UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)

[X] QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the quarterly period ended September 30, 2019

or

[  ] TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from ________________ to ________________

Commission file number 000-52522

SURGE HOLDINGS, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(901) 302-9587
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Not applicable
(Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes [X] No [  ]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).

Yes [X] No [  ]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. [  ]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

Yes [  ] No [X]

The number of shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding as of November 14, 2019 was 100,995,459 shares.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION

ITEM 1: FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

SURGE HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements

SURGE HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

(Unaudited)

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

SURGE HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

Condensed Consolidated Statement of Stockholders’ Deficit

(Unaudited)

Three Months ended September 30, 2019

Three Months ended September 30, 2018

Nine Months ended September 30, 2019

Nine Months ended September 30, 2018

SURGE HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(Unaudited)

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements

SURGE HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

September 30, 2019

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Surge Holdings, Inc. (“Surge”), formerly Ksix Media Holdings, Inc., incorporated in Nevada on August 18, 2006, and its wholly owned subsidiaries, Ksix Media, Inc. (“Media”), incorporated in Nevada on November 5, 2014; Ksix, LLC (“KSIX”), a Nevada limited liability company that was formed on September 14, 2011; Surge Blockchain, LLC (“Blockchain”), formerly Blvd. Media Group, LLC (“BLVD”), a Nevada limited liability company that was formed on January 29, 2009; DigitizeIQ, LLC (“DIQ”) an Illinois limited liability company that was formed on July 23, 2014; Surge Cryptocurrency Mining, Inc. (“Crypto”), formerly North American Exploration, Inc. (“NAE”), a Nevada corporation that was incorporated on August 18, 2006 (since January 1, 2019, this has been a dormant entity that does not own any assets); Surge Logics Inc (“Logics”), an Nevada corporation that was formed on October 2, 2018; SurgePays Fintech Inc (“Tech”), an Nevada corporation that was formed on August 22, 2019; Surge Payments LLC (“Payments”), an Nevada corporation that was formed on December 17, 2018; SurgePhone Wireless LLC (“Surge Phone”), an Nevada corporation that was formed on August 29, 2019 and True Wireless, Inc., an Oklahoma corporation (formerly True Wireless, LLC) (“TW”), (collectively the “Company” or “we”). All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Recent Developments

As reported on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on April 16, 2018, on April 11, 2018, the Company closed the merger transaction (the “Merger”) that was the subject of that certain Agreement and Plan of Reorganization (the “Merger Agreement”) with True Wireless, Inc., an Oklahoma corporation (“TW”) dated as of April 11, 2018. At closing, in accordance with the Merger Agreement, TW merged with and into TW Acquisition Corporation, a Nevada corporation (“Merger Sub”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Surge Holdings, Inc., with TW being the surviving corporation. As a result of the Merger, TW became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.

As a result of the controlling financial interest of the former members of TW, for financial statement reporting purposes, the merger between the Company and TW has been treated as a reverse acquisition with TW deemed the accounting acquirer and the Company deemed the accounting acquiree under the acquisition method of accounting in accordance with section 805-10-55 of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification. The reverse acquisition is deemed a capital transaction and the net assets of TW (the accounting acquirer) are carried forward to the Company (the legal acquirer and the reporting entity) at their carrying value before the acquisition. The acquisition process utilizes the capital structure of the Company and the assets and liabilities of TW which are recorded at their historical cost. The equity of the Company is the historical equity of TW retroactively restated to reflect the number of shares issued by the Company in the transaction. See Note 4.

On January 17, 2019, the Company announced the completion of an agreement to acquire a 40% equity ownership of Centercom Global, S.A. de C.V (“Centercom”). Centercom is a dynamic operations center currently providing Surge sales support, customer service, IT infrastructure design, graphic media, database programming, software development, revenue assurance, lead generation, and other various operational support services. Anthony N. Nuzzo, a director and officer and a 10% shareholder of the Company’s voting equity has a controlling interest in CenterCom Global. Centercom also provides call center support for various third-party clients. Centercom is involved with:

On September 30, 2019, the Company entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with GBT Technologies Inc., a Nevada corporation (“GBT”).

Under the Purchase Agreement, the Company has purchased substantially all of the assets, and specified liabilities, of GBT’s ECS Prepaid business, Electronic Check Services business, and the Central State Legal Services business (collectively the “ECS Business”). The Purchase Agreement provides that the Company assumed GBT’s liabilities incurred after the effective date of the Purchase Agreement, but only to the extent such obligations and liabilities were not caused by or related to any action or inaction by GBT prior to the effective date of the Purchase Agreement. The Purchase Agreement provides, among other things, that on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth therein, the Company acquired substantially all of the assets related to the ECS Business for total consideration of five million dollars ($5,000,000). The Purchase Agreement provides that the consideration is to be paid by the Company through the issuance of a convertible promissory note in the amount of four million dollars ($4,000,000) to GBT (the “Note”), and through the issuance of three million three hundred thirty-three thousand three hundred thirty-three (3,333,333) restricted shares of the Company’s common stock to GBT (the “Shares”). GBT may not convert the Note to the extent that such conversion would result in beneficial ownership by GBT and/or its affiliates of more than 4.99% of the issued and outstanding common stock of the Company.

Business Overview

Surge Holdings, Inc. (“Surge Holdings” or “the Company”), incorporated in Nevada on August 18, 2006, is a company focused on Telecom, Media, and FinTech applications serving customers worldwide online and across social media, gaming and mobile platforms.

The Company’s current focus is the provision of financial and telecommunications services to the financially underserved (i.e. persons who have little or no access to credit) within the population. The Company provides a suite of services which are primarily marketed through small retail establishments which are utilized by members of its target market.

Commencing in 2018, the Company has significantly expanded its suite of services to include the pursuit of the following business models:

Surge Telecom

SurgePhone Wireless offers discounted talk, text, and 4G LTE data wireless plans at prices that average 30% – 50% lower than competitors. Available nationwide, SurgePhone Wireless utilizes ad impression revenue to help offset and, in many cases, eliminate the monthly wireless plans for low income customers (free service for the customer is paid for by ad revenue). Additionally, SurgePhone also offers strategic discounts such as the Surge Heroes campaign that rewards teachers, first responders, active military and veterans with a free Android smartphone.

Additionally, through the use of the SurgeRewardsApp, the Company is able to more aggressively rollout the SurgePhoneWireless service. Customers earn rewards from the ad impressions while unlocking their phone and also by opening the SurgeRewardsApp to watch videos and ads, as well as participate in short surveys in order to receive reward points that can be converted into statement credits for free cell phone service or cash.

True Wireless is licensed to provide subsidized wireless service to qualifying low income customers in 5 states. Utilizing all 4 major USA wireless backbones, True Wireless provides discounted and free wireless service to over 25,000 veterans and other customers who qualify for certain federal programs such as SNAP (EBT) and Medicaid.

