July 20, 1999 17:10
Excite@Home Reports Second Quarter 1999 Results
* First $100 Million Revenue Quarter
* Excite.com Registered Users Grow to 38 million
* Cable Modem Subscriber Base Grows to 620,000
* Upgraded Homes Passed Increases to 17 Million
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., July 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Excite@Home (Nasdaq: ATHM) today reported pro forma
revenues of $100.4 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 1999, an increase of 140 percent from the
pro forma revenues of $42.2 million generated for the second quarter of 1998. Pro forma results include
Excite, Inc.'s results for all reported periods even though the merger of Excite, Inc. and @Home Network
was completed on May 28, 1999.
On a pro forma basis, excluding merger and acquisition-related expenses, Netscape termination costs and
cost of distribution agreements, the company reported a net loss of $5.9 million, or a loss of $0.02 per
share. This compares to a pro forma loss of $17.1 million, or $0.05 per share for the corresponding quarter of
1998. For the first half of 1999, Excite@Home reported pro forma revenue of $179.2 million and net loss,
which excludes merger, and acquisition-related expenses, Netscape termination costs, cost of distribution
agreements and investment gain, of $12.5 million or $0.03 per share. For the first half of 1998,
Excite@Home generated pro forma revenue of $72.3 million and a pro forma net loss of $35.4 million or
$0.10 per share. (See Pro Forma - Consolidated Results of Operations).
On an as reported basis for the second quarter ended June 30, 1999, the Company reported revenues of
$70.5 million, an increase of over 650 percent from the revenues of $9.2 million generated for the second
quarter of 1998. These results reflect @Home Network's acquisition of Excite, Inc. on May 28, 1999 and
only include Excite's results for the remainder of the second quarter of 1999. Results for the combined
Company for the second quarter of 1999 were a net loss of $217.9 million, or a loss of $0.76 per share.
These results compare to a loss of $24.8 million, or $0.11 per share, for the corresponding quarter of the
prior year. For the first half of 1999, revenues before pro forma adjustments were $95.6 million and a net loss
of $8.7 million or $0.03 per share. For the corresponding period of 1998 before pro forma adjustments, the
Company generated revenue of $15.0 million and a net loss of $22.8 million or $0.10 per share. (See
Consolidated Results of Operations).
Cash and short-term investments as of June 30, 1999 totaled $433.8 million. Capital expenditures in the
second quarter of $37.0 million supported the growth in infrastructure necessary to support the @Home and
@Work services and the narrowband portal, Excite.com. The Company also has made minority equity
investments of approximately $50 million in five promising Internet companies. Depreciation and amortization
was $12.3 million for the second quarter of 1999. Pro forma weighted average shares outstanding, which
reflect the company's 2-for-1 stock split occurring on June 16, 1999, were 361 million for the quarter ended
June 30, 1999, excluding anti-dilutive shares reserved for outstanding warrants, convertible debentures, and
employee stock options.
Commenting on the company's financial and operating results, Tom Jermoluk, chairman and CEO of
Excite@Home said, "This quarter we focused on integrating the operations of both companies and delivering
on the promise of providing a compelling Internet experience in both narrowband and broadband.
Excite@Home and its cable partners have invested heavily in the development and deployment of the
technologies necessary to spark this new wave of broadband capability. Clearly, we are now showing the
results of this effort as demonstrated by the growth in homes passed and the acceptance of our service by
cable modem subscribers. Excite@Home and its broad range of content partners offer a compelling Internet
experience by combining deep content and personalization to exploit the power of the broadband
environment while allowing users full and complete access to all content destinations on the Web."
George Bell, president of Excite@Home added, "Our revenue growth this quarter demonstrates the
efficiency of our ad sales force, our targeting abilities and the first hints of combinations that will be possible
as we package narrow and broadband solutions for marketers. The growth of registrations on the narrowband
site, Excite.com, serves as a key driver of broadband subscriber lead generation, making the process more
cost effective and efficient. In fact, nearly half of all qualified sales leads for the @Home service during the
quarter were generated by Excite.com and our MatchLogic subsidiary using targeted email campaigns."
Operational Highlights
During the second quarter, Excite@Home took critical steps toward fulfilling its "All Band, All Device, All the
Time" strategy.
As of June 30, 1999, @Home served more than 620,000 cable modem subscribers across North America,
an increase of 35% from 460,000 subscribers reported at March 31, 1999 and an increase of more than
300% from the 146,000 subscribers reported at June 30, 1998. The base of homes with access to two-way
upgraded plant increased to 17.0 million at June 30, 1999 from 15.0 million as of March 31, 1999. These
numbers include Internet access subscribers served by newly acquired @Home affiliates that are currently
being converted to the @Home service, as well as these affiliates' upgraded homes passed. In addition,
during the second quarter of 1999, the @Home service was launched in 21 new markets, raising the total
number of active domestic and international markets to 89. The conversion to the new AT&T backbone was
completed ahead of schedule and has caused the network to run at new levels of speed in many places,
while simultaneously reducing bottlenecks.
Traffic for Excite@Home's leading narrowband Internet portal, Excite.com, rose to 81 million page views per
day in June from 77 million page views in March. The number of registered users for the Excite service
increased to 38 million, up 36% during the quarter. The Excite.com portal led all portals once again with the
highest revenue per page view, highest revenue per point of reach and highest time spent per page by
visitors to the service.
