Verio Inc, Englewood, Colorado-based internet service provider and web-hosting company, has reported a first-quarter net loss of $45.1m on revenue up 160% at $55.1m, compared to a net loss of $28.4m in the year-ago period. On a per-share basis, the loss amounted to $1.24, better than the $1.35 loss expected by analysts.
The company said that 49% of revenue for the quarter was derived from enhanced services such as web hosting, helping gross margins improve to 65% of revenue, up from 57% in the preceding quarter. Operating expenses, meanwhile, dropped to 79% of revenue from 91% in the December quarter.
Verio says it accomplished the expense cut through progress in the consolidation of it numerous 1998 acquisitions onto standardized national systems, including Kenan billing, PeopleSoft accounting and Vantive customer care. Of all the operations acquired last year, upwards of 80% are now on the national systems, up from 71% at the end of the year.
