One-Time Gain Gives Homestore a Profit

Homestore Inc. on Wednesday credited a large, one-time gain for pushing the Internet real estate services company into the black during the first quarter, despite a 26% drop in revenue.

The Westlake Village-based company reported net income of $87.2 million, or 72 cents a share, for the three months ended March 31. Last year, the company posted a loss of $34.8 million, or 29 cents a share, during the same period.

Homestore operates Realtor.com, the busiest real estate site on the Internet. The company also operates Homestore.com and Homebuilder.com.

The company’s first-quarter profit was primarily the result of a one-time gain of $104.1 million related to the settlement of a dispute and the renegotiation of an agreement with the America Online division of AOL Time Warner Inc. Homestore is the sole provider of residential real estate information on America Online, the nation’s largest Internet service provider.

Excluding the one-time AOL gain, as well as a one-time charge and noncash expenses, Homestore would have reported a first-quarter loss from operations of $4.1 million.

The company said first-quarter revenue fell to $54.9 million from $74.1 million in the first quarter of 2002, as it shed operations to focus on its core business.

At the end of the first quarter, Homestore had $70 million in cash on hand.

Homestore issued the results after the market closed. Before the close, the company’s shares jumped 11 cents, or 10%, to $1.16 on Nasdaq.