WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA -- Online real estate search company Move, Inc. said it lost $2.2 million during its second quarter, on sales of $61.4 million. The company also announced that it has engaged an investment banker to assist in the sale of its Welcome Wagon business. It also announced that it would make significant reductions in its operating expenses.
"The decision to sell Welcome Wagon was not made lightly," said Move Inc. President Lorna M. Borenstein during a teleconference to discuss the company's earnings. "However, we know that we have to not only be willing, but decisive, about shifting or eliminating resources if they cannot contribute to the overall growth of the business. The same is true of our planned expense reductions."
Despite the loss, the company said its Realtor.com website Realtor.com achieved its highest June and July sales in history.
"The issues and challenges facing the residential real estate market are creating a permanent dislocation in the offline real estate advertising market with online spending benefiting in the long run," said Mike Long, Move's CEO. "As the market recovers, the needs of consumers and advertisers will be quite different than they are today. We have a clear strategy to meet those needs and are adjusting our business to focus on assets and new development initiatives that are essential to our long term strategy while eliminating unprofitable revenue streams and improving cash flow to invest in growth. Our success has been, and will continue to be, driven by our clear market leadership, as consumers have shown through their actions that Move is the most trusted source in online real estate."
| 
