On March 13th Miva Incorporated, a provider of paid search solutions in the U.S. and Europe reported 4th quarter revenue of $43 million which compares to revenue of $58.7 million in the 4th quarter of the prior year. On a GAAP basis the net loss was $4.7 million or 15 cents per share. The net loss included $2 million in amortization expense and $1.1 million in stock option expense. On a non-GAAP basis, which also excluded European tax issues and tax expense related to previous acquisitions, the net loss was $774,000 or 2 cents per share. Gross margins were 50.2% which compares to 47.6% in the year earlier period.

     During the past year Miva worked towards improving the overall quality of it's web traffic sources. It discontinued doing business with lower quality distribution partners that didn't meet certain guidelines. As a result of these steps to improve traffic quality, revenue declined for 4 consecutive quarters. The company now expects that revenue will actually increase next quarter for the 1st sequential quarterly rise in more than a year. Miva also expects that new products and new sales efforts will have a positive effect in the 2nd half of this year.
    During the past quarter the company launched Miva Match, a new product which provides advertisers with more broadly matched search terms with relevant key words. This is beginning to have a positive effect on the company's revenue. 
     For the 1st quarter of Miva expects revenue of $43 million - $45 million. Net loss on a non-GAAP basis is expected to be 1 - 4 cents per share. The midpoint of that range comes out to less than $1 million.