Internet service provider Internet Gold (Nasdaq: IGLD; TASE:IGLD) has announced that TIPOits 50%-owned children's portal, will soon be adding TIPO-TV, an Internet-based television/podcast channel targeting children aged 8-15, to its broad range of content and youth-oriented applications.
As an extension to its blog and personal website-building services, TIPO-TV will offer tools that make it easy for individuals to create their own video clips and submit them to TIPO, including editing software, graphics libraries, and captioning aids. TIPO's qualified personnel will screen all clips submitted, slotting those appropriate for its target users into a varied and exciting broadcast schedule.
TIPO is a popular Israeli Internet portal targeting the pre-teen and youth sectors. During October 2005, TIPO served approximately 40 million page views to a record 500,000 individual users, who logged onto the site to use its instant messaging, web-based email, chat-rooms, forums and other services.
Internet Gold stated that TIPO will soon deploy a new site management system enabling it to expand the advertising potential of each service.
Internet Gold last week reported a third quarter net profit for 2005 of NIS 1.6 million, or NIS 0.09 per share. Net income for the third quarter of 2004 was NIS 1.5 million, or NIS 0.08 per share.
The company noted that net profit for the third quarter of this year reflected unusually high financing expenses of NIS 3.5 million. The rise in financing expenses resulted from a 1.4% rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the quarter, which raised the interest due on the Internet Gold group's CPI-linked bonds. The company stated that this effect was mitigated somewhat by successful hedging activities.
Revenue for the third quarter was NIS 73.3 million, an increase of 35% compared with NIS 54.3 million in the third quarter of 2004.
Gross margin for the quarter was to 46.6%.
Operating income for the quarter reached NIS 5.7 million, an increase of 200% compared to the corresponding quarter of 2004.
Internet Gold's operations are carried out through four subsidiaries. Through MSN Israel, its (50.1% owned) joint-venture with Microsoft Corp. (49.9% owned), the company operates several Israeli Internet portals.
Fully-owned subsidiary, Internet Gold International specializes in the provision of international Internet and communication services.
Fully-owned subsidiary GoldMind focuses on the provision of Internet value-added services.
Fully-owned subsidiary GoldTrade is an e-Commerce provider.
Internet Gold's business segments are smile.net, which provides access and access-related value added services; smile.media which provides e-advertising and content; price comparison site GetPrice, in which MSN-Israel owns a 51% interest and intends to establish a new site called MSN-Compare; Hype/Tipo, in which Internet Gold subsidiary GoldMind owns a 50.1%; MSNJobs, a Hebrew-language job search site in partnership with Redmatch; Net-Express, a strategic partnership with the founder of netex.co.il, one of Israel's most popular Hebrew language Internet search engines and web directory sites; educational portal Nirshamim; smile.015, which provides international telephony services, with a focus on the Russian-speaking population; and e-commerce operator smile.shops, which operates the popular online shopping portal P-1000.
Internet Gold noted that P-1000's revenue rose by 8% during the third quarter of 2005 compared to the second quarter of 2005, and that operating income rose by 12%. The group is continuing to evaluate other acquisition and consolidation opportunities in the e-commerce sector.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on Tuesday, November 15, 2005