The SurgePhone Android Volt 5XL provides a large screen smartphone option to those unable to afford a more expensive phone.

Surge Fintech

SurgePays Visa launched late in the third quarter of 2019. We believe this card could be life enhancing by serving as a virtual checking account for the unbanked, underbanked, credit challenged or those unable to access traditional financial services. The SurgePays card will offer safety, security and convenience of using the card anywhere that accepts Visa and customers will be able to load their card via direct deposit or loading cash directly at 110,000 locations nationwide. Customers will be able to access and manage their accounts from the connected app. In addition, customers will also be able to take a picture of their paycheck and load the cash to their cards (eliminating costly check cashing fees).

Surge Software

SurgePays Portal is a multi-purpose software interface for convenience stores, bodegas and other corner merchants providing goods and services to the underbanked community. The merchant or clerk is able to use the portal interface – similar to a website – with image driven navigation to add wireless minutes to any prepaid wireless carrier’s phone and access to other services such as bill payment and loading debit cards. We believe what makes SurgePays unique is that it also offers the merchant the ability to order wholesale goods through the portal with one touch ease. SurgePays is essentially a wholesale e-commerce storefront that allows manufactures and distribution companies to have access to merchants while cutting out the middleman. The goal of the SurgePays Portal is to provide as many commonly sold consumable products as possible to convenience stores, corner markets, bodegas, and supermarkets. These products include energy drinks, dry foods, frozen foods, bagged snacks, processed meats, automotive parts and many more goods, all in one convenient e-commerce storefront.

Surge Digital Media

Surge Logics is a full-service digital advertising agency, specializing in lead generation, Pay Per Call, landing page optimization and managed ad spending. Our primary media buying platforms are Google AdWords, Facebook, Instagram and Bing. We have a call center that can handle Live Call Transfers, Customer Service Support, Lead Verification and Attorney Case Support.

Through the launch of Surge Intake Logistics (“InTake”), a proprietary CRM software solution that delivers signed retainer services to clients, InTake is proving to be a direct benefit to clients that do not have the staff and infrastructure to handle the volume of leads Surge Logics generates. Surge Logics has taken this a step further to provide qualified leads utilizing a strategic partnership with Centercom to be first in class for online lead generation This partnership and new software have significantly contributed to Surge Logic's revenue which has grown to approximately $4.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2019.

Lead generation describes the marketing process of stimulating and capturing interest in a product or service for the purpose of developing sales pipeline.

Pay-per-call (PPCall, also called cost-per-call) is an advertising model in which the rate paid by the advertiser is determined by the number of telephone calls made by viewers of an ad. Pay Per Call providers charge per call, per impression or per conversion.

Media buying is the process of buying media placements for advertising (on TV, in publications, on the radio, digital signage, apps or on websites).

A call center - centralized office used for receiving or transmitting a large volume of requests by telephone.

Centercom Global, S.A. de C.V.

On January 17, 2019, the Company announced the completion of an agreement to acquire a 40% equity ownership of Centercom Global, S.A. de C.V (“Centercom”). Centercom is a dynamic operations center currently providing Surge sales support, customer service, IT infrastructure design, graphic media, database programming, software development, revenue assurance, lead generation, and other various operational support services. Anthony N. Nuzzo, a director and officer and a 10% shareholder of the Company’s voting equity has a controlling interest in CenterCom Global. Centercom also provides call center support for various third-party clients. Centercom is involved with:

Due to the fact that a director, officer, and minority owner of the Company has a controlling interest in CenterCom Global, the Company recorded its investment in Centercom of $178,508, which is the Company’s 40% ownership of Centercom’s net book value upon close of the completion of the transaction, as “Investment in Centercom” in long term assets on the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets. The Company recorded its equity interest in Centercom’s results of operations as “Gain on investment in Centercom” in other income (expense) on the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of income. The Company periodically reviews its investment in Centercom for impairment. Management has determined that no impairment was required as of September 30, 2019.

ECS Business

On September 30, 2019, the Company entered into the Purchase Agreement with GBT Technologies Inc (“GBT”) of the ECS Prepaid business, Electronic Check Services business and the Central States Legal Services business (collectively, “ECS”). Through its proprietary Fintech software platform, ECS is a leading provider of prepaid wireless load and top-ups, check cashing and wireless SIM activation to convenience stores and bodegas nationwide. Since 2008, ECS has grown to a network of over 9,800 retail locations and 160 independent sales organizations (“ISO”) processing over 18,000 transactions per day. Surge will integrate the ECS software with its SurgePays Network in order to offer both wholesale products from third-party manufacturers, as well as Surge products, including the SurgePays Reloadable Debit Card, SurgePhone Wireless and SIM Starter Kits. See Note 5.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for interim financial statements and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 8 of Regulation S-X of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Accordingly, they do not contain all information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for annual financial statements. In the opinion of the Company’s management, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements contain all of the adjustments necessary (consisting only of normal recurring accruals) to present the financial position of the Company as of September 30, 2019 and the results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented. The results of operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 are not necessarily indicative of the operating results for the full fiscal year or any future period. These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and related notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 filed with the SEC on April 1, 2019.

Use of Estimates and Assumptions and Critical Accounting Estimates and Assumptions

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the dates of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Risks and Uncertainties

The Company operates in an industry that is subject to intense competition and change in consumer demand. The Company’s operations are subject to significant risk and uncertainties including financial and operational risks including the potential risk of business failure.

The Company has experienced, and in the future expects to continue to experience, variability in sales and earnings. The factors expected to contribute to this variability include, among others, (i) the cyclical nature of the industry, (ii) general economic conditions in the various local markets in which the Company competes, including a potential general downturn in the economy, and (iii) the volatility of prices in connection with the Company’s distribution of the product. These factors, among others, make it difficult to project the Company’s operating results on a consistent basis.

Concentration of Credit Risk

Financial instruments that potentially expose the Company to credit risk consist of cash and cash equivalents, and accounts receivable. The Company is exposed to credit risk on its cash and cash equivalents in the event of default by the financial institutions to the extent account balances exceed the amount insured by the FDIC, which is $250,000. Accounts receivables potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk. Company closely monitors extensions of credit. Estimated credit losses have been recorded in the consolidated financial statements. Recent credit losses have been within management’s expectations. No customer accounted for more than 10% of revenues in 2019 or 2018.

Method of Accounting

Investments held in stock of entities other than subsidiaries, namely corporate joint ventures and other non-controlled entities usually are accounted for by one of three methods: (i) the fair value method (addressed in Topic 320), (ii) the equity method (addressed in Topic 323), or (iii) the cost method (addressed in Subtopic 325-20). Pursuant to Paragraph 323-10-05-5, the equity method tends to be most appropriate if an investment enables the investor to influence the operating or financial policies of the investee.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly liquid instruments purchased with a maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. The Company held no cash equivalents at September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018.

