Overstock.com's net loss widens

Salt Lake-based Overstock.com, which sells excess retail inventory on the Internet, said Tuesday that the company's net loss widened in 2005, and that replacing aging systems will slow growth for the next six to nine months.

For the year, the loss widened to $24.9 million, or $1.29 a share, from a loss of $5 million, or 29 cents, the previous year, Overstock.com said Tuesday in a statement.

Fourth-quarter revenue rose 44 percent, to $318 million, compared with the same quarter a year earlier, the company said. It didn't provide fourth-quarter net income or per-share data.

Overstock.com lost money in the quarter, which was handled "with the maddest of scrambles," Chief Executive Officer Patrick M. Byrne said in a note to shareholders.

"We need two to three quarters to recover," Byrne said in the statement. "Expect slower growth from us in 2006, but also expect us to end 2006 as a stronger and more focused company."

Overstock.com was forced to replace some worn-out systems last year, which took longer and was more costly than anticipated, Byrne said.

Shares of Overstock.com rose $1.53, or 6.7 percent, to close at $24.28 Tuesday on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares had fallen 55 percent in the past year.