Network Solutions Inc, having recently had part of its monopoly in the domain name business extended by the government through September 2000, can expect quite a few more quarters of solid growth like the one it reported yesterday. Under an agreement signed with the US government on October 6, NSI will remain the exclusive registry for domain names in the .com, .net and .org name spaces – the wholesale side of its business – but will have to open the registrar, or retail side of its business to competition by June 1 next year. NSI is in the registrar business in both a direct capacity and through its worldwide network of resellers. The Herndon, Virginia-based company reported third quarter net profits up 144% at $3.0m, or 18 cents per share, which is two cents ahead of Wall Street’s expectations, according to Zacks Investment Research. Third quarter revenues rose 109% year-on- year to $25.4m. NSI registered 507,000 new domain names in the quarter, bringing the total to almost 2.8 million registrations. International registrations were 138,000 in the quarter. It said its consultancy business contributed $2.3m of its revenues, a 54% rise on the previous quarter. The company is still 80%-owned by Science Applications International Corp (SAIC). NSI closed up $2.625, or 5.6% at $49.625.
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