The Company minimizes its credit risk associated with cash by periodically evaluating the credit quality of its primary financial institution. The balance at times may exceed federally insured limits.

Fair value measurements

The Company adopted the provisions of ASC Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures”, which defines fair value as used in numerous accounting pronouncements, establishes a framework for measuring fair value and expands disclosure of fair value measurements.

The estimated fair value of certain financial instruments, including cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued expenses are carried at historical cost basis, which approximates their fair values because of the short-term nature of these instruments. The carrying amounts of our short and long term credit obligations approximate fair value because the effective yields on these obligations, which include contractual interest rates taken together with other features such as concurrent issuances of warrants and/or embedded conversion options, are comparable to rates of returns for instruments of similar credit risk.

ASC 820 defines fair value as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. ASC 820 also establishes a fair value hierarchy, which requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. ASC 820 describes three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value:

Revenue recognition

The Company adopted ASC 606 effective January 1, 2018 using the modified retrospective method which would require a cumulative effect adjustment for initially applying the new revenue standard as an adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings and the comparative information would not require to be restated and continue to be reported under the accounting standards in effect for those periods.

Based on the Company’s analysis the Company did not identify a cumulative effect adjustment for initially applying the new revenue standards. The Company principally generates revenue through providing product, services and licensing revenue.

The adoption of ASC 606 represents a change in accounting principle that will more closely align revenue recognition with the delivery of the Company’s services and will provide financial statement readers with enhanced disclosures. In accordance with ASC 606, revenue is recognized when a customer obtains control of promised services. The amount of revenue recognized reflects the consideration to which the Company expects to be entitled to receive in exchange for these services. To achieve this core principle, the Company applies the following five steps:

A contract with a customer exists when (i) the Company enters into an enforceable contract with a customer that defines each party’s rights regarding the services to be transferred and identifies the payment terms related to these services, (ii) the contract has commercial substance and, (iii) the Company determines that collection of substantially all consideration for services that are transferred is probable based on the customer’s intent and ability to pay the promised consideration. The Company applies judgment in determining the customer’s ability and intention to pay, which is based on a variety of factors including the customer’s historical payment experience or, in the case of a new customer, published credit and financial information pertaining to the customer.

Performance obligations promised in a contract are identified based on the services that will be transferred to the customer that are both capable of being distinct, whereby the customer can benefit from the service either on its own or together with other resources that are readily available from third parties or from the Company, and are distinct in the context of the contract, whereby the transfer of the services is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract. To the extent a contract includes multiple promised services, the Company must apply judgment to determine whether promised services are capable of being distinct and distinct in the context of the contract. If these criteria are not met the promised services are accounted for as a combined performance obligation.

The transaction price is determined based on the consideration to which the Company will be entitled in exchange for transferring services to the customer. To the extent the transaction price includes variable consideration, the Company estimates the amount of variable consideration that should be included in the transaction price utilizing either the expected value method or the most likely amount method depending on the nature of the variable consideration. Variable consideration is included in the transaction price if, in the Company’s judgment, it is probable that a significant future reversal of cumulative revenue under the contract will not occur. None of the Company’s contracts as of September 30, 2019 contained a significant financing component.

If the contract contains a single performance obligation, the entire transaction price is allocated to the single performance obligation. However, if a series of distinct services that are substantially the same qualifies as a single performance obligation in a contract with variable consideration, the Company must determine if the variable consideration is attributable to the entire contract or to a specific part of the contract. For example, a bonus or penalty may be associated with one or more, but not all, distinct services promised in a series of distinct services that forms part of a single performance obligation. Contracts that contain multiple performance obligations require an allocation of the transaction price to each performance obligation based on a relative standalone selling price basis unless the transaction price is variable and meets the criteria to be allocated entirely to a performance obligation or to a distinct service that forms part of a single performance obligation. The Company determines standalone selling price based on the price at which the performance obligation is sold separately. If the standalone selling price is not observable through past transactions, the Company estimates the standalone selling price taking into account available information such as market conditions and internally approved pricing guidelines related to the performance obligations.

The Company satisfies performance obligations either over time or at a point in time. Revenue is recognized at the time the related performance obligation is satisfied by transferring a promised service to a customer.

Disaggregation of Revenue from Contracts with Customers. The following table disaggregates gross revenue by entity for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018:

True Wireless is licensed to provide wireless services to qualifying low income customers in five states. Revenues are recognized when the services have been provided and the government subsidy has been earned.

Surge Blockchain revenues are generated through the SurgePaysPortal multi-purpose software are recognized when the goods and services have been delivered and earned.

Surge Logics is a full-service digital advertising agency and revenues are recognized at a period in time once performance obligations are met and services are provided as customer deposits are received in advance.

Income taxes

We use the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 740, “Income Taxes”. Under this method, income tax expense is recognized for the amount of: (i) taxes payable or refundable for the current year and (ii) deferred tax consequences of temporary differences resulting from matters that have been recognized in an entity’s financial statements or tax returns. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in the results of operations in the period that includes the enactment date. A valuation allowance is provided to reduce the deferred tax assets reported if based on the weight of the available positive and negative evidence, it is more likely than not some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized.

Through December 23, 2014, KSIX and BLVD operated as limited liability companies and all income and losses were passed through to the owners. Through October 12, 2015, DIQ operated as a limited liability company and all income and losses were passed through to its owner. Subsequent to the acquisition dates, these limited liability companies were owned by Surge and became subject to income tax.

Through April 1, 2018, TW operated as a limited liability company and all income and losses were passed through to the owners. In order to facilitate the merger discussed above, TW converted from a limited liability company to a Subchapter C Corporation.

ASC Topic 740-10-30 clarifies the accounting for uncertainty in income taxes recognized in an enterprise’s financial statements and prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. ASC Topic 740-10-40 provides guidance on de-recognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure, and transition. We have no material uncertain tax positions for any of the reporting periods presented.

The Company is no longer subject to tax examinations by tax authorities for years prior to 2016.

Reclassifications

Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current year’s presentation.

Recent accounting pronouncements

We have evaluated all recent accounting pronouncements as issued by the FASB in the form of Accounting Standards Updates (“ASU”) through the date these financial statements were available to be issued and find no recent accounting pronouncements that would have a material impact on the financial statements of the Company.

The Company had a net loss of approximately $5.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2019. As of September 30, 2019, the Company had cash and working capital deficit of approximately $144,000 and $1.7 million, respectively.

