Homestore.com Reports Loss of $34.8 Million for Quarter

Homestore.com Inc., the largest source of for-sale home listings on the Internet, on Tuesday reported a net loss of $34.8 million in the first quarter on revenue of $74.1million.

The loss for the three-month period was much smaller than the $99.8-million loss the company reported during the same quarter last year.

Excluding discontinued operations, the Westlake Village-based company would have reported a loss of $35.7 million.

Homestore.com shares fell 5cents Tuesday to $2.23 on Nasdaq.

Homestore.com has struggled in recent months. Top managers resigned after the company disclosed that its revenue had been overstated by as much as $45 million during 2000 and as much as $113million in the first three quarters of 2001.

“The first quarter was challenging for Homestore as management resources were diverted by the internal inquiry into our past accounting practices and our thorough review of our business units,” Homestore Chief Executive Mike Long said. “We have made progress in these first 120 days in realigning our resources and focusing on our customers and core products and services.”