DoubleClick Revenues Rise, So Does Loss

Online ad network DoubleClick Inc. reported first-quarter revenues of $13 million a 144% increase over revenues of $5.32 million in the same period a year earlier.

The net loss for the first quarter of 1998 was $4.43 million or $0.31 per share on a pro forma basis, compared to a net loss of $1.24 million or $0.11 per share on a pro forma basis for the first quarter of 1997.

DoubleClick also said that the traffic across all of its services increased 90% to an average of 60 million ads served per day during the month of March, compared to an average of 32 million ads served in December 1997. The number of advertisers worldwide increased 56% to more than 1,400 in the first quarter of 1998 from approximately 900 in the fourth quarter of 1997.

The company said the number of Web publishers serviced increased to approximately 220, with 1,750 unique sites in the first quarter of 1998 from approximately 125 Web publishers with 650 unique sites in the fourth quarter of 1997.

DoubleClick completed its initial public offering during the quarter and as a result the company had total cash and short term investments of $64.4 million as of March 31, 1998.

“We are extremely pleased with our financial performance during our first quarter as a public company,” said Kevin O’Connor, chairman and chief executive officer of DoubleClick, in a statement. “We are experiencing solid growth in each of our core divisions.” He did not address profitability issues.

“We will continue to focus on developing new product opportunities, such as DoubleClick Direct, and expanding the company’s distribution channels in international markets,” he said. “Through these initiatives we will leverage DoubleClick’s DART technology and service to provide advertisers with more effective and targeted campaigns.”