Management has made the decision to invest in its infrastructure in order to cross market and maximize product rollouts allowing for larger scale revenue in Q4 2019 and beyond. As part of this strategy, the Company is rolling out the SurgePays Marketplace platform to the AATAC network of 40,000 retail plus locations. This process includes placement orders of 500,000 Sim Starter kits, wireless top-ups platform, a nationwide exclusive master distributorship for Weekend Warrior Wellness products that include CBD products and the exclusive distributor of Pastime Foods candy. The Company is in the first phase of the rollout, during which it fulfilled over $2,800,000 in purchase orders during the three months ended September 30, 2019. The asset purchase agreement of the ECS Business executed with GBT gives the Company access to a network of over 9,800 retail locations and 160 independent sales people processing over 18,000 transactions per day (see Note 1). ECS generates approximately $46,500,000 in annualized revenue through third party wireless services.

In addition, during the three months ended September 30, 2019, management made the decision to expedite programming, software development and integration to enable the successful launch of the SurgePays Prepaid Visa card.

To support the significant growth inflection, the Company has reorganized its human resources department, including building the administrative, legal and finance office in Bartlett, and the operations center in El Salvador which will be able to host 300 employees. Management believes the Company now has the ability to support its expected growth, which was a major goal for fiscal year 2019. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the Company was able to continue the utilization of the internal controls and operating procedures and techniques employed by the Company’s management in order to enhance the business by creating operating efficiencies and controlling costs. Lastly, the Company has significantly restructured its balance sheet to be an effective platform for growth as the Company continues to work towards listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market.

These factors, among others, were addressed by management in determining whether the Company could continue as a going concern. The Company projects that it should be cash flow positive by the end of Quarter 1 2020 from ongoing operations by the combination of increased cash flow from its current subsidiaries, as well as the collection of outstanding receivables and the restructuring of the current debt burden. While management believes it is more likely than not the Company has the ability to continue as a going concern, this is dependent upon the ability to further implement the business plan, generate sufficient revenues and to control operating expenses.

Additionally, if necessary, based on the Company’s history of being able to raise capital from both internal and external sources coupled with current favorable market conditions, management believes that debt and/or equity financing can be obtained from both related parties (management and members of the Board of Directors of the Company) and external sources to pay down existing debt obligations, cover short term shortfalls, meet the shareholders equity requirements for Nasdaq, and complete proposed acquisitions. Although the Company believes in the viability of management’s strategy to generate sufficient revenue, control costs and the ability to raise additional funds if necessary, there can be no assurances to that effect. Therefore, the accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern.

Subsequent to September 30, 2019, the Company executed debt agreements resulting in gross proceeds of $750,000 to support short-term working capital needs.

As discussed in Note 1, the Company closed the merger transaction that was the subject of the Merger Agreement with True Wireless, Inc., dated as of April 11, 2018. At closing, in accordance with the Merger Agreement, TW merged with and into TW Acquisition Corporation, with TW being the surviving corporation. As a result of the Merger, TW became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.

Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, TW merged into Acquisition Sub in a transaction where TW was the surviving company and become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. The transaction was structured as a tax-free reverse triangular merger. In addition to the 12,000,000 shares of Company Common Stock and $500,000 cash which has been previously paid to the shareholders of TW, at the closing of the merger transaction, the shareholders of TW received the following as additional merger consideration:

● 152,555,416 shares of newly-issued Company Common Stock, which gave the shareholders of TW, on a proforma basis, a 69.5% interest in the Company’s total Common Shares.

● An additional number of shares of Company Common Stock, if any, which were necessary to vest 69.5% of the aggregate issued and outstanding Common Stock in the shareholders of TW at the Closing.

● A promissory note in the original face amount of $3,000,000, bearing interest at 3% per annum maturing on December 31, 2018.

● 3,000,000 shares of newly-issued Company Series A Preferred Stock

Following the closing of the merger transaction the Company’s investment in TW consisted of the following:

Following the closing of the merger transaction, TW’s financial statements as of the closing were consolidated with the consolidated financial statements of the Company.

The following presents the unaudited pro-forma combined results of operations of the Company with the TW Business as if the entities were combined on January 1, 2018.

The unaudited pro-forma results of operations are presented for information purposes only. The unaudited pro-forma results of operations are not intended to present actual results that would have been attained had the acquisitions been completed as of January 1, 2018 or to project potential operating results as of any future date or for any future periods.

The Company consolidated TW as of the closing date of the agreement, and the results of operations of the Company include that of TW.

On September 30, 2019, the Company entered into the Purchase Agreement with GBT.

Under the Purchase Agreement, the Company has purchased substantially all of the assets, and specified liabilities, of GBT’s ECS Prepaid business, Electronic Check Services business, and the Central State Legal Services business. The Purchase Agreement provides that the Company assumed GBT’s liabilities incurred after the effective date of the Purchase Agreement, but only to the extent such obligations and liabilities were not caused by or related to any action or inaction by GBT prior to the effective date of the Purchase Agreement. The Purchase Agreement provides, among other things, that on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth therein, the Company acquired substantially all of the assets related to the ECS Business for total consideration of five million dollars ($5,000,000). The Purchase Agreement provides that the consideration is to be paid by the Company through the issuance of a convertible promissory note in the amount of four million dollars ($4,000,000) to GBT, and through the issuance of three million three hundred thirty-three thousand three hundred thirty-three (3,333,333) restricted shares of the Company’s common stock to GBT. As of the date of this report, the purchase price allocation has yet to be valued. GBT may not convert the Note to the extent that such conversion would result in beneficial ownership by GBT and/or its affiliates of more than 4.99% of the issued and outstanding common stock of the Company.

The Note has an effective date of September 27, 2019 and has a term of eighteen (18) months until the maturity date. The Note shall not bear interest and shall be convertible at the option of GBT starting from the sixth month anniversary of the effective date. The conversion price of the Note shall equal the volume weighted average price of the Company’s common stock on the trading market which the common stock is then trading over the previous twenty (20) days prior to the conversion date, provided that the conversion price shall never be lower than $0.10 or higher than $0.70. The Note provides that the Company retains the right to prepay all or any portion of the principal without any prepayment penalty. In addition, in connection with the issuance of the Note, GBT agreed that, for the eighteen (18) months following the effective date, GBT will not dispose of the Shares or shares issued as a result of the conversion of the Note, in an amount greater than seven and one-half percent (7.5%) of the trading volume of the Company’s shares of common stock during the previous month.

The following presents the unaudited pro-forma combined results of operations of the Company with the ECS Business as if the entities were combined on January 1, 2018.

Property and equipment stated at cost, less accumulated depreciation, consisted of the following:

Depreciation expense was $39,050 and $75,353 for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

In December 2018, the Company executed an agreement with a related party for the sale of Cryptocurrency assets for proceeds of $891,192. In exchange for the purchased assets with a net book value of $523,743, the related party would assume the liabilities of the entity consisting of accounts payable of $40,235 and outstanding debt and accrued interest of $808,600. The Company recognized a gain on sale totaling $273,453.

