Fourth-Quarter Loss Widens at Irvine’s Autobytel.com

Autobytel.com, which connects car shoppers with dealers via the Internet, on Thursday posted a larger net loss, but a smaller-than-expected loss per share for the fourth quarter and a sharp rise in revenue.

The Irvine e-commerce company posted a net loss of $4.9 million, or 27 cents a share, compared with a loss of $3.9 million, which amounts to a higher per-share loss of 46 cents, for the previous year’s final three months. The company had more than twice as many shares outstanding in the latest quarter.

Analysts had expected the company to post a loss of 32 cents a share in the latest quarter, according to First Call Thomson Financial.

Quarterly revenue for Autobytel, which earlier this week launched a nationwide program to sell cars directly over the Internet, rose 70% to $12.4 million.

The company said in a press release that it is expanding its international businesses at a rapid rate and expects to launch online services this year in Finland, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium.