Interliant tops 1Q estimates

Jan. 2, 2002 4:43 p.m. PT

2 min read

Interliant, Inc. (Nasdaq: INIT), an application service provider (ASP), said Thursday first quarter loss was 62 cents a share, much narrower than the 73 cents a share predicted by First Call Corp.

Shares closed at 20 5/8 Wednesday, down considerably from their high of 55 1/2. The stock has risen slightly since Monday on the strength of an upgrade from Merrill Lynch, which raised the stock from "near term accumulate" to "near term buy."

Shares took off 68 percent in Interliant's IPO last July.

Revenue was $26.9 million for the first quarter, compared to $5.4 million for the first quarter of 1999, and $19 million reported in the fourth quarter of 1999.

First quarter 2000 EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and non-cash compensation expense) was negative $11.0 million, compared with negative $4.0 million a year earlier, and negative $7.5 in the fourth quarter of 1999.

Net loss was $28.6 million, or 62 cents a share, in the first quarter of 2000. The current period's results included a $1.2 million, or 3 cent per share, charge for a change in accounting and set up fees by the SEC. Loss compares with net losses of $7.8 million, or 31 cents a share, for the same period a year earlier and $16.4 million, or 37 cents a share, in the fourth quarter.

The company said it has future committed revenue, or backlog, of more than $55 million with a strong pipeline of new business to be booked in future quarters.

The company entered alliances with BMC Software (Nasdaq: BMCS), Dell Computer (Nasdaq: DELL), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), and Network Solutions (Nasdaq: NSOL), all of which made investments in Interliant, during the quarter. The company said it expects these deals, along with direct sales and strong distribution channels, will drive organic revenue growth in future quarters.

During the quarter, Interliant also acquired reSource Partner and Soft Link Inc. which have strengthened its ASP portfolio to include hosted PeopleSoft (Nasdaq: PSFT) solutions.

The company's competitors include Earthlink (Nasdaq: ELNK), USInternetworking (Nasdaq: USIX) and AboveNet Communications, a subsidiary of Metromedia Fibre Networks (Nasdaq: MFNX), according to Hoover's Online.