Internet phone carrier Vonage reported that its losses increased 17% in the second quarter as customer-acquisition costs stayed high, an Associated Press report said.
The report said the results illustrated the challenges facing Vonage, which raised nearly $500 million from a May 24 initial public offering that was disastrous for investors. The stock debuted at $17 per share and dropped immediately, recently lingering below $7.
Vonage's loss from April through June was $74.1 million, or $1.16 per share, compared with a loss of $63.6 million in the same quarter last year, the report said.
Revenue was $143.4 million, short of Wall Street's forecast of $148.3 million. Vonage's revenue was $59.4 million in the same quarter a year ago, the report said.
A pioneer in selling inexpensive phone service using VoIP, Vonage has attracted 1.9 million subscribers who use their broadband connections to make calls with regular phones.
But Vonage had spent heavily on marketing and was under competitive assault from cable TV companies using VoIP to offer attractive phone plans, the report added.