Aptimus' First-Quarter Loss More Than Doubles
Aptimus Inc., an online direct marketing network, reported a first-quarter net loss of $8.8 million, or 57 cents per share, more than double its loss of $4.2 million, or 27 cents per share, a year ago.The Seattle company said net revenue for the quarter fell to $926,000 compared with revenue of $5.1 million in first quarter 2000.
Aptimus attributed the loss to the repositioning of its business.
"During the quarter we made significant strides toward shifting our business from a site-centric approach to a network model, which we feel holds the greatest promise for long-term growth of our business and meeting the evolving needs of our clients," said Tim Choate, Aptimus' president/CEO.
In the first quarter, Aptimus reduced its staff from 215 to 60 employees. The company said it is significantly reducing its marketing, technology and operations expenses as a result of its repositioning.
The company relaunched its Aptimus Network in the first quarter to focus on lead generation and targeting based on actions, context or behavior, rather than on profile-driven targeting.
The Aptimus Network, which includes 50 clients and 60 distribution partners, presents targeted offers to marketers and is paid based on response to the offer. The company believes this is a "more attractive pricing model" for marketers than the cost-per-thousand model used by other networks.
