VeriSign Inc, the public key infrastructure and digital certificate company posted its first quarter in the red turning a net third-quarter profit of $1.6m, or 3 cents a share, compared to a year-ago loss of $4.2m. The Mountain View, California-based firm had been tipped to turn a 2 cents-a-share profit for the quarter to September 30 by a consensus of analysts polled by First Call. Revenue was up 117% from the corresponding period last year to $22.8m. The firm said that deferred revenue, consisting mainly of unamortized subscriber fees, increased to $25.3m – up 142% on the prior fiscal year period and 25% up on the preceding quarter. The deferred revenue is booked as a liability on the firm’s balance sheet. VeriSign sold over 31,500 web site certificates in the quarter, an 85% increase over the year-ago period and 17% up on the preceding quarter. We believe the rapid growth of business-to-consumer and business-to-business e-commerce will continue to drive demand for our trust services as we head into the year 2000, said Stratton Sclavos, VeriSign’s president and chief executive officer.
