Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated Announces New Call Center and Strategic Acquisition in Banking Services

TAMPA, FL, March 20, 1997 – Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated (SEi) (Nasdaq:SYKE), a diverse information technology company which provides a variety of computer-related outsourcing services, announced today that it will locate a new technical support call center in Bismarck, ND, its second such facility in the area. The 42,500 square foot, state-of-the-art call center, will house 432 seats on a single shift for technicians to handle the Company’s expanding business both in Corporate “helpdesk” activities, as well as, support calls for computer hardware manufacturers and software publishers.

SEi currently operates a technical support call center at 1720 Sykes Drive in Bismarck, employing more than 500 from the local community. The new mirror image facility will be located adjacent to the current center on land already owned by the Company, according to SEi officials. Construction is expected to begin within 30 to 45 days with completion of the new faclity by late July.

By locating the second call center immediately adjacent to the existing center, SEi will achieve operating efficiencies, saving the Company significant sums in investments and operating costs. The use of existing management, asset resources and the ability to share telephone switching equipment and computer servers makes this dual operation advantageous to the Company, its clients, shareholders and employees.

The new Bismarck call center will complement the Company’s 10 other worldwide centers and is being built and brought on line quickly to meet projected and expanding business growth in the technical call support arena.

“We are pleased to announce our newest facility which will be built in Bismarck, truly an ‘All American’ city,” states John H. Sykes, Chairman and CEO of Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated. “Bismarck is the first city to house dual call centers for our Company. As with all our U.S. call center facilities, we own sufficient land to build two centers at each site. As the first city we’ve selected to add a second call center, we attribute the decision to our operating economies of scale and superior work force. In addition, it’s the ‘can do’ spirit of the citizens of Bismarck that made the decision to expand in this community that much easier,” Sykes adds.

As was the case with each of the former seven call centers, SEi received incentives that allowed the Company to build this new call center at a “no-cost” basis.

The Company also announced that it has successfully completed negotiations to acquire a strategic specialty documentation and translation company, Traffic N.V., based in Leuven, Belgium. Traffic, with annual revenues approximating $3.2, U.S., is being acquired by SEi for $1.8 million in cash.

“This acquisition, while small, is pivotal to the total expansion philosophy of our Company,” Sykes comments. “Our current translation and software localization operations in the U.S. are now complemented by Traffic’s presence in Europe,” he adds. Most important, SEi notes, is that Traffic specializes in the field of banking services, which is a strategic growth market targeted by the Company.

“The use of on-line banking services in Europe is far ahead of the U.S.,” Sykes explains. “Traffic’s management experience and proven abilities in the field now add to our company’s full suite of marketing capabilities, all focused on providing a total turn-key solution to the banking industry.”

Sykes concludes, “SEi continues to expand its position in the global marketplace, as set forth in our strategic objectives. We remain focused and on track toward reaching our goals, and we remain confident and optimistic in meeting expectations for our continued growth throughout 1997.”

SEi, a diverse information technology company based in Tampa, FL, employs more than 3,400 across the globe providing a variety of computer-related outsourcing services to Fortune 500 firms. SEi’s business includes third party hardware and software support, help desk services, systems consulting, documentation development and foreign language localization.