NetSuite Fourth-quarter Loss Unchanged

SAN MATEO, Calif. (AP) - NetSuite Inc., which provides business management software over the Internet, said Thursday that its fourth-quarter net loss narrowed slightly, though rising operating expenses largely overshadowed revenue growth.

The company's quarterly revenue beat analyst estimates and its adjusted earnings were in line with views, but investors may have been hoping for more: NetSuite shares fell $1.82, or 6.5 percent, to $26 in after-hours trading. The stock finished regular trading up 27 cents at $27.82.

For the October-December quarter, NetSuite reported a loss of $6.4 million, or 10 cents per share, compared with a loss of $6.5 million, or 10 cents per share, in the 2009 fourth quarter.

Excluding one-time items, NetSuite earned 4 cents per share, matching the average estimate of analysts polled by FactSet.

Revenue rose 21 percent year over year to $52.1 million. Analysts were expecting $50.9 million in revenue.

Subscription and support revenue, which makes up the vast majority of the company's overall revenue, climbed 21 percent to $44.2 million.

But expenses rose, too, climbing 22 percent to $42.2 million. The change was due mostly to a large increase in sales and marketing expenses.

For the full 2010 year, NetSuite's loss totaled $27.5 million, or 43 cents per share, compared with a loss of $23.3 million, or 38 cents per share, the year before.