Gems Tv Increases Subscriber Base in Japan
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Gems TV Holdings Limited (Incorporated with limited liability in the Cayman Islands on April 23, 2001) For Immediate Release GEMS TV INCREASES SUBSCRIBER BASE IN JAPAN Singapore, February 1, 2008 – Gems TV Holdings Limited (“Gems TV” or the “Group”), the leading integrated manufacturer and television home shopping retailer of colored gemstone in the UK and US, is pleased to announce that it has signed contracts to broadcast with popular cable operators J:COM West Co., Ltd. (“J:COM West”) and K Cable Television Corporation Inc. (“K- Cat”). These latest agreements will increase the Group’s subscriber base in Japan from 3.2 million to 3.5 million. GemsTV is now available to J:COM West and K-Cat subscribers. Gems TV’s live reverse auction program will be broadcast 14 hours a day, while informative and entertaining documentaries on gemstone jewelry will occupy the rest of the timeslots. The new agreements will enhance Gems TV’s presence in Osaka, Kobe, Ashiya and Kyoto City, which are home to high-income earners with a keen interest in fashion and jewelry. J:COM West broadcasts solely in the Osaka prefecture while K-Cat covers Osaka Hyogo, Kyoto, Wakayama and Shiga. Both cable operators have a combined subscriber base of approximately 300,000 households and are growing by an average of 3,000 new subscribers each month. Kaori Miwa, Managing Director of Gems TV’s Japanese subsidiary GemsLondon Ltd, said “Our entry into the Japanese market has been extremely smooth and these new agreements demonstrate both the confidence our cable partners have in our brand and product offerings, as well as the positive reception of our existing customers.” Jason Choo, CEO of Gems TV added, “We are excited about our continued growth in Japan and are looking forward to establishing Gems TV as a leading provider and authority on genuine gemstone jewelry. I am pleased to report that we are well on our way to attaining that goal.” Besides Japan, Gems TV’s programs are broadcast in US, UK and Germany. This will not have any material impact on the net tangible assets and earnings per share of the Company for the financial year ending 30 June 2008. Credit Suisse (Singapore) Limited is the Issue Manager, Underwriter of the Offering, Sole Global Coordinator and Bookrunner for the initial public offering of the 328,633,000 ordinary shares of par value US$0.001 each in the capital of Gems TV Holdings Limited. - End - For media queries, please contact: Gavin Anderson & Company Singapore : +65-6339 9110 Charis Lee : +65-9273 7553 Jeffrey Fang : +65-9838 5636 Terence Foo : +65-9878 8787 About Gems TV Gems TV Holdings Limited (“GemsTV”) specializes in manufacturing genuine colored gemstone jewelry in exclusive handcrafted designs which are sold directly to customers through a "reverse auction'' system via television home shopping and the Internet. Employing more than 2,500 staff world-wide, GemsTV delivers exceptional value to customers by eliminating the need for multiple intermediaries through a vertical integration of the traditional gemstone and jewelry supply chain. GemsTV is the United Kingdom's leading dedicated television home shopping retailer of colored gemstone jewelry where it owns and operates two dedicated jewelry home shopping TV channels which broadcast live to more than 19 million subscribers. In November 2006, GemsTV extended its TV shopping programs into the United States where it broadcasts live 24 hours a day to approximately 45 million subscribers. GemsTV started operations in Germany in October 2006 through a partnership with Gems TV Deutschland, a German television production company. GemsTV has an option to acquire 40% of the German entity which has a subscriber base of approximately 6 million. In Japan, GemsTV broadcasts its Japanese TV shopping channel to approximately 3.5 million viewers. In addition, GemsTV sells its products on the Internet through www.gemstv.com, www.gemstv.co.uk and www.thaigem.com, as well as on third-party websites such as eBay. GemsTV owns and operates three fully integrated jewelry production facilities in Thailand. GemsTV was incorporated with limited liability in the Cayman Islands on 23 April 2001. .