DOVE CANYON, Calif., May 31, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- BICO, Inc. (Pink Sheets:BIKO), a distributor of Internet appliances and an advertising and content publisher, primarily focused on the multi-housing and hospitality industries, today announced that it has entered into its third pilot agreement in the past month -- this with Pinnacle Realty Management Company -- to deploy BICO WebPhones and related services at a number of that company's residential locations.
Pinnacle Realty Management at the beginning of this year was ranked the nation's third largest third-party manager of investment real estate. It oversees a real estate portfolio valued at more than $4.3 billion that includes more than 132,000 apartment units and 13 million square feet of commercial space, located in 42 states and 66 cities. In addition to managing multifamily, office, retail and industrial assets, Pinnacle is a recognized leader in affordable housing management and active in the privatization of military housing.
Last month, BICO executed a similar pilot program agreement with Drucker and Falk, LLC, one of the National Multi-Housing Council's top-50 largest management companies, overseeing nearly 27,000 apartment homes across the southeastern United States. Earlier this month, the company entered into another pilot program with Aspen Square Management, Inc., which owns and manages more than 25,000 apartment homes in 124 communities located in 96 cities and 25 states.
On completion of the pilots, BICO management anticipates initial revenue of up to $10 per phone per month, partly shared with participating apartment property managers. BICO anticipates revenue growth to more than $20 per phone per month over time. The company presently anticipates achieving breakeven or profitable operations in the next 12 months as it implements its business plans.
With the addition of Pinnacle Realty Management's portfolio, the potential total resident unit deployment from the three firms that have signed pilot agreements could be more than 180,000 residential units upon successful completion of the pilot programs.
"The addition of Pinnacle Realty Management is yet another strong endorsement of our focus on the apartment management community in our business model,'' said Richard Greenwood, CEO of BICO. "The WebPhone will enhance communication between the property manager and the resident, and also generate revenue each month for BICO and our property manager and owner 'partners'.''
"As recognized in each of these three pilot programs, apartment communities will benefit from decreasing costs by streamlining the communication process between the leasing office and individual residents through electronic messaging," said Rick Rundles, Executive Vice President of BICO. "Moreover, property owners and managers will be able to offset costs and generate ancillary income through their share in a portion of the advertising revenue generated over each WebPhone. In addition," Rundles observed, "we know merchants will pay to get their messages into the homes of apartment residents. BICO's unique way of delivering very specific and targeted messages easily and inexpensively is exactly the medium for which they are looking.''
BICO delivers content and other fee-based services, including ISP, telephone services, videoconferences, and e-commerce fulfillment directly to its appliances. Much like a magazine publication sells advertising space based on its circulation and readership, the BICO WebPhone business relies on generating advertising revenue from regional, national and local merchants who service apartment communities, and benefit from placing paid advertising on the screen of the WebPhone.
This news release includes comments that may be deemed forward-looking within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Federal Securities Laws. These include, among other things, statements about expectations of future events, revenues, sales of products or advertising, cash flow, profits and performance. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause the company's results to differ materially from expectations. These risks include the company's ability to obtain necessary financing in time to meet contractual obligations to conduct pilot programs or meet other obligations, develop appropriate strategic alliances, raise working capital, successful development and implementation of technology, acceptance of the company's products and services, build a functional infrastructure of servers and other support equipment necessary to support the functionality of the WebPhone deployment, obtain initial and ongoing advertising sales, and other such risks as the company may identify and discuss from time to time, including those risks disclosed in the company's current and future filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Accordingly, there is no certainty that the company's plans will be achieved.