Infoseek Corp reported a fourth-quarter loss that was narrower than most analysts expected. The Sunnyvale, California internet search engine company which has yet to turn a profit, posted a net loss of $4.1m, or $0.15 per share, when the First Call consensus was expecting a $0.19 loss. Revenue for the quarter surged 106% over the comparable quarter last year. Sequentially, revenue grew 51% from the third quarter, which the company proudly points out was greater than the sequential revenue growth at rivals Yahoo! Inc and Excite Inc. Total page views grew 23% sequentially, hitting an average of 12.5 million a day. Comparatively, though, Excite reported that in the month of December its page views averaged 27 million, up 48% since September. Sales of the Ultraseek Server software accounted for 6% of total revenues, showing no change since the company reported second-quarter results in July. For the year, Infoseek’s net loss was $24.6m on revenue up 129.2% at $34.6m, compared to a loss of $15.9m last year. Included in this year’s loss was a restructuring charge of $7.3m that covered the costs of exiting non-essential businesses and paying off top executives that have left. Infoseek also announced that, subject to market conditions, it intends to raise capital in the first quarter of 1998 through the sale of 2.5-3.0 million shares of its common stock. All the shares being sold are primary shares of the company. At current levels, the sale would raise about $26.9m-$32.3m in total. The net proceeds to the company are expected to be used for general corporate purposes, capital expenditures, and working capital. Looking ahead, First Call projects a loss of $0.09 per share in the first quarter and expects a slight profit by the fourth quarter.
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