The Company is no longer engaged in any line of business involving cryptocurrencies or digital assets. The Company previously announced an intention to issue Surge Utility Tokens in the future. The Company still plans on utilizing tokens as a reward program; however, these tokens will have no monetary value and will not involve cryptocurrency or blockchain technology. These tokens will not be able to be bought, sold, invested, or traded. Rather, these tokens will only be awarded by the Company to existing users of the Company’s products and will then only be able to be redeemed for rewards using a Surge Rewards website set up by the Company. The Company has not issued any Surge Utility Tokens to date and this name will not be utilized for any rewards tokens used as part of a future Surge Rewards program.

The Company previously utilized a credit card issued in the name of DIQ to pay for certain of its trade obligations. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the Company utilized a credit card issued in the name of Surge Holdings, Inc. to pay certain trade obligations totaling $1,106,280. At September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the Company’s total credit card liability was $560,754 and $394,840, respectively.

In December 2018, the Company executed a promissory note payable agreement with SMDMM Funding, LLC (“SMDMM”), an entity that is owned by the Company’s chief executive officer. The promissory note was for a principal sum up to $1.0 million at an annual interest rate of 6%, due on December 27, 2021. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the Company drew net advances on the note totaling $642,000. As part of the Cryptocurrency transaction discussed in Note 6 above, $80,000 of the outstanding balance under the promissory note was assumed by the purchaser.

In August 2019, the Company executed a promissory note payable agreement with SMDMM. The promissory note was for a principal sum up to $217,000 at an annual interest rate of 6%, due on August 15, 2022. As of September 30, 2019, the Company drew advances on the note totaling $217,000.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the Company made principal and accrued interest payments of $674,000 and $25,955, respectively. The outstanding principal balance under the promissory notes due to SMDMM was $1,105,000 and $680,000 at September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively. Accrued interest owed to SMDMM was $32,960 and $10,718 at September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively.

As of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, notes payable and long-term debt consists of:

The Company is renegotiating the terms of the notes. The notes bear interest at 5% per annum when in default (after the due date). The notes were non-interest bearing until due. Accordingly, a debt discount at 5% per annum was calculated for the notes and was amortized to interest expense until the due date of the notes.

² Convertible note payable to River North Equity, LLC (“RNE”) - The Company evaluated the embedded conversion for derivative treatment and recorded an initial derivative liability and debt discount of $23,190. The debt discount is fully amortized.

Derivative Liability

The Company has determined that the conversion feature embedded in the notes referred to above that contain a potential variable conversion amount constitutes a derivative which has been bifurcated from the note and recorded as a derivative liability, with a corresponding discount recorded to the associated debt. The excess of the derivative value over the face amount of the note, if any, is recorded immediately to interest expense at inception. As noted above, the Company reached an agreement with a debt holder to convert outstanding debt and interest into shares of common stock. As a result, the Company wrote-off the existing derivative liability of $34,556. In addition, the Company wrote-off outstanding principal balance on the note totaling $32,547.

As of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, convertible promissory notes payable consists of:

¹ As discussed above in Note 5, the Purchase Agreement provides that the consideration is to be paid by the Company through the issuance of a convertible promissory note in the amount of $4,000,000 to GBT, and through the issuance of three million three hundred thirty-three thousand three hundred thirty-three restricted shares of the Company’s common stock. The conversion price of the note shall equal the volume weighted average price of the Company’s common stock on the trading market which the common stock is then trading over the previous twenty (20) days prior to the conversion date, provided that the conversion price shall never be lower than $0.10 or higher than $0.70. The note provides that the Company retains the right to prepay all or any portion of the principal without any prepayment penalty.

² The conversion price of the note shall equal 65% the average price of the two lowest trading prices of the Company’s common stock on the trading market which the common stock is then trading over the previous twenty (20) days prior to the conversion date.

On January 25, 2018 the Company obtained a $500,000 line of credit (LOC) with a Bank. The LOC bears interest at 5% per annum and is secured by essentially all of the Company’s assets. The note is personally guaranteed by the owner of the majority of the Company’s voting shares. On December 21, 2018, the Company and the bank agreed to increase the LOC to $1,000,000 at an interest rate of 6% per annum. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, total advances and repayments under the LOC were $1,130,000 and $217,130, respectively. As of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the outstanding balance on the LOC was $912,870 and $0, respectively.

The Company determines if an arrangement contains a lease at inception. Right of use (“ROU”) assets represent the right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and lease liabilities represent the obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. ROU assets and liabilities are recognized at the lease commencement date based on the estimated present value of lease payments over the lease term.

The Company’s leases consist of leaseholds on office and call center space. The Company utilized a portfolio approach in determining the discount rate. The portfolio approach takes into consideration the range of the term, the range of the lease payments, the category of the underlying asset and the Company’s estimated incremental borrowing rate, which is derived from information available at the lease commencement date, in determining the present value of lease payments. The Company also considered its recent debt issuances as well as publicly available data for instruments with similar characteristics when calculating the incremental borrowing rates.

The lease term includes options to extend the lease when it is reasonably certain that the Company will exercise that option. These operating leases contain renewal options for periods ranging from three to five years that expire at various dates with no residual value guarantees. Future obligations relating to the exercise of renewal options is included in the measurement if, based on the judgment of management, the renewal option is reasonably certain to be exercised. Factors in determining whether an option is reasonably certain of exercise include, but are not limited to, the value of leasehold improvements, the value of the renewal rate compared to market rates, and the presence of factors that would cause a significant economic penalty to the Company if the option is not exercised. Management reasonably plans to exercise all options, and as such, all renewal options are included in the measurement of the right-of-use assets and operating lease liabilities.

Leases with a term of 12 months or less are not recorded on the balance sheet, per the election of the practical expedient noted above.

The Company recognizes lease expense for these leases on a straight-line basis over the lease term. The Company recognizes variable lease payments in the period in which the obligation for those payments is incurred. Variable lease payments that depend on an index or a rate are initially measured using the index or rate at the commencement date, otherwise variable lease payments are recognized in the period incurred.

The components of lease expense were as follows:

Supplemental balance sheet information related to leases was as follows:

Supplemental cash flow and other information related to leases was as follows:

Total future minimum payments required under the lease obligations as of September 30, 2019 are as follows:

Preferred Stock

Series “A” Preferred Stock

As of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, there were 13,000,000 shares of Series A issued and outstanding.

