Vonage Manages to Staunch the Bleeding

Vonage Holdings Corp. isn’t out of the woods yet, but its outlook seems to be improving.

The embattled VoIP services provider on Wednesday said it slashed its second-quarter losses by 54 percent, mainly by cutting down on marketing expenses.

Vonage lowered its net loss to $33.3 million, or 22 cents per share, in the three months ending June 30, as compared to $74.1 million, or $1.16 per share, a year ago. Revenue grew by 43 percent, reaching $205.9 million up from $144.4 million during the second quarter of 2006.

The Holmdel, N.J.-based provider also added 57,000 net subscribers. That’s down from 166,000 during the first quarter of 2007 but an impressive number given the company’s legal battles and Wall Street troubles.

Vonage in March lost a patent lawsuit to Verizon Communications Inc. Vonage founder and interim CEO Jeffrey Citron said on Wednesday his company has made substantial progress in developing workarounds to Verizon’s patents.

Vonage stocks have not fared well since the ruling against it. However, its stock rose 17 cents during Wednesday’s early afternoon trading, to $2.37. That’s not much, considering the company’s much-hyped public debut of $17, but it is better than the 52-week low of $1.80.

Verizon Communications Inc. www.verizon.com
Vonage Holdings Corp. www.vonage.com