Lycos narrows its losses in Q3

Top portal, Lycos, reported a loss of $13.3 million for Q3 to 30 April compared to a loss of $22 million during the same period last year. The loss -- based on revenues of £35.1 million for the same period --is less than analysts predicted. "We are extremely pleased by the phenomenal growth of the Lycos Network," said Robert J Davis, president and CEO of Lycos. "The significant increase in our reach, traffic and revenues is the result of our strategy of combining high quality brand-name sites under the Lycos Network umbrella. "I am particularly pleased with the strength of our commerce business as we enjoyed our best quarter ever signing $200 million of new business," he said. The Lycos Network strengthened its position as the most visited hub on the Net with 31.9 million unique users or 52 per cent of all Net users. Average daily page views grew by 20 per cent to more than 60 million. The Lycos Network now has nearly 27 million registered members, an increase of 29 per cent over last quarter, the company said. In its 2227-word statement announcing the Q3 results, Lycos made one reference to the failed merger agreement with USA Networks. "Following the mutual agreement to terminate their merger agreement, Lycos, USA Networks and Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch have agreed to continue to work together in non-exclusive areas," it said. It's as if all that angst earlier this year never even happened. ®