(I don't feel so bad now)CMGI Loses $358.9 Million on Sale of 1.1% Stake in CyberWorks
By Cathy Chan
Hong Kong, March 21 (Bloomberg) -- CMGI Inc., a U.S. Internet investment company, said it posted a loss of $358.9 million on the sale of a 1.1 percent of Pacific Century CyberWorks Ltd., Richard Li's Asian Internet and telecommunication venture.
CMGI said in a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it sold 241 million CyberWorks shares for $190.2 million in the three months through October. The average price of a CyberWorks share during that period was HK$6.10.
``CMGI is a bit stringent on cash flow,'' said Samuel Chua, an analyst at KGI Asia Ltd. ``The sale suggests it has a bearish outlook on the Internet and the potential of CyberWorks shares.''
CMGI is seeking to reduce the number of its investments to speed its trek to profits. It last had a quarterly operating profit in 1995. The company can sell the balance of its CyberWorks stake when a lockup agreement ends next year.
In September 1999, CMGI swapped $350 million in stock with CyberWorks in its first investment in Asia. It later exchanged $500 million of its own shares with Cable & Wireless Plc in March 2000 in return for the same value of CyberWorks stock.
The first swap gained Andover, Massachusetts-based CMGI gained CMGI about a 3.1 percent stake in CyberWorks, said Jahanzeb Naseer, a telecommunications analyst at ABN Amro (Asia) Ltd.
CyberWorks, which owns about 8.1 million CMGI shares, would have posted a loss of $329 million had it sold its stock at yesterday's closing price of $2.625 a share.
CMGI tumbled 97 percent in the past 12 months, and fell 12.5 percent Tuesday to $2.63. CyberWorks fell 80 percent over the past 12 months, and recently traded at HK$3.725.
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