To: blebovits who wrote (369 ) 11/17/2001 12:36:47 PM From: StockDung Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 574 Told Ya it was Crapolla->GenesisIntermedia Shuts Money-Losing Internet Kiosks in Malls By David Evans Van Nuys, California, Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- GenesisIntermedia Inc., controlled by Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, said it is closing its Centerlinq unit, which operated Internet kiosks in 33 U.S. shopping malls. The money-losing company gave no reason in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Centerlinq unit lost $4.8 million in the first half of 2001, on revenue of $350,154. In August, the company said the kiosks averaged 3.2 million consumer visits per month. Their locations included the Beverly Center and Santa Monica Place malls in Southern California, the Orlando Fashion Square in Florida and the Boulevard Mall in Amherst, New York. The decision comes a month after Ramy El-Batrawi, founder and chief executive of GenesisIntermedia, resigned in the wake of investigations of trading in the company's shares by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Nasdaq Stock Market, which halted trading in the company's shares on Sept. 25. The company also announced in the report to the SEC it would be unable to file its 10-Q report for the third quarter before today's deadline. Chief Financial Officer Douglas Jacobson declined comment. The company valued Centerlinq's assets at $14.7 million on June 30. In August, GenesisIntermedia said it would invest another $15 million to $20 million to expand Centerlinq. Nasdaq is probing trading in GenesisIntermedia's shares by Khashoggi's Ultimate Holdings, an investment company based in Bermuda, and the SEC has launched a formal investigation, the company said. Ultimate is a Bermuda-based company that controls 75 percent of GenesisIntermedia. The company, which had a market value of about $137 million when it last traded on Sept. 25 at $5.90, had a negative net worth of $9.3 million on June 30. The company's loss widened to $15.7 million in the first half of 2001, from $12.5 million a year earlier. Sales rose to $24.9 million from $14.8 million. GenesisIntermedia lost $33.5 million in 2000, on sales of $42.3 million