Series “C” Convertible Preferred Stock

As discussed above in Note 1, on January 17, 2019, the Company announced the completion of an agreement to acquire a 40% equity ownership of Centercom. Upon execution of the agreement, the Company issued 72,000 shares of Preferred C stock (convertible into 18,000,000 shares of common stock) to a director, officer and minority owner of the Company who has a controlling interest in Centercom. The Company recorded its investment in Centercom of $178,508, which is the Company’s 40% ownership of Centercom’s net book value upon close of the completion of the transaction, as “Investment in Centercom” in long term assets on the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets.

On February 15, 2019, Carter Matzinger elected to exchange outstanding non-interest-bearing debt totaling $389,502 owed by the Company into 6,232 shares of Preferred C stock.

As of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, there were 721,598 and 643,366 shares of Series C issued and outstanding, respectively.

Common Stock

During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the Company granted consultants 96,000 restricted shares for services pursuant to consulting agreements.

On March 27, 2019, the Company reached a settlement with a consultant to issue 875,000 shares for services rendered. Upon execution of the settlement, the Company recorded a loss on settlement of $507,500.

As discussed above in Note 5, on September 30, 2019, the Company entered into a Purchase Agreement with GBT Technologies Inc. Pursuant to the agreement, the Company acquired substantially all of the assets related to the ECS Business for total consideration of five million dollars ($5,000,000). The Purchase Agreement provides that the consideration is to be paid by the Company through the issuance of a convertible promissory note in the amount of $4,000,000 and through the issuance of 3,333,333 restricted shares of the Company’s common stock.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the Company sold an aggregate of 9,115,712 shares of common stock and 4,333,564 warrants, with each warrant exercisable for one share of Common Stock at an exercise price of $0.75, resulting in gross proceeds to the Company of $3,190,500.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the Company recorded total stock-based compensation expense of $274,200 in relation to shares issued for services.

As of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, there were 101,966,436 and 88,046,391 shares of Common Stock issued and outstanding, respectively.

Stock Warrants

On February 15, 2019, the Company executed a consulting agreement with a third party for professional services. Upon execution of the agreement, the Company agreed to issue 100,000 warrants to purchase the Company’s common stock with an exercise price of $3.00 per share, a term of 3 years, and immediate vesting. In addition, the consultant is eligible to receive 150,000 warrants upon achievement of certain milestones as discussed in the agreement.

The 250,000 warrants to be issued upon execution have an aggregated fair value of approximately $30,782 that was calculated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model based on the assumptions below.

The estimated warrant life was determined based on the “simplified method,” giving consideration to the overall vesting period and the contractual terms of the award.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the Company recorded total stock-based compensation expense related to the warrants of approximately $33,673. The unrecognized compensation expense at September 30, 2019 was approximately $0.

The Company’s former chief executive officer has advanced the Company various amounts on a non-interest-bearing basis, which is being used for working capital. The advance has no fixed maturity. As noted, Mr. Matzinger elected to exchange outstanding non-interest-bearing debt totaling $389,502 owed by the Company into 6,232 shares of Preferred C stock. As of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the outstanding balance due was $0 and $389,502, respectively.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, outsourced management services fees of $765,000 was paid to Axia Management, LLC (“Axia”) as compensation for services provided. These costs are included in Selling, general and administrative expenses in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations. Axia is owned by the majority owner of the Company.

At September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the Company had trade payables to Axia of $160,018 and $66,535, respectively.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, the Company purchased telecom services and access to wireless networks from 321 Communications in the amount of $499,356 and $826,401, respectively. These costs are included in Cost of revenue in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations. The owner of the majority of the Company’s voting shares is a minority owner of 321 Communications.

At September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the Company had trade payables to 321 Communications of $63,561 and $52,161, respectively.

The Company contracted with CenterCom Global, S.A. de C.V. (“CenterCom Global”) to provide customer service call center services, manage the sales process to include handling incoming orders, the collection and verification of all documents to comply with FCC regulations, monthly audit of all subscribers to file the USAC 497 form, yearly audit of all subscribers that have been active over one year to file the USAC 555 form (Recertification), information technology professionals to maintain company websites, sales portals and server maintenance. Billings for these services in the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 were $1,594,068 and $1,612,126, respectively, and are included in Cost of revenue in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations. A director, officer, and minority owner of the Company has a controlling interest in CenterCom Global. As discussed in Note 1, on January 17, 2019 the Company announced the completion of an agreement to acquire a 40% equity ownership of Centercom for $178,508, the Company’s ownership percentage of the net book value of Centercom upon completion of the transaction.

At September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the Company had trade payables to CenterCom Global of $203,095 and $175,000, respectively.

See Note 5 for long-term debt due to related parties.

On November 1, 2013, The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture to the Company for requesting and/or receiving support for ineligible subscriber lines between the months of October 2012 and May 2013 and proposed a monetary forfeiture of $5,501,285. The Company has annual compliance audits with FCC approved audit firms that have found no compliance deficiencies. Management believes the proposed monetary forfeiture is without merit and if anything should result from this notice, the amount would not materially affect the financial position of the Company.

In October 2018, the Company signed an agreement with Pastime Foods (“Pastime”) in order to expand the Company’s distribution network for its SurgePays portal. The agreement will initiate distribution and sales to over 15,000 convenience and retail locations with a long-term target of greater than 40,000 locations. According to the agreement, Pastime commits to selling more than an average required minimum of $1,500 of monthly sales revenue per location. The Company will fund the initial placement costs and expenses with a total initial advance of $190,000 as well as fees of $10,000. Any advances will be offset by the sharing of distribution revenues for shipments paid by retailers directly to Pastime and the Company. The sharing percentage will be 100% of the net distribution profit until the advances have been covered. As of December 31, 2018, the outstanding receivable due to the Company pursuant to the agreement is $190,000 and is shown as Note Receivable on the consolidated balance sheet.

In November 2018, the Company entered into a settlement agreement with West Publishing Corporation (“West”) to remedy an outstanding civil action filed by West. Pursuant to the agreement, the Company will pay West the principal amount of $125,000 plus interest accruing at the annual rate of 7%.

As of September 30, 2019, all payments were made as required in the settlement agreement.

Operating segments are defined as components of an enterprise about which separate financial information is available and evaluated regularly by the chief operating decision maker, or decision–making group, in deciding how to allocate resources and in assessing performance. The Company’s chief operating decision maker is its Chief Executive Officer.

The Company evaluated performance of its operating segments based on revenue and operating profit (loss). Segment information for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 and as of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, are as follows:

On October 7, 2019, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “SPA”), severally and not jointly, with BHP Capital NY Inc., a New York Corporation (“BHP”), Armada Capital Partners LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Armada”), and Jefferson Street Capital LLC, a New Jersey limited liability company (“Jefferson”), (“Buyer” or collectively the “Buyers”). In connection with the SPA, the Company issued three (3) notes, one to each Buyer, and three (3) warrants to purchase the Company’s common stock, one to each Buyer. The aggregate purchase price of the notes is $375,000 and the aggregate principal amount of the notes is $405,000.

