Audible Inc.'s first quarter ended March 31 marked another quarter in which the company increased revenues and cut its operating loss. Sales in the period rose 17%, to $2.5 million, and the net loss was reduced to $4.9 million from $7.6 million.
Sales of consumer content, which Audible considers to be the heart of its business, jumped from $882,000 to $2.0 million, due to an increase in its membership base to 143,000 from 69,000. Sales in its services business fell 39%, to $175,000 because of fewer corporate subscribers. Hardware sales dropped to $346,000 from $654,000 as a result of selling AudibleReady devices at deeper discounts than one year ago.
To help conserve cash, Audible reached an agreement in early April with Random House under which Random agreed to waive a $1.2-million payment due from Audible in exchange for 1.2 million shares of Audible stock. Random became a minority investor in Audible in 2000 when it formed the Random House Audible imprint.
Despite the improving financial picture, Audible received a Nasdaq listing qualifications letter on April 29 informing the company that its stock had closed below the $1 per share requirement for the last 30 trading days. The company could be delisted from Nasdaq if its stock price does not close for at least $1 per share for 10 trading days by July 29.