Excite@Home launched four new products that accelerate the use of Excite.com and the Internet as part of
the consumer's daily life. The Company launched Excite Voicemail (voicemail.excite.com) and Excite
Voicechat (voicechat.excite.com), two voice-related products that underscore the strategic nature of
telephony services and support the company's vision of "All Band, All Device, All the Time." In particular,
Excite Voicemail is the first product of its kind -- a free, nation-wide voicemail service that allows users to
get a toll-free 800 number and pin code which enables them to pick up voicemail messages on
voicemail.excite.com, with other enhancements, such as fax messaging, to follow shortly. Early
registrations for this and other innovative communication products across platforms have been strong.
Excite Planner ( planner.excite.com ) and Excite Assistant also launched in narrowband, both
products that increase the loyalty of a consumer through the "stickiness" of each application. Excite
Assistant ( excite.com ) is an application that brings the award winning My
Excite personalized start page content to the desktop. Appearing as a small window on the desktop, it
automatically updates user's personalized information. Ultimately, these products will be utilized in an
"always on" broadband environment and deepen the sense that Excite should be a part of a consumer's
daily life, providing a compelling future value proposition to migrate to broadband.
Further, Excite@Home announced a $60 million strategic alliance with WebMD, the premier online
healthcare firm, to bring WebMD's extensive library of healthcare news, information and community content
to Excite's millions of consumers. When offered through the Excite Health Channel, users will be able to
search, share information and personalize the extensive, free services of WebMD's Health and Wellness
Center. In addition, Excite@Home made a $25 million equity investment in WebMD.
Excite@Home's Matchlogic business unit increased its database of unique behavioral profiles to 65 million
during the second quarter, while also increasing the number of facts per profile, and doubled the number of
targeted emails sent during the quarter to over 40 million. Matchlogic also played a valuable role in driving
subscriber growth for Excite@Home's high speed Internet access service, @Home. Excite@Home
experienced an 11% response rate to e-mails targeted to Excite's registered users who also live in a cable
footprint where the @Home service is available. More importantly, these programs yielded a 5% total
conversion rate from qualified lead to subscriber.
Excite@Home expanded the distribution of its service offerings beyond the PC by offering an Excite
application whereby users can access their personalized My Excite Start Page on a wireless device, the
Palm VII organizer. The Company also renewed its co-branding distribution agreement with Apple Computer
and signed a distribution agreement with Phoenix Technologies to place the Excite icon on the desktop of
up to 10 million white-box computers over the next year. Finally, Excite@Home advanced its set-top box
initiatives through a comprehensive licensing and service agreement with PowerTV, Inc., a leading provider of
system software and applications for cable television, to provide data broadcast technology for the Scientific
Atlanta Explorer 2000(R) set top device.
The Company successfully continued branding and marketing campaigns that highlighted the independent
strengths of Excite.com and the @Home network as well as the newly formed Excite@Home.
Excite@Home will promote Excite.com as the consumer brand and @Home as the cable access brand.
With the goal to drive consumer awareness of Excite.com, the Company launched "Talking Trash with Lola
Pandora," a 10-city tour that takes Excite's popular chat show to real audiences across the country.
Similarly, @Home will be highlighted throughout the summer at a 20-city "Mall Tour" that is focused on
showcasing the @Home service and signing up subscribers. Extremely popular, the @Home Mall Tour has
signed up more than 3,000 subscribers in its first month.
Additionally, Excite@Home expanded its International footprint through a joint venture with Rogers
Communications to provide localized versions of Excite in Canada, launched @Home Nederland high speed
Internet access while adding a third distribution partner in the Netherlands, and agreed to form a joint venture
with Cable & Wireless Optus to offer Excite@Home's high speed internet access in Australia. Further,
Excite@Home's turnkey broadband Internet service solution to small and medium sized cable operators,
@Home Solutions, announced that General Instrument and Microsoft joined as strategic technology
partners to accelerate the deployment of broadband services.
Excite@Home's high speed Internet access solution targeted to businesses, @Work, continued to
contribute to Excite@Home's growth. @Work increased installed accounts by approximately 39 percent,
ending the second quarter with more than 3,000 installed accounts, up from 2,200 installed accounts at
March 31, 1999. Further, during the quarter @Work teamed up with technology and communications
leaders, AT&T, Cisco Systems, Sun Microsystems, NorthPoint Communications, Critical Path and
Forrester Research to present a free, nationwide twelve-city seminar series showing businesses how to
design both reliability and performance into their IP networks.
In early July, Excite@Home announced the acquisition of iMALL, Inc., a leading provider of fully integrated,
"one-stop" e-commerce solutions, for approximately $425 million in stock. This acquisition combined with a
10-year marketing and distribution agreement with First Data Corporation, a leading electronic commerce
payment solution provider, positions Excite@Home to be a leader in offering the most complete end-to-end
commerce solutions for merchants. This three way relationship will enrich the Excite Shopping Service,
expand @Work's business to business product offerings and has the potential to give Excite@Home
branded in-store exposure to a base of more than two million merchant locations. |
