Quotesmith.com Narrows Q3 Loss to $319,000

Darien, Ill.-based online broker Quotesmith.com Inc., owner of insure.com, announced financial results for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2003.

“Quotesmith.com made substantial progress in the third quarter towards reaching profitability,” said Robert Bland, chairman and CEO. “For the first nine months of this year, we eliminated almost $3.5 million of non-advertising expenses as compared with last year. But even more important, we identified a weakness in our business model and have taken affirmative steps to remedy the problem.

“Through customer feedback, we discovered that many applicants were reluctant to enter highly personal information online due to general privacy concerns with the Internet in general. We’ve addressed this problem by opening telephone-ordering capabilities within our call center using existing in-house staff. This action is expected to make our services available to a wider audience of self-directed insurance shoppers going forward.”

Quotesmith.com reported revenues of $2.4 million for the third quarter of 2003, down $237,000 from the figure posted in the same quarter last year. The net loss for the 2003 quarter was $319,000, or 6 cents per share, as compared to a net loss $932,000, or 19 cents per share, in the same period last year.

Total expenses in the third quarter of 2003 were $843,000 less than the same quarter of 2002, despite a $453,000 increase in marketing expenditures. As reported last year, operating expenses in the third quarter of 2002 included a non-recurring $329,000 write off of computer software.

For the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2003, the company reported revenues of $7.5 million compared to revenues of $8.4 million in the same period last year. Total expenses for the period decreased $1.6 million and investment income, consisting of interest and realized gains, increased $112,000, resulting in a net loss of $1.04 million, or 21 cents per share, compared to a loss of $1.85 million, or 37 cents per share, in the first nine months of 2002.

Quotesmith.com reaffirmed the 2003 financial guidance released Oct. 2, which projected 2003 revenues of $9.5 to $10 million, a net loss of $450,000 to $650,000, and year-end cash and investments of $14.5 to $15 million. Non-cash depreciation and amortization expenses are expected to total $1.05 million in 2003.