Going direct reduces our per device cost over 20% and allows us to utilize our financing facility more cost efficiently. I think it's important to state that switching from real time spot buying devices on the secondary market to purchasing, manufacturing, and the shipping logistics of buying direct from the factory overseas, did force us momentarily to take our foot off the gas, no different than shifting gears in order to accelerate at a higher velocity. For example, we were faced with the decision of air versus ocean freight. The timing for ocean was an additional 35 days difference, but the cost savings averaged over $35,000 per staged shipment, of which there were 13 shipments. When forced to choose between optimizing the appearance of growth or maximizing the present value of current and future cash flows, we'll always choose the cash flows.

I'm happy to say these shipments started arriving in March and are now in a rhythm. A dedicated staff of 40 people are now managing the activation, distribution and fulfilment of our inventory. During this transition, we did grow our wireless base, but at a controlled and disciplined pace to minimize overpaying for devices simply to attain subscriber numbers, we believe we will ultimately achieve either way. In December, we announced the resignation of Jay Jones from our Board of Directors in the election of Lori Weisberg and Rich Sheffield. This announcement will be a boon to SurgePays, as we continue to scale the company. Jay resigned as an independent board member only to move into a closer advisory role where he will work with us and the company senior management.

Lori and Rich are either current or former CEOs with extensive executive experience in the tech and telecom industries. In addition to operational expertise in their respective fields, Lori and Rich bring invaluable next level familiarity with the critical legal and governance issues we expect as SurgePays continues to grow. Subsequent to year end, in February, 2023, we announced a new distribution agreement with Capital Candy, a family-owned wholesale distributor to convenience stores in New England. The agreement with Capital Candy will allow SurgePays to sell our prepaid telecom and financial products for the underbanked, including ACP signups into over 3,000 convenience stores. It's deals like these where we start to see the impact of adding someone like Jeremy Gies to our team.

As a matter of fact, we recently added another 20-year veteran to the team as VP of Sales, directly reporting to Jeremy to assist in working through a funnel of over 35 more partnerships, integrations and similar agreements with several of those being 10 times the number of convenience stores. In the fourth quarter, revenue exceeded $36 million, a one and a 1.5 times increase compared to last year and we exited 2022 with $144.8 million revenue run rate. 2022 revenue increased by 138% compared to 2021 and it's important to note that this was during the timeframe where sales were intentionally throttled by management to grow without dilution. The discipline growth plan we laid out earlier this year will be rewarded with continued revenue growth, profitability and increased shareholder value.

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As previously discussed, due to us taking the foot off the gas to shift to buying devices direct, the fourth quarter clarifies that SurgePays generates a lot of cash when it doesn't have to expense customer acquisitions fully upfront, and much more of our revenue reached the bottom line with a net gain of $3 million. Looking forward, we're excited about the earnings potential of SurgePays. I have been providing prepaid telecom products to the underbanked community through convenience stores for 20 years, and I've never seen the response like what we're seeing in our beta testing for in-store ACP signups; not just from the customer's response inside of a store that sees a poster or sticker, but from the store owner's willingness to sign on with us, which gives us access to offer all of our FinTech and prepaid wireless products for the under bank through his store.

If a customer is on SNAP, EBT, they qualify for ACP. In many cases, the SNAP benefits are used at the store closest to the residents, which is usually the convenience store. Our store owners already have a good idea of their subsidized customer base and immediately are realizing the potential. Also, by enrolling a customer from a brick and mortar store versus a pop-up tent, we anticipate retention will be higher if the customer knows where he can go to get help if needed, and the store owner is making a residual commission, so he has a vested interest to make sure these subscribers remain active and happy. Ultimately, it is our goal to utilize the ACP program to gain access to tens of thousands of convenience stores nationwide and maximize those relationships by deploying our entire suite of prepaid and FinTech products for the underbanked.

