Wednesday January 23, 4:39 pm Eastern Time
Akamai cuts Q4 net loss
(UPDATE: Adds details)
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan 23 (Reuters) - Akamai Technologies Inc., whose products speed
the delivery of Internet content, on Wednesday reported a much smaller fourth-quarter net
loss and said revenue should grow each quarter in 2002 on the strength of recurring business.
After the market closed, Akamai (NasdaqNM:AKAM - news) said it had a net loss of $64.8 million, or 60 cents a share,
compared with a net loss of $303 million, or $3.16 a share, in the year-ago quarter.
Before amortization, one-time charges and noncash charges, Akamai's net loss totaled $37.8 million, or 35 cents per share. On
that basis, analysts were looking for Akamai to lose 36 to 41 cents a share, with a consensus loss estimate of 39 cents a share,
according to Thomson Financial/First Call.
Akamai's fourth-quarter revenue fell slightly to $37.1 million, from $37.2 million in the year-ago quarter. But that was better
than Akamai's own forecast of $34 million to $36 million.
``On the revenue side, due in large part to the recurring nature of most of our business, we believe that we will grow revenue
sequentially every quarter in 2002,'' Akamai Chairman George Conrades said in a statement.
Akamai shares closed down 6 cents to $4.06 on Nasdaq trade. The stock is off about 87 percent in the past year