HEALTHEON/WEBMD: First Quarter Loss Totals $431.5M
Santa Clara-based Healtheon/WebMD announced Tuesday that its first quarter losses grew to $431.5 million because of marketing and acquisition costs, Bloomberg News/New York Times reports. The loss, $2.47 a share, increased more than twentyfold from $18.6 million, or 30 cents, from a year earlier. Revenues went up to $65.9 million from $17.6 million because the company reported more subscriptions and advertising sales. Jeffrey Arnold, Healtheon's president said, "We see our losses coming down sequentially quarter by quarter. We're very much focused on profitability." The company has purchased or become partners with more than 100 businesses in 18 months. Wall Street continues to "promote the company" even though its reported losses were more than six times its revenue (5/2). Executives say they are comfortable with projected revenue of $320 million for 2000. The company has more than $1 billion in cash reserves and hopes to reach profitability by the end of 2001. Arnold said, "We believe we have enough cash to get Healtheon/WebMD to profitability" (Carrns, Wall Street Journal, 5/3).
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