CheckFree posts record revenues

ATLANTA-While bill pay vendors continue to maneuver to become the leading vendor for financials, are they making any money? Bill pay giant CheckFree has just announced revenues of $79.7 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2000, ended March 31, 1999, compared to $63 million for the same quarter of fiscal 1999, a 27% increase. Despite the increased revenues, the company reported a net loss for the quarter of $3.9 million, or 7 cents per share, diluted, compared to earnings of 4 cents per share for the same period in fiscal 1999, adjusted for non-recurring items. "We had another very solid quarter of executing on our plans. Stronger than expected revenue growth from our electronic commerce division resulted in our beating the high end of the expected range for revenue by $1.7 million," said CheckFree Chairman and CEO Pete Knight. "Our net loss of 7 cents per share is two cents better than the positive side of the range expected for loss-per-share," Knight said. The company did report that it had its strongest quarter to date in signing billers to its electronic billing and payment services, adding 32 new bills to its roster, primarily in the cellular, cable, and oil credit card categories. To date, 121 billers have committed to use CheckFree's electronic billing and payment services, either directly or through one of the 18 Biller Service Providers contracted to use CheckFree services. CheckFree distributed more than 62,000 bills in March, compared to 38,000 in December, and 20,000 in September. The company processed more than 15 million transactions during the month of March, compared to 14 million in December. -pgentile@cutimes.com