Mercator Transport Group Corporation (GMT.V-CDNX)

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February 11, 2011 Issue

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With Almost 1000 Customers Throughout the World, Mercator Transport Group Corporation is a Well Established Intermodal Logistics and Transport Company

Mr. Jean-Pierre Apelian
President, CEO, Director and
Member of Strategic Planning
& Development Committee



Services
Business Services
(GMT.V-CDNX)

Mercator Transport Group Corporation
2500 Daniel Johnson Boulevard, Suite 400
Laval, QC H7T 2P6 Canada
Phone: 450-667-8886

http://www.corpgmt.com/

GMT.V-Print Version


GMT.V-Fact Sheet

Interview conducted by: Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor, CEOCFOinterviews.com, To be published - January 2011
 

CEOCFO: What is the focus of Mercator Transport and how is it changing?

Mr. Apelian: Mercator Transport focuses on providing our customers a reliable and dependable service to cover their logistics and transport requirements to meet their expectations. Far from changing our focus, we have actually been keeping at it, ever so strongly. We have also been concentrating as much as possible on complex demands in order to offer higher value added services.


CEOCFO: What is your geographic footprint and where will you go next?

Mr. Apelian: We already have offices in Canada, USA, France, Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda and Kenya. We are planning to open other offices in South America and more in West Africa in order to complete our regional network.


CEOCFO: Would you explain the logistics and distribution divisions?

Mr. Apelian: The logistics division, although looking after complex demands, handles straight journeys, with no alterations from the starting point to the final destination. For example, we take machinery from point A, regardless of what the piece of equipment is, or the location of point A, and deliver this same machinery to point B, regardless of where point B is located. In contrast, the distribution division handles alterations along the way. For instance, we could take a full load of spares at point A, and deliver the same to one of our warehouses located anywhere else, and from there, split the lot in numerous parts and dispatch each to a different final destination point. Of course, any variation of this example could apply. We could, for instance, add items, complete the exercise the other way around, in an infinite number of ways.


CEOCFO: How does Mercator break down in the various modes of transportation?

Mr. Apelian: In fact we are not specialized in one particular mode of transport. We are more into intermodal transport, which in fact combines several modes of transport, to cover all the aspects of a movement. For instance, combining road / air / road, or road / air / sea / road, etc… there is always several modes attached to one movement and we cover them all in one stream of process.


CEOCFO: What is the competitive landscape and what sets Mercator apart?

Mr. Apelian: We evolve in a 7 K billion $ market, we are a 50 M$ corporation en route to 100 M$. Competition is definitely out there. However, we are still off the radar of the multibillion corporations, and untouched by the smaller corporations. We are somewhere in between handling the business larger corporations do not want to, and smaller ones can’t handle. Our competitive edge mainly stems from our special approach to customers. What we are selling, is a service. Our capacity of grasping what customer needs are, is thus our forte. We are seeking to make money through customer satisfaction. The other strong angle we explore to set Mercator apart is our presence and our will to grow strongly in Africa; we are the only Canadian corporation with such a network in Africa.


CEOCFO: Please give us a example of your commitment to superior customer service?

Mr. Apelian: It all starts with comprehending what their needs are, not to mention their expectations and precise intentions. Once we know all this, there is no reason to fail and therefore provide a standardized superior customer service to all customers.


CEOCFO: What is your overall growth strategy?  Will you be doing more acquisitions?

Mr. Apelian: For the 2011 calendar year, we will be focusing on organic growth, unless a special business acquisition opportunity comes along. It is indeed important for us to take in our rapid growth. In one year time, we indeed went from 25 employees to 100, from 2 offices to 14 and from 28 M$ to 50M$. The company is growing fast, we have to make sure all our processes are properly and adequately actualized, to make sure we are well prepared for the next organic jump to reach 100 M$, and then only will our focus shift back to acquisitions.


CEOCFO: What accounts for your continued revenue growth and how will that be sustained?

Mr. Apelian: Having a clear vision sustained by a strong strategic plan with no compromise on what has been decided although flexible on opportunities, as well as the ability to adapt to new realities, the whole wrapped into a lot of hard work, has resulted in such growth. We consider ourselves at the very beginning of our growth process, hence we will not change our manner of conducting business and we hope that this will result in sustaining our growth rate. Should this rate drop, we will then adapt to the new reality and change paradigm in order to be back into a strong growth mode.


CEOCFO: Do you do much investor outreach?

Mr. Apelian: Yes because we need to share our exciting activity with others, to give them the opportunity to know us and to participate with us in this adventure.


CEOCFO: In closing, would you address potential investors; why look at Mercator Transport?

Mr. Apelian: Mercator is definitely a penny stock. However, Mercator takes the edge of a penny stock without the risk normally associated to penny stocks. This is because unlike other penny stocks that are on the “hit or miss” mode, we are an economical reality that bills hundreds of invoices everyday, to almost a 1000 customers across the globe, that collects 50 M$ receivables per annum, pays 4 M$ salaries, and invests 500 K$ to 1M$ every year to grow the service base, to offer always more to customers. To conclude, I do not think a well established, mature corporation can offer such high yields.

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Mercator is definitely a penny stock. However, Mercator takes the edge of a penny stock without the risk normally associated to penny stocks. This is because unlike other penny stocks that are on the “hit or miss” mode, we are an economical reality that bills hundreds of invoices everyday, to almost a 1000 customers throughout the planet, that collects 50 M$ receivables per annum, pays 4 M$ salaries, and invests 500 K$ to 1M$ every year to grow the service base, to offer always more to customers. To conclude, I do not think a well established, mature corporation can offer such high yields. - Jean Pierre Apelian

 

 

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