Premiere Global Services Acquires Citizens Conferencing Services Unit

Premiere Global Services Inc., a company providing business communications services to enterprise customers, this month completed the acquisition of the conferencing services division of Citizens Communications Company.

The company anticipates the acquisition will add to revenue and earnings and has raised its financial outlook for the year.

Atlanta-based Premiere Global Services projects annual revenue of $500 million to $520 million and diluted earnings per share of 69 cents to 72 cents.

The EPS estimate does not include the impact of a new accounting standard, which takes effect July 1 and requires the expensing of stock options. The company anticipates the accounting standard will dilute EPS by 3 cents or less in 2005.

In other developments, Premiere Global Services has purchased 635,000 shares of its common stock during the current quarter for approximately $6.5 million. Shares of the company were trading Wednesday at $10.80 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company posted 2004 revenue of $449.4 million and net income of $41.9 million.