DoubleClick Reports Widening Loss

NEW YORK – DoubleClick Inc. said Tuesday its second-quarter loss widened and revenues fell within Wall Street's consensus expectations, but the No. 1 online advertising company lowered its revenue outlook for the third quarter.

While DoubleClick said it would not change its second-half earnings guidance, it said it expected third-quarter revenues of $96 million to $102 million.

The forecast disappointed analysts who, on average, expected revenues of $108.1 million in the third quarter, according to Thomson Financial/First Call.

"The numbers are a little bit disappointing. Theying revenues in the third quarter of $108 million. Now we are going to have to bring the numbers down again."

The New York-based company posted a second-quarter loss, excluding non-cash and non-recurring items, of $9.5 million, or 7 cents a share, compared with a loss of $3.8 million, or 3 cents a share, a year-earlier.

Its results beat the lowered Wall Street consensus estimate by a penny. Wall Street analysts expected the company to post a loss of 6 cents to 9 cents, with a consensus estimate of 8 cents a share, and revenues of $101.6 million, according to First Call.

Revenues for the quarter fell 20 percent to $101.9 million from $128 million a year earlier as sales from its media business dropped 51 percent to $33.8 million. The media business decline was largely due to a downturn in online ad spending, coupled with the absence of revenues from client AltaVista.

The decline was partially offset by its tech business, which posted a 6.4 percent increase in revenues to $51.8 million, and its data unit, which posted 22 percent growth in revenues to $19.3 million.

For the third quarter, DoubleClick said it was sticking to its target of a pro-forma loss of 6 cents a share, the higher end of Wall Street estimates.

Wall Street analysts had expected its third-quarter share to range between breakeven and a loss of 7 cents, according to First Call.

In April, the company warned it would post a sharp loss in 2001, instead of an expected profit, citing the sharp downturn in the online ad market. It had said it expected a second-quarter pro-forma loss of 5 cents to 7 cents a share, and revenues of $100 million to $105 million.

The company said it will continue to "manage" costs, including through job cuts, to meet its goals.

DoubleClick said it still expected third-quarter revenues in its media business to total $26 million to $28 million. It expected its tech business to post revenues of $49 million to $51 million, and its data business to post $24 million to $26 million.

The company's results, the first to be reported by an Internet-related firm, was a sneak peak at what may be coming from other ad-dependent businesses, many of which have struggled in the wake of the dot-com meltdown and economic uncertainty.

Shares of Doubleclick closed down 74 cents at $12.02 on Nasdaq. The stock is up nearly 22 percent from the beginning of the year, outperforming relative to the American Stock Exchanges Internet index and other Internet media companies, like Yahoo Inc. However, its shares are off about 66 percent from year-earlier levels.