raised £8.7m in April to finance the marketing and development of products.

Sources:

  • "Shares in Vocalis Plc, the Cambridge, UK-based supplier of speech recognition telephony products, climbed 15.5% to 111.5 pence yesterday after it announced a deal with Freeserve Plc, the UK's biggest ISP, to give users telephone access to their email" (Source: The Telegraph, August [no date provided])
  • "Some estimates even put the potential gain to Vocalis at as much as 1.5m pounds ($2.4m) a year" (Source: The Telegraph, August [no date provided])
  • "Indeed, analysis of the Freeserve prospectus showed it receives only 6% of the charge levied by telcos to customers accessing its service" (Source: The Telegraph, August [no date provided])
  • "Last year it made a 1m pound loss ($1.6m), after revenue fell 22.6% to 4.8m pounds ($7.6m)" (Source: The Telegraph, August [no date provided])
  • "In April it raised 8.7m pounds ($14m) to finance the marketing and development of products, in particular speecHTML" (Source: The Telegraph, August [no date provided])

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