Short Take: Covad reports fourth-quarter loss

Covad Communications, a wholesale provider of digital subscriber lines, reported a fourth-quarter loss that beat Wall Street's expectations. Covad posted a net loss of $70.5 million, or 80 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $19.9 million, or $2.96 a share, for the same period last year. On average, financial analysts expected the company to lose 94 cents per share, according to First Call. Quarterly revenue increased to $30.9 million from $2.8 million for the like quarter a year ago. , the company announced that it ended 1999 with 57,000 lines in service.