PLANTATION, Fla., March 8, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- MEDirect Latino Inc. (Pink Sheets:MLTO) (www.medirectlatino.org), the first national provider of direct-to-consumer Medicare reimbursed medical products focused exclusively on chronic diseases afflicting the Hispanic community, today announced record results for February 2006 in gross billings, new patient shipments and call volume. MEDirect Latino reports gross billings of $906,936 during the month, a 12.67% increase over January's billings of $804,949. The Company's gross product profit margins remained unchanged at 78%. Total new patient shipments for February numbered 3,672, an increase of 15.25% over January's shipments of 3,186. The Company's 'patient hold journal' (approved and pending shipment for regulatory processing), closed the month with 4,447 additional customers, an increase of 8% over January 4,106, approved and pending shipment for regulatory processing. MEDirect Latino expects to monetize its approved and pending patient orders in March, which is typical to the industry model.
Ms. Debra Towsley, President, MEDirect Latino stated, "MEDirect Latino continues to show monthly increases in revenue, new start customers, shipments and customer conversions. We are approaching our first significant 90 day customer reorder cycle, and we expect our gross revenues to increase dramatically. The reorder cycle will showcase the strength of the Medicare reimbursement regime for our Company, which gives us recurring revenue results. Our continued revenue growth will begin to compound as we add new customers on a monthly basis, and service our existing customer's critical healthcare needs. The additional products MEDirect Latino has introduced to our database have been very well received, and we are finding increasing support and need for these products from our customers and the physician community." Further, added Ms Towsley, "We are looking forward to relocating to our new facility, which is 24,000 square feet and is four times the size of our current space. With the move, the Company will be able to accelerate our revenue generation, and introduce new extensions of our products and services that will include the non-Medicare eligible retail market."
ABOUT MEDIRECT LATINO:
MEDirect Latino (Pink Sheets:MLTO) (www.medirectlatino.org) is the first national provider of direct-to-consumer Medicare reimbursed medical products focused exclusively on chronic diseases afflicting the Hispanic community. MEDirect Latino is rapidly growing and uniquely positioned to service the Hispanic community in the United States and Puerto Rico. MEDirect is the only company positioned to serve the U.S. Hispanic healthcare market as a direct-to-consumer Medicare provider on an authentically national level. The Company's current focus is the distribution of products for the treatment of Type II diabetes specifically due to the disproportionate impact and increasing diagnosis rate of diabetes within the U.S. Hispanic population, noting an incidence of 120% higher than among non-Hispanic whites. Type II diabetes was also targeted because of its unique status within the Medicare reimbursement regime and because of its high degree of correlation to other chronic conditions such as high blood pressure and heart disease. These other conditions represent considerable future market potential that will allow MEDirect to efficiently scale its model by leveraging its existing client base and infrastructure.
The current Hispanic market for MEDirect's products is conservatively estimated at approximately $748MM in the continental United States. The size of the opportunity is understated by such figures as an estimated 1.2 million of the over 4.1 million Hispanics in the United States over 65 eligible to receive Medicare benefits are currently collecting these benefits with an estimate that over 1.4 million of those Medicare-eligible Hispanics have diabetes (implying a potential continental U.S. market for MEDirect products of approximately $1 billion).
Safe Harbor Disclosure:
This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws, commonly identified by such terms as "believes," "looking ahead," "anticipates," "estimates" and other terms with similar meaning. Although the Company believes that the assumptions upon which its forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these assumptions will prove to be correct. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's projections and expectations are disclosed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements in this press release are expressly qualified by such cautionary statements and by reference to the underlying assumptions.
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