The early data is really encouraging and we anticipate this being a major revenue growth driver across several verticals. To further prepare for this growth, we've more than doubled our bilingual sales, support and back office team at our operations center in in El Salvador, where we now have over 200 people strong. As I sit back and visualize how I see the model unfolding, being able to watch both main revenue channels grow in synergy, spearheaded by experienced sales leaders, this is really electric for me. Now is the time where we work aggressively to build the foundation for a multi-billion dollar revenue company, serving millions of subscribers and tens of thousands of convenience stores with operational excellence and value-minded efficiency.

We believe that a fundamental measure of our success will be the shareholder value we create over the long term. This value will be a direct result of our ability to add convenience stores to our network and leverage those stores as points of distribution into the underbanked community. The larger our national network of stores, the more powerful our economic model and more viable platform for an M&A strategy in the near future. We believe increasing our network of stores can translate directly to higher revenue, higher profitability, and correspondingly stronger returns on invested capital. We continue to focus on managing our cash flow and deploying, excuse me, deploying that cash best. I generally look at current assets as a gauge of where we've been, where we are and where we want to be.

Accounts receivable have increased throughout the year from $3.2 million at the end of 2021 to $9.2 million at the end of 2022 with $7 million of cash. Turning to guidance for 2023, we believe leveraging new alignments with distributors and additional in-store ACP signups will allow SurgePays to generate revenues of at least $190 million. We expect first quarter revenues to be relatively in line with fourth quarter 2022, given that our devices started arriving in March. We anticipate growth accelerating quickly the remainder of the year. We expect 13,000 stores to be operating on the SurgePays network and expect to see positive operating cash flow during the year. I'll turn the call over to Tony to briefly review our financial results, before summarizing today's call.

Tony?

Tony Evers: Thank you, Brian, and good afternoon, everyone. I'll begin my overview of the fourth quarter and full year's financial results. For the quarter, we reported revenues of $36.2 million compared to $23.3 million in the fourth quarter of '21, representing an increase of 155%. During 2022, we reported revenues of $121.5 million, an increase of 138% over the prior 12-month period. The increased sales for the year were primarily attributable to subscriber growth and our mobile broadband business. Gross profit increased 272% in the fourth quarter to $6.7 million compared to $2.5 million in the same period a year ago. Gross profit for the year increased 118% to $13.5 million compared to $11.4 million of prior year. SG&A expenses increased by 4.4% during the year.

The increase was primarily driven by one-time bonuses paid to various management personnel and increased insurance expense related to the NASDAQ uplifting. Income from operations were positive for the year at $0.6 million compared to a loss of $6 million in the prior year. Net loss for the year was $0.7 million, or a loss of $0.05 per share, compared to a net loss of a $13.5 million or a loss of $3.09 per share last year. Of the $7 million loss, 2022 included much lower interest expenses than the prior year and certain non-recurring items including $89,000 loss in the investment in Centrecom, a $336,000 gain on the PPP loan and $115,000 loss from amortization of debt discount. EBITDA for the year was $2.5 million compared to a negative $5.1 million in 2021.

In the fourth quarter, EBITDA was positive $4.1 million compared to $3.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. Turning to the balance sheet, liquidity and cash flow, our cash balance as of December 31, was $7 million compared to $6.3 million at the end of '21. Account receivable have increased by over $7 million from year end '21 to $2.92 million. The receivable is from the US Government for the mobile broadband subsidy. Payment usually occurs approximately 30 days to 60 days after a new customer is verified and signed up. Given our strength in financial position, higher cash balance and capital structure, our cash allocation priorities focus on increasing the business, investing in the business, and maintaining ample liquidity for future growth.

I'll now pass the call back to Brian for some closing remarks. Brian?

Brian Cox: Thanks Tony. We couldn't be more excited about the opportunities ahead. It's encouraging to know we have a value differentiating business model that has only begun to show its true potential. The foundation we are building today could set the company on a trajectory that's limited only by our imagination. The past year's successes and I believe our future successes are the product of a talented, smart and hardworking group of folks and I take a lot of pride and I'm thankful for being a part of this great SurgePays team, who are all working to build something important. Lastly, I greatly appreciate the support and interest of our shareholders as we continue this growth journey. We will now open the call for questions. Operator? Question-and-Answer Session

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