LONDON (Brand Republic) - In two separate announcements, ISP Excite@Home has reported wider first-quarter losses and has named Patti Hart as its new CEO and chairman.
Former chief executive George Bell has resigned from the company and the board, and Hart takes over immediately. Her appointment had been widely expected since Bell announced his retirement in September.
Hart joins from broadband firm Telocity where she was CEO. Before that she worked for US long-distance carrier Sprint. Her appointment underlines Excite@Home鈥檚 desire to focus on its broadband business.
Excite@Home reported a first-quarter operating loss of $61.64m (£42.86m), compared with $4.60m (£3.20m) last year. Sales rose by 3% to $142.79m (£99.28m), up from $138m (£95.95m) last time.
Last week, the company warned that its earnings would be weaker than expected, in the face of lower sales from media and advertising.
However, executives were more optimistic about its future, predicting that its second-quarter operating losses would improve. Sales would be much the same as in the first quarter, but in the third-quarter sales would rise at a 鈥渓ow single-digit rate鈥 year on year.
www.excite@home.com