Webvan posts 3Q loss

Webvan Group (Nasdaq: WBVN), which recently closed its acquisition of Homegrocer.com, reported a third quarter pro forma loss of $120.2 million, or 26 cents a share, on gross sales of $87.4 million.

However, Webvan's financials had a lot of moving parts.

First Call Corp. was projecting a loss of 21 cents a share, but it wasn't immediately clear if the 12 analysts covering the company included Homegrocer.com in their estimates. Webvan stated its financials as if the two companies had been merged the entire third quarter.

Webvan also gave two sets of revenue figures. The $87.2 million includes coupons. Excluding coupons, Webvan had sales of $82.2 million.

On a pro forma basis, Webvan reported a loss of $107.3 million, or 24 cents a year ago. Pro forma results exclude charges related to amortization of goodwill, non-cash compensation charges, restructuring charges, merger-related payroll costs.

With the completion of the HomeGrocer acquisition on Sept. 5, Webvan recognized about $919 million in goodwill that is being amortized over a 5-year period. In addition, the company also recorded a restructuring charge of $40.8 million in connection with its recently modified rollout schedule associated with HomeGrocer.

Webvan modified its rollout schedule to save cash. Last month, the company delayed its rollout in several key markets. Days later, Chairman Louis Borders stepped down. CEO George Shaheen became Chairman.

The company's cash position was $376.9 million at the end of the quarter. On a conference call, Shaheen said Webvan would have to raise cash in the third quarter of 2001.

Among other key metrics, Webvan said it had 524,000 active customers, a repeat order rate of 75 percent and an average order size of $103.

Regarding profits, Webvan said it maintained a "steadfast concentration on the profitability goals we have set for our 10 markets." >