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MLTO: Providing Health
Solutions To The Hispanic Community
by Glenn Wilkins - AllPennyStocks.com News Reporter
November 9, 2005 (AllPennyStocks.com Media, Inc.) - People in
general, and businesses in particular, ignore a socio-economic
trend very much on the rise, that more and more Americans have
Spanish as their mother tongue than pretty much any other
language, excepting English. It is a trend that George W. Bush
used to his advantage in both 2000 and 2004, by courting votes
among the Hispanic community to win the White House (as he had
done the governor's chair in Texas before that). While it is
sometimes a mistake to cater exclusively to any one ethnic
group, a company that appears to be doing so, and see its
fortunes looking up as a result, is MEDirect Latino
Incorporated
(MLTO:Pink Sheets). The Plantation, Florida-based firm
prides itself as the first national provider of
direct-to-consumer Medicare reimbursed medical products,
focused exclusively on chronic diseases affecting the Hispanic
community.
The company is currently fixating much of its attention on
the distribution of products for the treatment of Type II
Diabetes, which apparently has hit the Hispanic demographic
120-percent harder than non-Hispanic whites in America.
MEDirect Latino is also targeting type II Diabetes because of
its unique status within the Medicare reimbursement regime and
its high degree of correlation to other diseases such as high
blood pressure and heart disease.
The current Latino market for MEDirect's products is
conservatively estimated near $750 Million (all figures in
U.S. dollars unless specified otherwise). It represents a huge
opportunity for investors, given that 2.3 Million Hispanics
are over 65, and eligible for Medicare benefits. MEDirect
Latino is the only company catering to this market as a
direct-to-consumer Medicare provider on an authentically
national level. Attractive agreements with diabetes medication
suppliers such as Bayer, Roche, Johnson & Johnson's LifeScan
and Vital Care Group help position the company to aim higher
and wider.
In September, the company expanded beyond its home base of
Florida, to open a satellite distribution and service facility
in San Juan, Puerto Rico, an expansion that could add a
quarter-Million potential customers to the company's
penetration plans in Puerto Rico, an eligible market of more
than $300 Million.
The company's executive team has over 100 years of
continued business development experience with corporations
ranging from NBC television, Mercy Hospital Group, Logan
Pharmaceuticals and AmeriSource.
The Medicare reimbursable direct-to-consumer business was
given a (pardon the expression) shot in the arm by the Federal
Balanced Budget Act of 1998 in Congress, which declared
diabetes an "epidemic disease", thus broadening the scope of
Medicare reimbursement for products distributed directly to
consumers. It facilitated such patients having access to such
necessary products as blood glucose meters, test strips and
lancing devices from their local pharmacies.
With a board of directors so experienced in media, it was
only a matter of time before such products hit the nation's
airwaves, pages and computer screens. In September, MEDirect
Latino kicked off a national media launch with the placement
of national ads on Telemundo network in the States, while
continuing to advertise in Puerto Rico on Telemundo, Univision
and local cable channels.
Within a matter of weeks, the company noted a 78-percent
hike in average daily call volume, sparking projections of new
patient shipments exceeding 2,650 clients by the end of
October, or better than double the September operating results
that it announced. MEDirect also felt confident enough to
revise upwards its revenue projections from $10 Million to $15
Million, and net profit estimates from $2 Million to $5
Million by the end of its current fiscal year (May 2006).
MEDirect Latino reports gross billings of $145,984 during
August, a 75-percent increase over July billings. The Company
realized gross product profit margins of 74 percent during the
period, compared to 68 percent in July. This follows a revenue
hike topping 400 percent for the spring-to-summer quarter,
over above the same quarter of 2004.
Mother Nature provided the only black cloud on the horizon
(literally) in the form of Hurricane Wilma, which ransacked
South Florida in late October. Even so, with its commitment to
customer service, the company's national ad and customer call
intake center were up and running within a matter of days, its
service, processing and warehouse facilities in Plantation,
Florida sustaining only minor damage.
MEDirect Latino, which trades on the Pink Sheets under the
symbol MLTO, appears also to have weathered the dreaded
"October effect" which traditionally leaves other equities
washed up on shore. It has not come, however, without its
share of volatility. The price knew 52-week summits and
ditches in just a matter of weeks, dipping to $1.20 early in
July, before soaring to a high of $4.85 in the third week of
sepulchral October. Early November saw MEDirect's price
plateau around $4.35.
Still, given the initial effects of the company's media
campaign, and the potentially huge market for its products and
services - and the speed with which it appears able to deliver
that service - this is a company bent on staying on radar
screens nationwide.
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