OVERturd down in the 11s in AH trading. MAJOR LOL!!! where is that hypster??
LOS ANGELES, April 23 (Reuters) - Internet advertising provider Overture Services Inc. (NasdaqNM:OVER - News) on Wednesday posted a lower first-quarter profit and warned that full-year results would be below forecasts because of higher expenses and lower revenue.
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Pasadena, California-based Overture, whose business selling ad space linked to Web search results has become one of the Internet's few success stories, had net income of $11.1 million, or 18 cents per diluted share, compared with income of $29.3 million, or 48 cents, a year ago.
Revenue jumped to $224.7 million from $142.8 million.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call (News - Websites) had been expecting earnings per share of 14 cents in the quarter, in a range of 13 cents to 15 cents, on revenue of $218.5 million.
Meanwhile, Overture's traffic acquisition costs -- or the percentage of revenues generated from searches that it pays to its partners -- also increased to 64 percent in the first quarter, compared with 62 percent in the prior quarter and 54 percent a year earlier.
The company said revenue in its U.S. pay-for-performance services would be lower than forecast, while traffic acquisition costs would be at the high end of the forecast range and technology and infrastructure costs would also rise.
It also said its tax rate will be well above the U.S. statutory rate because of expected international net losses of $25 million to $30 million for the year.
As a result, Overture now expects earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, of $95 million to $105 million, with net income of $22 million to $26 million and earnings per share of 35 cents to 42 cents. Revenue is still expected to be above $1 billion.
Analysts polled by First Call had been expecting earnings per share of 63 cents for the year, with a range of estimates of 50 cents to 67 cents.
For the current quarter, its fiscal second, Overture said it expects EBITDA of $20 million to $25 million, net income of $2 million to $4 million, revenue of $240 million to $255 million and earnings per share of 4 cents to 6 cents.
According to First Call, analysts had been expecting earnings per share in a range of 8 cents to 15 cents with revenue of $244.8 million.
Overture shares rose 40 cents, or 2.5 percent, to close at $16.48 on Nasdaq. For the year, the shares are down about 40 percent, making Overture one of the very few high-profile Internet stocks not to be up sharply in 2003. |
