Melb Itclinches Key Deals Offshore
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday October 26, 2002
Melbourne IT yesterday announced international partnerships with three internet service providers (ISPs) that will offer its domain name registration services to their subscribers.
The announcement came as the company reported rising costs and falling market share in Australia.
Melbourne IT has signed up NTT Smart Connect in Japan, Net4India in North Asia and India, as well as the Jippii Group in Europe, with more deals expected in coming months.
The agreements are expected to boost the company's generic top-level domain name business (.com, .org,) which registered more than 298,000 names for the September quarter, compared to 238,000 for the previous period.
Melbourne IT chief executive, Adrian Kloeden, said: ``The signing of these and other significant resellers during this year augurs well for 2003."
While the deals are expected to contribute to earnings next year, the company wouldn't offer any outlook on second-half financial results due to ``market volatility".
Analysts applauded the company's ability to stitch together deals with major international players, but said it would be hit by tougher competition in Australia following deregulation of the market in July this year.
``The second half is obviously going to be weaker than the first half," Fosters Stockbroking analyst Mark Studd said.
Registrations and renewals for .au domain names fell by 13.6 per cent to 31,467 for the three months to September.
Higher registration costs in Australia, following deregulation, increased the company's expenses by $651,000 for the quarter.
Melbourne IT shares closed up slightly at 45c yesterday.
© 2002 Sydney Morning Herald
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