Web.com reports growing revenues in 2014, but still a net loss

Revenues were up for Web.com in 2014, but the company still reported a net loss.

The Jacksonville-based online marketing company took in revenues of almost $544 million last year, up from $492 million in 2013, according to SEC filings posted Thursday evening.

Overall, the company had a net loss of $12.4 million, which was an improvement over the loss of $65.7 million in 2013.

Web.com hasn’t reported a net profit since 2009, when it made $2.6 million with $102 million in revenue. Its net income dove over the next several years until hitting a nadir with a loss of $122 million in 2012.

The company’s revenues have risen every year since it went public as Website Pros Inc. in 2005, except for a dip between 2008 and 2009, from $117 million to $102 million.

In a conference call Thursday afternoon, CEO David L. Brown said the company has put in place a new bundled pricing model in an effort to keep customers using the website.

“We believe the steps we have taken will ultimately return retention rates to their previous levels,” Brown said in the call.

The company had almost 3.3 million subscribers on its website at the end of last year, up from 3.1 million in 2013 and slightly more than 3 million in 2012, according to SEC filings.

Its average revenue per user was $14.07 in the fourth quarter of 2014, down from $14.71 during that quarter in 2013 and $14.33 in 2012.

On Monday, Web.com added two directors to its board as part of a deal with its largest shareholder, Okumus Fund Management Ltd. The deal places limits on the shareholder’s power, such as barring it from trying to remove directors and influencing other shareholders. The deal runs out before the company’s 2016 shareholder meeting.

Okumus bought 480,000 shares in the company in November. That same month, the company bought back 10.8 million of its shares, Brown said in the conference call.

Brown also said that the company plans to modify its website developing services to allow customers to get guidance from Web.com employees through email and phone calls.

“This is an area we’ve just begun exploring,” he said.

The company’s stock price rose following the release of its earnings report, from $15.93 a share Thursday afternoon to $18.43 Friday morning.

But its shares have been in decline over the past year, dropping from $36.61 in February 2014.

Richard Webner: 904-359-4370

Web.com reports growing revenues in 2014, but still a net loss