DoubleClick Reports Loss of $12.6 Million for Third Quarter
DoubleClick Inc., suffering from plummeting online ad spending, has reported a net loss of $12.6 million for the third quarter. This excludes certain non-cash and non-recurring items. The third quarter ended Sept. 30.
Revenue dropped 31% for the third-quarter 2001. The online advertising company said revenue was $92.7 million for the quarter, compared with $135,169 for the third quarter of 2000.
In a conference call Thursday evening, the online advertising company said it had been cutting costs and focusing on direct marketing.
CEO Kevin Ryan said in a statement that direct marketing now makes up more than 40% of the company’s gross profit. “Marketers tend to shift dollars into direct response marketing in tough market environments, and DoubleClick will benefit from this trend.”
The data division, Abacus, reported quarterly revenue of $24.1 million, a seasonal increase of 25% over the second quarter of 2001. Bruce Rainey, president of Abacus said it was “the most profitable quarter in history.”
But, the Global Media division generated $22.2 million in the third quarter, a decrease of 65% compared with last year TechSolutions division, which delivers ads, had revenue of $48.5 million for the quarter. The unit also acquired the technology assets from L90 and Adgile Interactive Media, which will be integrated into DoubleClick’s ad-serving technology.
Cost-cutting measures included layoffs and reducing expenses. “Headcount has come down 21% from the third-quarter 2000,” he said. Expenses have been reduced 21% year over year, he added.
DoubleClick has revised the terms of its acquisition agreement with MessageMedia Inc., paying 80% less for the e-mail marketing firm than it originally agreed, it was also reported today.
Under the new terms, DoubleClick will issue one million shares of common stock. And, it will make available $1.5 million in bridge financing to MessageMedia.
The deal is now valued at $9 million, instead of the $41 million it said it would pay when the deal was forged in June. The deal is expected to close before the fourth quarter ends.
DoubleClick expects the fourth quarter to perform slightly better than expected, with revenues between $84 million and $92 million.
