Andover.Net reports loss

Andover.Net posted a net loss of $15.7 million, or $1.58 per share, for the quarter ending Dec. 31.

The loss included charges associated with making an initial public offering in December, Andover.Net said today.

The company's revenues grew 103 percent in sequential quarters, from $1 million in the quarter ending Sept. 30, 1999, to $2.1 million in the quarter ending last month.

The company's net loss for the September quarter was $3.1 million, or 40 cents per share.

Andover.Net hosts several sites popular among Linux fans and technically savvy computer users. Also today, it announced the acquisition of QuestionExchange, a site that will fit into Andover.Net's plans to make more money from services.

It main revenue source, advertising, earned the company $1.3 million in the quarter.

"Our advertising revenues more than doubled from our previous quarter," chief executive Bruce Twickler said in a statement.

Linux is an operating system cloned from Unix and competing with Microsoft's Windows. It's collaboratively developed by hundreds of programmers, some independent and some working for Linux-specific or other computer companies.

Andover.Net is one of several Linux-related companies that went public in 1999, including Cobalt Networks, VA Linux Systems and Red Hat. More Linux-related IPOs are scheduled, including Linuxcare and Caldera Systems.