Snowball.com, an ad network and portal for young adults, said its net loss for fiscal 2000 nearly doubled from last year, though its revenue rose significantly.
For 2000, the San Francisco company reported a net loss of $64.8 million, or a loss of $2.02 per share, compared with a loss of $34.8 million, or a loss of $1.93 per share in 1999. In the fourth quarter, Snowball.com said its net loss was $11.5 million, or a loss of 34 cents per share, compared with a loss of $16.6 million, or a loss of 74 cents per share in the same quarter a year earlier.
However, the company's revenue rose substantially in 2000, up 218 percent to $21.2 million from $6.6 million in 1999. For the fourth quarter, Snowball.com's revenue was up 52 percent to $5.3 million from $3.5 million in the fourth quarter a year earlier.
CEO Mark Jung said that while Snowball.com's revenue was relatively flat during the second half of 2000, its revenue mix shifted considerably.
“We also have seen an increasing demand for more integrated marketing solutions that involve direct marketing, custom editorial services, e-commerce and syndication components,” he said.
In the fourth quarter, the company reduced its marketing expenses by 61 percent to less than $900,000. A recent restructuring of its affiliate program is expected to save it more than 50 percent by the end of 2001.
Snowball.com said unique visitors rose to 18 million in December from 15 million in September. Total page views for the fourth quarter were more than 1.6 billion, the company said.
