Intuit's losses widen

Intuit (INTU) today reported a widening first-quarter loss attributable to an acquisition charge by the financial services software company.

Intuit reported a net loss of $28.3 million for the quarter ending October 31, compared with a loss of $20.3 million a year ago.

The quarterly results included a one-time $4.9 million charge related to its September acquisition of Galt Technologies, a mutual fund information provider through its NETworth Web site.

Revenues were virtually flat at $102.5 million for the quarter, compared with $102.3 million a year ago.

"As expected, a planned shift in the initial sell-in pattern of the new version of Quicken results in lower Personal Finance revenues versus last year," said Scott Cook, chairman, in a statement.

Revenues were also affected by a softer direct mail response rate. Intuit's business products and supplies groups, however, had a strong 30 percent increase in sales growth during the quarter, Cook said.

The company's initial results from Intuit's Quicken for '97 do appear encouraging, he said, cautioning that it's early in the game to peg customer response accurately.

The latest results come from the company's fourth-quarter performance that also saw a widening loss, due to the sale of its back-end bill payment and private network subsidiary. The sale of the subsidiary, CheckFree, had been a drain on earnings.