dman, FREE is set to release its second quarter results on Thursday. Too bad XSNI does not do the same.
biz.yahoo.com
Wednesday January 5, 12:35 pm Eastern Time
Freeserve to show Q2 subscriber growth
LONDON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Britain's top Internet provider Freeserve Plc should show it has grabbed more subscribers in the increasingly cut throat ISP market when it publishes second quarter results on Thursday.
Analysts estimated Freeserve, which listed in July, will have about 1.6 million active users at the end of the second quarter, up from 1.406 million at the end of the previous quarter, giving it roughly one third of the UK market.
But marketing costs should contribute to second quarter operating losses of between 4.1 to 6.0 million pounds, against losses of 5.23 million in the first quarter, according to analysts.
Second quarter revenues could be around 3.0 million pounds, against 3.38 million in the previous quarter, but analysts said the first quarter covered 16 weeks and the second only 12.
``It's incredibly difficult to estimate because the company has done so many deals in the past couple of months,' said one.
The group, 80-percent owned by electrical retailer Dixons Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: DXNS.L), was launched about 18 months ago as the country's first no fee Internet access service.
Since then, free ISPs have proliferated, but Freeserve seems to have managed to cling on to its market lead.
Analysts believe strong Christmas sales of PCs at Dixons could have a knock on effect for Freeserve's subscriber numbers, but the second quarter does not include the festive season.
They will also be looking for more details on Freeserve's deal with cellphone operator BT Cellnet (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: BT.L), announced in December.
Freeserve's shares, which shot up before Christmas on a wave of Internet stock euphoria, were down seven percent at 500 pence on Wednesday. |