Pursuant to the SPA, each of the Buyers purchased from the Company, for a purchase price of $125,000, a convertible promissory note, in the principal amount of $135,000. The purchase of each note was accompanied by the Company’s issuance of a warrant to purchase 125,000 shares of the Company’s common stock to each Buyer. On October 7, 2019, each Buyer delivered the purchase price to the Company as payment for each note.

Each note became effective as of October 7, 2019 and is due and payable on April 7, 2021. The notes entitle the Buyers to 8% interest per annum. Upon an Event of Default (as defined in the notes), the notes entitle the Buyers to interest at the rate of 18% per annum. The notes may be converted into shares of the Company’s common stock at a conversion price equal to 0.75 (representing a 25% discount) multiplied by the lesser of (i) the lowest one day volume weighted average price (“VWAP”) for the common stock during the ten (10) trading day period ending on the latest complete trading day prior to the conversion date, and (ii) the lowest one day VWAP for the common stock during the ten (10) trading day period ending on the latest complete trading day prior to the issue date. In the event of a default, without demand, presentment or notice, the note shall become immediately due and payable.

The warrants were issued to the Buyers by the Company on October 7, 2019 in connection with the SPA. The warrants entitle the Buyers, respectively, to exercise purchase rights represented by the warrants up to 125,000 shares per warrant. The warrants permit the Buyers to exercise the purchase rights at any time on or after October 7, 2019 through October 7, 2022. Each warrant contains an exercise price per share of $0.80, subject to adjustment, and also contains a provision permitting the cashless exercise of such exercise rights as defined therein. The Company has maintained the right to redeem each warrant in full at any time following payment in full of the amounts owing under each respective note.

On November 4, 2019, the Company entered into a promissory note agreement with a lender for the principal sum of $250,000. The note has a maturity of twelve months and bears interest at a rate of 18% compounded annually with an additional 100,000 shares of Company restricted stock.

ITEM 2: MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

This statement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act. Discussions containing such forward-looking statements may be found throughout this statement. Actual events or results may differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including the matters set forth in this statement. The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements as of September 30, 2019 and 2018 and for the three and nine months then ended includes the accounts of Holdings and its wholly owned subsidiaries during the period owned by Holdings.

Surge Holdings, Inc. (“Surge Holdings” or “the Company”), incorporated in Nevada on August 18, 2006, is a company focused on Telecom, Media, and FinTech applications serving customers worldwide online and across social media, gaming and mobile platforms.

The Company’s current focus is the provision of financial and telecommunications services to the financially underserved (i.e. persons who have little or no access to credit) within the population. The Company provides a suite of services which are primarily marketed through small retail establishments which are utilized by members of its target market.

Commencing in 2018, the Company has significantly expanded its suite of services to include the pursuit of the following business models:

Surge Telecom

SurgePhone Wireless offers discounted talk, text, and 4G LTE data wireless plans at prices that average 30% – 50% lower than competitors. Available nationwide, SurgePhone Wireless utilizes ad impression revenue to help offset and, in many cases, eliminate the monthly wireless plans for low income customers (free service for the customer is paid for by ad revenue). Additionally, SurgePhone also offers strategic discounts such as the Surge Heroes campaign that rewards teachers, first responders, active military and veterans with a free Android smartphone.

Additionally, through the use of the SurgeRewardsApp, the Company is able to more aggressively rollout the SurgePhoneWireless service. Customers earn rewards from the ad impressions while unlocking their phone and also by opening the SurgeRewardsApp to watch videos and ads, as well as participate in short surveys in order to receive reward points that can be converted into statement credits for free cell phone service or cash.

True Wireless is licensed to provide subsidized wireless service to qualifying low income customers in 5 states. Utilizing all 4 major USA wireless backbones, True Wireless provides discounted and free wireless service to over 25,000 veterans and other customers who qualify for certain federal programs such as SNAP (EBT) and Medicaid.

The SurgePhone Android Volt 5XL provides a large screen smartphone option to those unable to afford a more expensive phone.

Surge Fintech

SurgePays Visa launched late in the third quarter of 2019. We believe this card could be life enhancing by serving as a virtual checking account for the unbanked, underbanked, credit challenged or those unable to access traditional financial services. The SurgePays card will offer safety, security and convenience of using the card anywhere that accepts Visa and customers will be able to load their card via direct deposit or loading cash directly at 110,000 locations nationwide. Customers will be able to access and manage their accounts from the connected app. In addition, customers will also be able to take a picture of their paycheck and load the cash to their cards (eliminating costly check cashing fees).

Surge Blockchain, LLC is focused on expanding development and licensing for a Blockchain Service as a Software (SaaS) Payments Platform in order to deliver a real product that improves people’s lives.

Surge Software

SurgePays Portal is a multi-purpose software interface for convenience stores, bodegas and other corner merchants providing goods and services to the underbanked community. The merchant or clerk is able to use the portal interface – similar to a website – with image driven navigation to add wireless minutes to any prepaid wireless carrier’s phone and access to other services such as bill payment and loading debit cards. We believe what makes SurgePays unique is that it also offers the merchant the ability to order wholesale goods through the portal with one touch ease. SurgePays is essentially a wholesale e-commerce storefront that allows manufactures and distribution companies to have access to merchants while cutting out the middleman. The goal of the SurgePays Portal is to provide as many commonly sold consumable products as possible to convenience stores, corner markets, bodegas, and supermarkets. These products include energy drinks, dry foods, frozen foods, bagged snacks, processed meats, automotive parts and many more goods, all in one convenient e-commerce storefront.

Surge Digital Media

Surge Logics is a full-service digital advertising agency, specializing in lead generation, Pay Per Call, landing page optimization and managed ad spending. Our primary media buying platforms are Google AdWords, Facebook, Instagram and Bing. We have a call center that can handle Live Call Transfers, Customer Service Support, Lead Verification and Attorney Case Support.

Through the launch of Surge Intake Logistics (“InTake”), a proprietary CRM software solution that delivers signed retainer services to clients, InTake is proving to be a direct benefit to clients that do not have the staff and infrastructure to handle the volume of leads Surge Logics generates. Surge Logics has taken this a step further to provide qualified leads utilizing a strategic partnership with Centercom to be first in class for online lead generation This partnership and new software have significantly contributed to Surge Logic's revenue which has grown to approximately $4.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2019.

Lead generation describes the marketing process of stimulating and capturing interest in a product or service for the purpose of developing sales pipeline.

Pay-per-call (PPCall, also called cost-per-call) is an advertising model in which the rate paid by the advertiser is determined by the number of telephone calls made by viewers of an ad. Pay Per Call providers charge per call, per impression or per conversion.

