EarthLink 1st-quarter Profit Falls 37 Percent

ATLANTA (AP) — Internet service provider EarthLink Inc. said Tuesday its first-quarter profit dropped 37 percent as the number of subscribers dropped by nearly a million.

For the quarter ended March 31, net income fell to $32.5 million, or 30 cents per share, from $51.7 million, or 47 cents per share, a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected profit of 27 cents per share.

Revenue fell 24 percent to $199.1 million from $263.1 million. Analysts predicted revenue of $203 million.

EarthLink also said it expected revenue to drop based on the "historic seasonality" of the first quarter, ongoing subscriber trends and changes in the structure of some of its partner relationships.

The company added that it had 983,000 fewer total subscribers at the end of the three-month period than at the end of the same three months a year earlier.

EarthLink also said it expects to report income from continuing operations of $90 million to $100 million for the full 2009 fiscal year.

Shares rose 12 cents to $7.48 in late afternoon trading.