More sharp analytical thinking. Note the last graf on this release regarding VIAN's implosion. M2
Thursday August 31, 7:45 pm Eastern Time
Viant cites dotcom drought for pending loss
(UPDATE: New throughout)
By Eric Auchard
NEW YORK, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Internet consultant Viant Corp. (NasdaqNM:VIAN -
news) on Thursday warned it would report a surprise third-quarter loss instead of a profit,
sending its shares plunging 29 percent in after-hours trading.
The Boston-based company blamed the shortfall on contract delays by its big business customers, whom it said no longer feel
as threatened from dot-com challengers -- the primal fear that had fuelled Viant's surging growth during the past year.
For the quarter ended Sept. 29, the company said revenues would be 12 percent to 15 percent below the $38.5 million, or 8
cents a share, it posted for the second quarter ended in June.
In the third quarter of 1999, the company earned 3 cents a share on $18.8 million in revenue. Analysts surveyed by First
Call/Thomson Financial had previously forecast Viant would earn a profit of 8 cents per share during the current quarter.
Shares of Viant, which closed on Thursday at $13-7/8, down 5/8 on the day in the regular Nasdaq trading session, fell $4 in
after-hours trading to $9-7/8 following the warning. Viant stock is nearly 85 percent off its highs of earlier this year.
``The expected revenue shortfall is primarily attributable to the changing market environment from the dot.com driven demand
of past quarters to a strong, but more deliberate decision-making process, especially for Global 2000 companies,'' Viant
President and CEO Bob Gett said in a statement.
``With the perceived threat from dot-com companies reduced, many Global 2000 companies have slowed down their
e-business initiatives and have taken the opportunity to step back and revisit their strategies,'' he said.
The company also said many of its existing dot-com clients were unable to gain the additional funding they had expected to
convert to follow-on projects that Viant had forecasted.
Gett said the company is focusing on services for already existing clients, adding the company is ``cautiously optimistic that
sequential revenue growth will resume for the fourth quarter.''
In recent months the fallout from this spring's funding crisis for dot.coms has widened to include more established companies
that had come to depend on Internet sales, either directly or indirectly in their own business.
As a company that helps customers drawn from among Global 2000 businesses as well as Internet start-ups to set up
businesses on the Web, Viant troubles echo other consultants, advertisers, and media companies that have seen growth slow.
Shares of rival Internet consultants, many of whom exploded less than a year ago onto the public market and saw sharp stock
gains, have suffered similar fates and now trade near year-lows. Scient Corp. (NasdaqNM:SCNT - news) lost $3-1/2 to close
at $27-1/16. It slipped another $2 in after-hours trading following the Viant announcement. MarchFIRST Inc.
(NasdaqNM:MRCH - news) closed down $1-3/16 at $19-3/8l, off its high of $81-1/8.
Viant officials faced a tough grilling by Wall Street analysts on a conference call they held to explain the earnings warning.
``I am surprised at the magnitude of the miss,'' said one frustrated financial analyst. He noted how rosy Viant's outlook had
been in July when it reported second quarter results and wondered what had changed. ``Help me understand how it (Viant's
business) can turn so quickly?'' he said. |
