DRKOOP.COM: Refinancing, Potential Sale to Delay Second Quarter Filing
The prognosis for cash-strapped Drkoop.com remains unclear, as the beleaguered company announced that it will be late filing its second-quarter financial reports with the SEC, the AP/Greensboro News & Record reports. "Strategic transactions," new financing negotiations and "a possible sale" have kept the financial staff busy, company officials said in an SEC filing explaining the delay. Founded in 1997 by former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, the company watched its shares, once as high as $45 when the company went public in 1999, fall to 78 cents Wednesday. The company expects losses of $1.15 to $1.18 per share this quarter on revenues of $2.5 million to $3 million. However, officials cautioned that this year's second-quarter results should not be compared with last year's because of the company's "rapid growth." Although it received a $1.5 million loan from a merchant bank in June, Drkoop.com's only chance of survival is through a sale or merger, analysts said (8/16).
This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.