Excite@Home Names CEO, Reports Wider Loss

Struggling high-speed Internet access provider Excite@Home Corp. named telecommunications industry veteran Patti S. Hart chairwoman and chief executive, ending a seven-month search. Hart, 44, was head of Telocity Inc., a provider of digital subscriber lines that was bought last year by Hughes Electronics Corp. Hart replaces George Bell. Excite@Home also said its first-quarter operating loss widened to $61.6 million, or 15 cents a share, from $4.6 million, or 1 cent, a year ago, and lowered its outlook for the second quarter. Revenue rose 3% to $142.8 million. Analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial were expecting 14 cents. Excite@Home said last week that it needs $75 million to $80 million to make it through the year and is considering several options. Shares of AtHome Corp., which does business as Excite@Home, lost 20 cents to $3.87 on Nasdaq. Shares sank 37 cents in after-hours trading.