ZURICH, Switzerland and NEW YORK, Feb. 1, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- The following is an investment opinion issued by Investrend Research Syndicate:
Ernest C. Schlotter, research analyst with Investrend affiliate SISM Research, has initiated coverage of OPENLiMiT, Inc. (OTCBB:OPLM) with a long-term buy/4 rating and a 12-month price target of $1.30.
OPENLiMiT has developed a unique proprietary Internet credit card based on smart card technology as well as other products that will revolutionize Internet security and privacy in daily life. OPENLiMiT is building its multilevel marketing system (MLM) and distributes its service products using independent distributors. These distributors target the largest online market worldwide-the 199.5M European online users.
B2C revenues for 2004 in Europe are expected to reach $114.1B. Consumers in Europe are beginning to rival Americans in their Internet spending habits. Europeans spent, on average, Euro 430 online between August and October 2002 compared to an average expenditure of Euro 543 per capita in the US during the same period. An overwhelming 87 percent of Internet customers worldwide buy online with their credit cards despite concerns with online security.
Schlotter stated: "OPENLiMiT is uniquely positioned, has attracted world-class partners and targets its products to the Western European market, a market with more then 1.3M direct sales persons and revenues in excess of $12 Billion. During preliminary marketing, which began in August 2003 approximately 800 active Associates in both Germany and Switzerland joined the Company."
OPENLiMiT's official marketing launch began this January. As there is no historical sales data from the Company's Associates so far, SISM has calculated a very conservative Associate sales ratio of only 1.2, an assumption that leaves much room for revision of their sales forecast upwards. SISM estimates that the early stage marketing phase will start gaining momentum in Q3 of this year.
SISM Research & Investment Services, based in Zurich, has offered investment and financial services since 1995. SISM Research writes, publishes and distributes investment research coverage, in both English and German, on micro- to small-cap public companies trading on the OTCBB, NASDAQ and AMEX geared towards institutional and individual investors in both North America and Europe.
SISM Research is a member of the standards-based FIRST Research Consortium at www.firstresearchconsortium.com. SISM Research is a content provider to Thomson Financials OneAnalytics/FirstCall, to Multex, Datamonitor and InvesTrend. The company under coverage paid SISM Research a retainer of $5,000, plus $1,750 per month over a two-year period to provide independent coverage. No one associated with SISM Research may own or trade the equities of companies under coverage.
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