Netscape Manages to Eke Out Small Third-Quarter Profit

Once-highflying Netscape Communications Corp. on Tuesday reported a small third-quarter profit and said its two main business segments showed strong revenue growth.

The Mountain View-based company, which suffered a major setback when Microsoft Corp. entered the Internet browser business, said it earned $88,000 in the third quarter ended July 31, which was break-even on a per-share basis. The results beat forecasts; most analysts had expected Netscape to post a small loss.

Quarterly revenue rose to $150.2 million from $136 million a year earlier. Revenue from its Enterprise software and services business grew 16% in the quarter to $111.6 million from $96.1 million in the previous quarter. Revenue from Netscape Netcenter rose 24% to $38.7 million from $31.1 million in the previous period.

Netscape shares rose $1.81 to $32.13 on Nasdaq.

At a Glance

Broadcast.com Inc., which launched one of the year’s hot initial public stock offerings, posted a net loss of $3.9 million, or 27 cents a basic share, in the three months to June 30, against a loss of $1.5 million, or 12 cents, in the year-earlier period. But the company, whose technology broadcasts audio and video programming to computer screens over the Internet, said revenue jumped to $3.74 million from $1.47 million, fueled by 153% growth in Web advertising to $1.4 million.