eTelecare mulls listing, eyes $500-M volume in 4 years

eTelecare Global Solutions, one of the leading call center companies in the Philippines, is mulling the possibility of going public this year or in 2006, eyeing either to list in the US stock market or at the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The company said it is also targetting a $500-million business volume within the next four years. At the close of 2004, eTelecare already registered $124 million had breached the $150-million level and by the end of March this year.

Fred Ayala, chairman of eTelecare, said they were eyeing its fifth call center in the Philippines this year and would tap the job market for an additional 2,000 agents or eReps.

He said these agents, who could earn at least P20,000 a month, must be multilingual.

eTelecare presently handles 7,000 agents in both its US and Philippine operations.

"We are looking for a suitable place and reviewing the economies of scale whether to lease or put up our own facility," he said, adding that all equipment for the new facility will be freshly acquired.

"Our plans for going public depends on the health of the economy and the business environment, and if there is a strong demand for the business, domestically and internationally,"Ayala stressed.

In the Philippines, eTelecare has 30 major clients and 50 programs. Its client base represents major players in the telecommunications and wireless communications, financial, and consumer electronics sectors.

Ayala said it is critical for call centers to have a diversified clientele base to survive the up and down cycle of business in each sector. Generally, strong periods are the first and last quarters of a given year, and the weaker periods the second and third quarters of the year.

There are presently 100 registered call center providers in the Philippines of which 70 are active. Among the active players, 30 are operating up to 100 seats with the rest running over 1,000 seats.

From all indications, the call center industry is expected to experience bullish growth.While India is the biggest player in the region said to have over 200,000 seats, the Philippines runs next with about into 30,000.

From the estimated foreign exchange earnings of $600 million in 2003, the call center industry is expected to grow to around $3.8 billion by 2008.