Media buying is the process of buying media placements for advertising (on TV, in publications, on the radio, digital signage, apps or on websites).

A call center - centralized office used for receiving or transmitting a large volume of requests by telephone.

Centercom Global, S.A. de C.V.

On January 17, 2019, the Company announced the completion of an agreement to acquire a 40% equity ownership of Centercom Global, S.A. de C.V (“Centercom”). Centercom is a dynamic operations center currently providing Surge sales support, customer service, IT infrastructure design, graphic media, database programming, software development, revenue assurance, lead generation, and other various operational support services. Anthony N. Nuzzo, a director and officer and a 10% shareholder of the Company’s voting equity has a controlling interest in CenterCom Global. Centercom also provides call center support for various third-party clients. Centercom is involved with:

Due to the fact that a director, officer, and minority owner of the Company has a controlling interest in CenterCom Global, the Company recorded its investment in Centercom of $178,508, which is the Company’s 40% ownership of Centercom’s net book value upon close of the completion of the transaction, as “Investment in Centercom” in long term assets on the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets. The Company recorded its equity interest in Centercom’s results of operations as “Gain on investment in Centercom” in other income (expense) on the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of income. The Company periodically reviews its investment in Centercom for impairment. Management has determined that no impairment was required as of September 30, 2019. 

ECS Business

On September 30, 2019, the Company entered into the Purchase Agreement with GBT Technologies Inc (“GBT”) of the ECS Prepaid business, Electronic Check Services business and the Central States Legal Services business (collectively, “ECS”). Through its proprietary Fintech software platform, ECS is a leading provider of prepaid wireless load and top-ups, check cashing and wireless SIM activation to convenience stores and bodegas nationwide. Since 2008, ECS has grown to a network of over 9,800 retail locations and 160 independent sales organizations (“ISO”) processing over 18,000 transactions per day. Surge will integrate the ECS software with its SurgePays Network in order to offer both wholesale products from third-party manufacturers, as well as Surge products, including the SurgePays Reloadable Debit Card, SurgePhone Wireless and SIM Starter Kits.

COMPARISON OF THREE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2019 AND 2018

Revenues during the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 consisted of the following:

Revenue increased $850,837 (21.0%) primarily due to revenue increases in Surge Blockchain, LLC in the amount of $2,452,995 (742.6%) and Surge Logics, Inc. in the amount of $1,576,415 (390.5%) and a decrease in revenues in True Wireless, Inc. in the amount of $1,758,780 (54.5%). Gross profit increased $67,992 (3.8%) primarily due to gross profit increases in Surge Blockchain, LLC in the amount of $598,994 (3,963.5%) and Surge Logics, Inc. in the amount of $702,720 (593.0%) and a decrease in gross profit in True Wireless, Inc. in the amount of $1,199,077 (73.2%).

Costs and expenses during the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 consisted of the following:

Depreciation and amortization decreased $22,103 primarily as a result of the transfer of Surge Cryptocurrency Mining assets and liabilities to a third party under the sole control of Brian Cox, our CEO and Chairman of the Board, in December 2018.

Selling, general and administrative costs (S, G & A) increased $827,993 (38.1%) primarily as a result of the increase in in-house staff support positions ($275,887) (118.8%), contractors and consultants ($157,738) (47.9%) and in personnel in the telecom operations center ($139,574) (30.4%) to support the expected revenue increase in the coming months.

Selling, general and administrative expenses during the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 consisted of the following:

Total selling, general and administrative expense (S,G & A) increased $831.372 from $2,170,366 in 2018 to $2,998,357 in 2019. The detail changes are discussed below:

Other (expense) income during the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 consisted of the following:

Net interest decreased to $20,767 in 2019 from $40,833 in 2018 primarily due to converting a $3,000,000 note payable to Series C convertible preferred stock in December 2018.

The change in fair value of LTC cryptocurrency decreased to $0 in 2019 from $12,581 in 2018 due to the transfer of all assets and liabilities of Surge Cryptocurrency Mining to a third party under the sole control of Mr. Cox in December 2018.

The gain on equity investment in Centercom of $6,134 in 2019 is due to the 40% acquisition of Centercom in January 2019.

During the three months ended September 30, 2018, the Company settled outstanding liabilities through the issuance of 3,330,703 shares of common stock.

COMPARISON OF NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2019 AND 2018

Revenues during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 consisted of the following:

Revenue increased $758,468 (6.6%) primarily due to revenue increases in Surge Blockchain, LLC in the amount of $3,641,234 (513.0%) and Surge Logics, Inc. in the amount of $3,573,560 (457.1%) and a decrease in revenues in True Wireless, Inc. in the amount of $4,427,036 (44.4%). Gross profit decreased $895,429 (16.7%) primarily due to gross profit increases in Surge Blockchain, LLC in the amount of $883,517 (2,894.1%) and Surge Logics, Inc. in the amount of $1,333,884 (646.4%) and a decrease in gross profit in True Wireless, Inc. in the amount of $3,061,912 (60.3%). The revenue and gross profit in the Surge companies represent $439,876 and $172,014, respectively.

Costs and expenses during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 consisted of the following:

Depreciation and amortization decreased $63,792 primarily as of the transfer of Surge Cryptocurrency Mining assets and liabilities to a third party under the sole control of Mr. Cox in December 2018.

Selling, general and administrative costs (S, G & A) increased $3,766,406 (69.0%) primarily as a result of the merger between Surge Holdings, Inc. and True Wireless, Inc. The S, G & A expenses of the Surge companies represent $507,834 of the expenses that are not included in the 2018 expenses.

Selling, general and administrative expenses during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 consisted of the following:

Total selling, general and administrative expense (S,G & A) increased $3,766,406 from $5,456,517 in 2018 to $9,222,923 in 2019. The 2019 period includes $507,834 in expenses for the Surge companies that are not included in the 2018 expenses. The detail changes are discussed below:

Other (expense) income during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 consisted of the following:

Net interest decreased to $93,157 in 2019 from $128,242 in 2018 primarily due to converting a $3,000,000 note payable to Series C convertible preferred stock in December 2018.

The change in fair value of LTC cryptocurrency decreased to $0 in 2019 from $63,487 in 2018 due to the decrease in the market value of LTC cryptocurrency. In December 2018, the Company entered into an asset purchase agreement by which the Company transferred the assets and liabilities to a third party.

The gain on equity investment in Centercom of $70,909 in 2019 is due to the 40% acquisition of Centercom in January 2019.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the Company settled outstanding liabilities through the issuance of 875,000 shares of common stock and recorded a loss on settlement of $507,000. This amount was offset by a gain of $41,313 on the settlement of outstanding debt. During the nine months ended September 30, 2018, the Company settled outstanding liabilities through the issuance of 3,330,703 shares of common stock.