aQuantive 4^th-quarter profit climbs 73.5 percent

February 17, 2005 – Digital marketing and technology company aQuantive reported a 73.5 percent increase in profit in the fourth quarter. The better-than-expected results pushed its stock up 11.7 percent yesterday.

The Seattle company's latest quarterly profit was $7.1 million, or 10 cents a share, up from $4.1 million, or 6 cents a share, a year ago. The fourth-quarter results include Razorfish and other aQuantive acquisitions.

Analysts had been expecting the company to earn 5 cents a share. The results pushed aQuantive's stock up $1.08 to $10.30.

The company posted $60.7 million in sales for the fourth quarter, down 5 percent from $63.9 million in the year-earlier period. The company began excluding certain media costs last year, however, and when that practice is applied to the 2003 results, the fourth-quarter sales were $18.5 million.