IRVINE, Calif. -

Autobytel emphasized its revenue and gross margin progress and new-vehicle purchase request increases despite the company taking operating and net losses during the fourth quarter and all of 2010.

For strictly the fourth quarter, Autobytel reported this week that its operating loss totaled $3.2 million, compared with an operating loss of $1.1 million for the same quarter last year. The company’s net loss amount settled at $3.3 million or 7 cents per share. In the year-ago quarter, the net loss was $1.0 million or 2 cents per share.

On a more positive front, Autobytel executives highlighted that fourth-quarter revenue grew 20 percent to $14.7 million, up from $12.3 million compiled during the fourth quarter of last year. The fourth-quarter figure also represented a 14-percent climb from Autobytel’s third-quarter revenue figure of $12.9 million.

In other gains, the company calculated purchase request revenue increased 27 percent during the fourth quarter compared with the same quarter last year. This revenue category also rose 16 percent from the immediately preceding third quarter.

Autobytel explained that this improvement relates primarily to substantially increased wholesale purchase requests resulting from the acquisition of Cyber Ventures and Autotropolis in September 2010, including purchase requests sold directly to OEMs or indirectly to OEMs through third-party customers.

Also related to money flowing into the company, Autobytel indicated its advertising revenue was $856,000 for the fourth quarter, down from $1.4 million during last year’s fourth quarter and $1.0 million that came in the third quarter of 2010.

Executives believe the decreases reflected a reduction in monetized page views across the company’s websites, showing the full-year effect of poor quality traffic canceled in late 2009 and early 2010.

As mentioned, Autobytel said its gross margin improved to 39.3 percent during the fourth quarter, ticking up from 39.1 percent in the year-ago period and from 36.8 percent in the preceding third quarter. Executives think the increases are primarily attributable to a greater proportion of internally generated vehicle purchase requests.

In other elements of its fourth-quarter financial report, Autobytel computed its total operating expenses at $9.0 million. That figure included approximately $1.0 million in severance and stock compensation costs related to a workforce reduction completed during the fourth quarter, as well as $347,000 of direct expenses related to the acquisition of Cyber Ventures and Autotropolis and $331,000 of acquisition-related amortization.

For comparison, the company reported total operating expenses of $5.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2009 and $7.9 million in the preceding third quarter, which included approximately $57,000 of severance costs, $340,000 of direct expenses associated with the acquisition of Cyber Ventures and Autotropolis and $51,000 of acquisition-related amortization.

Executives noted the increase in total operating expense for the year-over–year fourth quarter period was due largely to higher product development and personnel costs, particularly related to the company’s consumer website redesign and platform improvements as well as the ongoing operating expenses associated with the acquisition.

After giving the highlights of the fourth quarter, Jeffrey Coats, Autobytel’s president and chief executive officer began his assessment by stating “revenue grew on a sequential basis for the third consecutive quarter.

“Since acquiring Cyber Ventures and Autotropolis last September, we believe we have become the largest generator of purchase requests for new cars in the country with approximately 70 percent of all of our purchase requests being generated from our own network of consumer-facing websites,” Coats declared.

“Our ability to substantially increase the volume of high-quality, internally-generated purchase requests we deliver, has resulted in greater customer demand, growth in our OEM and dealer base, and improved gross margins,” he went on to say.

“As the automotive industry continues its path of steady improvement, and Autobytel continues to execute on its business plan, we believe that we are well positioned for growth and that profitability and positive cash flow will be achieved in the second quarter of 2011,” Coats added.

Autobytel Shares Full-Year Results

Turning to the rest of Autobytel’s financial report, the company indicated that its full-year revenue totaled $51.5 million, down slightly from the $52.9 million the company generated in 2009.

Executives determined 2010 purchase request revenue grew 3 percent above the 2009 level. They said advertising revenue totaled $3.8 million in 2010, compared with $6.5 million in the previous year.

Gross margin improved to 37.8 percent for the most recent 12-month period, up from 35.8 percent in 2009.

Autobytel discovered its total operating expenses were $28.5 million, compared with $24.1 million for the prior year.

As a result, the company found its operating loss totaled $9.0 million for 2010, versus $5.2 million a year ago.

The company’s 2010 net loss settled at $8.6 million or 19 cents per share, compared with $2.4 million or 5 cents per share in 2009, which included $1.2 million or 3 cents per share in income from discontinued operations.

Principally as a result of the acquisition of Cyber Ventures and Autotropolis in September plus a $1.0 million investment in DriverSide.com, Autobytel revealed its cash and cash equivalents declined to $8.8 million at the end of 2010. A year earlier this figure was $25.1 million.

Executives pointed out their cash and cash equivalents at the end of 2010’s third quarter were $10.3 million