Midland sells First Credit assets to Cavalry Investments

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Aug 14, 2002

OKLAHOMA CITY (JR) -- Cavalry Investments has bought substantially all assets and operations of First Credit Solutions from Midland Financial, based in Oklahoma City, it was announced Tuesday.

In addition to acquiring the assets of First Credit Solutions, a servicer of nonperforming consumer loans, Cavalry said it purchased nearly 300,000 consumer accounts with aggregate balances in excess of $850 million from MidFirst Bank, a subsidiary of Midland Financial Co.

Cavalry acquired the former First Credit Solutions operations center in Tulsa and hired more than 100 employees, Cavalry now has more than 300 employees in Hawthorne, New York, Phoenix, Arizona, and Tulsa, servicing 1.3 million accounts with aggregate balances of $4.6 billion.

"We are excited and pleased with this new acquisition, which marks a major expansion for us," said Andrew Zaro, Cavalry CEO. "It puts us well ahead of Cavalry's growth objective to complete $1 billion in portfolio acquisitions in 2002."

"We are looking forward to expanding our centers in Tulsa, Phoenix, and New York to support Cavalry's growth plans," said Al Brothers, Cavalry EVP for acquisitions. "The new center in Tulsa will enable us to better service pending and future acquisitions."

Addvantage profits, sales drop

BROKEN ARROW (JR) -- Addvantage Technologies Group on Tuesday reported lower earnings and revenues for the third fiscal quarter ended June. 30.

Net income for the quarter decreased 26.8 percent to $545,000, or 5 cents per share, from $744,000, or 7 cents per share, for the third quarter of the previous fiscal year.

Revenues for the quarter fell 9.6 percent to $6.83 million from $7.55 million a year earlier.

The drop in revenues was primarily due to a major customer filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and the decrease in capital spending by the cable television industry, said Ken Chymiak, president and CEO of the Broken Arrow-based company.

Net income for the first nine months of the fiscal year decreased 3.1 percent to $1.37 million, or 14 cents per share, from $1.4 million, or 14 cents per share, in the first nine months of the previous fiscal year.

For the nine months ended June 30, Addvantage's revenues increased 6.6 percent to $18.26 million from $17.12 million a year earlier.

"Despite the fact that our industry is suffering its worst downturn in recent history, our operating margins and income remain strong," Chymiak said.

Addvantage and its subsidiaries sell new and used cable television equipment.

FullNet posts quarterly net loss; revenues increase 21 percent

OKLAHOMA CITY (JR) -- FullNet Communications on Tuesday announced a net loss of $240,014, or 4 cents per share, for the second quarter.

The facilities-based integrated communications provider had a net loss of $948,512, or 18 cents per share, for the second quarter of 2001.

Revenues for the quarter were up 21 percent to $617,023 from $508,769 a year earlier.

"While we are pleased with our improving performance, we recognize that it is neither where it should be nor where it can be," said Timothy J. Kilkenny, CEO and founder. "We recognize that there is still much work to be done and are committed to the principal of constant and never-ending improvement."

For the first six months of 2002, Oklahoma City-based FullNet had a net loss of $538,549, or 8 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $1.86 million, or 39 cents per share, for the first six months of 2001.

Revenues for the first six months of the year totaled $1.2 million, up from $1.04 million a year earlier.

Cox unit to provide Capitol telecom services

OKLAHOMA CITY (JR) -- Cox Business Services, an affiliate of Cox Communications, has contracted with the state of Oklahoma to provide telecommunications services to all buildings in the Capitol Complex, officials announced Tuesday.

Cox officials said the agreement is the first of its kind in the nation for a cable company.

"Cox is proud to be the first cable company to wire lifeline services to a state capitol complex," said Mollie Andrews, vice president and general manager of Cox Business Services Oklahoma. "As a facilities-based provider, we offer a competitive choice for reliable telecommunications services. It's a choice that will translate into substantial benefits for the state, and ultimately, the taxpayers of Oklahoma."

In addition to providing digital voice, Cox Business Services is delivering data and commercial video services to the complex. The state's existing service has been upgraded through the addition of a Primary Rate Interface, which offers increased speed and quality and other features not possible with the former analog system.

"Now, each phone in the Capitol Complex has the feature calling line identification," Andrews said. "Call utilization has also been improved, allowing the state to process more incoming and outgoing calls. As of today, the state is processing an average of 65,000 calls an hour -- without the Legislature in session. With Cox, they can process about 20 percent more calls than with standard analog telephone lines."