DSL.net wipes hands of NASDAQ

DSL.net finally unsaddled itself from its NASDAQ listing woes this week. The Eastern Seaboard business DSL CLEC has abandoned all efforts to keep its listing on the NASDAQ exchange and instead began trading on AMEX under the new ticker symbol BIZ.

New CEO Kirby Pickle at today’s Q2 earnings call said the decision to list on AMEX came as a relief to DSL.net’s board and investors, since the year-long fight to maintain its listing on the NASDAQ has drained company resources and damaged the company’s stock price. After numerous extensions, the only way DSL.net could have met NASDAQ’s listing criteria would have been to issue a reverse stock split, a move that could have further damaged DSL.net’s already suffering share value, Pickle said.

"The Amex listing brings the same visibility of being on a major market exchange," Pickle said. "We were convinced that a move to AMEX was far preferable to a reverse stock split to stay on NASDAQ."

Pickle, who took over the company in April, said that the company has also made strides in its efforts to deploy VoIP across its facilities-based network. Launched at the beginning of the year, DSL.net VoIP service is now deployed commercially in New York City and the Washington, D.C., metro area, but DSL.net plans to deploy up and down its metro Boston-to-Washington spanning footprint. DSL.net officials, however, did not reveal any subscriber numbers for VoIP or DSL lines.

The company’s revenues slid 2% in the second quarter, compared to the same three months in 2003, but its net loss shrunk 33% from $8.7 million in Q2 of 2003 to $5.8 million last quarter. DSL.net also reported record gross margins of $5.7 million for the quarter, up 19% from last year. The improved loss and margin figures but flat revenues represent DSL.net’s refocus on high ARPU and profitable products, Pickle said.