Akamai Posts Lost, Remains Optimistic

Akamai Technologies Inc. Wednesday reported its second quarter 2002 financial results showing a loss, though smaller than that of the same period a year ago.

The Cambridge, Mass., company posted a net loss of $42.2 million, or $0.38 per share, compared with a net loss for the first quarter 2002 of $59.1 million, or $0.54 per share, and for the second quarter 2001 of $92.6 million, or $0.91 per share, the company said.

The loss came on revenues of $36.3 million, down from $43.1 for the same period a year ago.

Akamai faces the same problems plaguing much of the software sector, slow spending on technology.

However, the content delivery network (CDN) software and services provider said customer interest in Akamai continues despite the economy and the hotly contested CDN space.

At the end of the second quarter 2002, Akamai had 211 customers for its EdgeSuite line under long-term, recurring contract, compared with 185 at the end of the previous quarter, company officials said. New EdgeSuite customers in the second quarter included General Motors, Plumtree Software, Thomas Cook AG, TogetherSoft, Unicast Communications and Visteon. Akamais second quarter also saw several EdgeSuite customer renewals including Apple, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Victorias Secret and Xerox.

“The second quarter of 2002 had revenue in line with our expectations and a dramatically improved cash-flow performance,” said George Conrades, chairman and CEO of Akamai, in a statement. “We continue to win new, key enterprise accounts, despite the poor environment for corporate IT expenditures. Our performance during this past quarter keeps our fully-funded business plan squarely on track as we approach our 2003 profitability goals.”