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Technology Stocks : InfoSpace (INSP): Where GNET went! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: levy who wrote (23978)	1/30/2001 2:56:32 PM
From: KLP	Respond to of 28311

Certainly looks like Mr. Jain isn't the best PR person...Front page in the Seattle Times.... seattletimes.nwsource.com Tuesday, January 30, 2001, 12:00 a.m. Pacific seattletimes.nwsource.com InfoSpace regroups as red ink spreads by Sharon Pian Chan Seattle Times technology reporter A week after Chief Executive Arun Sarin was replaced by founder and former CEO Naveen Jain, InfoSpace announced yesterday it will scale down its consumer business. After the market closed, the Bellevue Internet- and wireless-content provider reported its loss had widened 101 percent to $97 million, or 31 cents a share, on sales of $66.1 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31. For the year, the company lost $279.2 million, or 97 cents a share, on sales of $214.6 million for the year. Its net loss widened 16.4 percent compared with 1999. Pro-forma earnings per share for the fourth quarter came in at 4 cents, beating analysts' expectation by 3 cents, according to a First Call survey. Pro-forma numbers exclude non-cash charges and non-recurring charges such as acquisitions. The number was a 233 percent increase over pro-forma earnings per share a year earlier. Pro-forma net profit for the quarter was $12.1 million, up 125 percent from a year ago. The company recrunched its guidance numbers for 2001, projecting a 14 cent-a-share loss for the year on $240 million in sales. Three months ago, it had given guidance for earnings of 15 cents a share on $360 million in sales. After listening to the company's conference call, Jeff Fieler, analyst for Bear Stearns, said, "The only good news is that the sack doesn't have very much further to fall." In 30 days, the company plans to announce how it will restructure itself, which could involve selling off, spinning off or shutting down parts of the consumer business, which makes money from Internet advertising and subscription services. Jain said InfoSpace will shift its focus to the wireless business, which accounted for 12 percent of its sales in 2000, and the merchant business, which made up 30 percent. The consumer business, which Jain called "low-growth, non-recurring and non-scalable," generated 52 percent of last year's sales. InfoSpace released its financial results after the market closed yesterday. It was the most actively traded stock in after-hours trading, rising 34 percent to $8.05 a share before dropping to $7 after the conference call. That was still up from its $6 price at the close of regular trading yesterday. Copyright © 2001 The Seattle Times Company

To: levy who wrote (23978)	1/30/2001 3:12:32 PM
From: KLP	Respond to of 28311

levy, amazing article...especially on page 2 (excerpt below), and on the first page, the page on Russell...Is is truly important now that we see who is on the "new" INSP board........... >>>>>>>>>>>>Instead, according to two people familiar with the events, what ensued was a power struggle in which Jain vied with Horowitz for the CEO slot. By mid-January, Horowitz seemed to have won out. Rick Thompson, an executive VP and another Go2Net import, was slated for COO. Jain was set to leave and start a new company. Several executives were approached and asked if they would jump to Jain's new venture. His attorneys huddled with company lawyers to negotiate the terms of his departure. But those negotiations stalled, according to one insider, over Jain's plans for the new company and his refusal to sign a noncompete agreement. In the days that followed, the board reversed itself: Horowitz would be exiting, not Jain, and the founder would take over as CEO. On Jan. 22, that's just what happened. Horowitz, who has resigned from the board of InfoSpace and from its executive team, could not be reached for comment. Jain would neither confirm nor deny this account of the shakeup. "These types of things are extremely personal and confidential in nature, and I am not at liberty to discuss them," he says. "I absolutely can assure you there was positively no clash of egos." Clash or no clash, morale was shaken by last week's upheaval, according to people close to the company. On Monday, after the announcement and a conference call with analysts and the press, Jain held an all-staff meeting at the company's headquarters. Horowitz, speaking by phone from Los Angeles, expressed support for the company he'd just left. Afterward, according to one employee, the mood was "sober." For his part, Jain remains upbeat. "Internal morale is extremely, extremely, extremely positive," he insists, "I can forward you e-mails where people say, 'We will give up our lives for this company. We will work 24 hours a day, now that you are back. Now we have a cause. We have a reason to live.'" <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<