Online brokerage E*Trade Group Inc reported first-quarter results that reflected its ongoing efforts to build both its membership and its infrastructure. The Palo Alto-based company reported revenues up 63.1% at $88.1m, but saw a loss of $13.2m, or $0.23 per share as its marketing and technology expenditures continued to be heavy. The results were better than Wall Street expected, however, as the First Call consensus had been for a loss of $0.30. The upside surprise was largely due to strong growth, as it added 132,000 new active accounts, an increase of 55% over new accounts in the previous quarter. At the end of the quarter, total active accounts were 676,000, up 109% year-over-year. Transactions numbered 2.8 million for the quarter, up 75% from the year-ago quarter. Customer assets under management rose 94% from a year ago and stood at $15.2bn at the end of the quarter. The company also said page views increased 38% from last quarter to 263 million. First-quarter revenue was up 28% from the $68.7m in the fourth quarter of fiscal 1998 and represents the company’s 26th consecutive quarter of revenue growth.
