Scoot joins ill-fated `95% club' as shares hit five-year lows

SCOOT.COM JOINED the infamous "95 per cent" club yesterday whenits shares tumbled to five-year lows after it unveiled more than atripling in 2000 losses and took steps that could see the company putup for sale.

The select "club" that Scoot has joined is reserved for companieswhose stock has lost all of its gains, or more, since the internetinvestment boom turned to bust. Scoot stock peaked at 351.5p justover a year ago and yesterday closed at 14p, down 6.25p on the day,but more than 95 per cent below the all-time high.

Commenting on whether Scoot, which appointed Merrill Lynch toadvise it on strategic options, was in effect being put up for sale,a spokesman said: "That shouldn't be ruled out although nothing hasbeen said to indicate that is the case. It is one of the strategicoptions that is being reviewed. Any business offered a huge premiumover its existing share price clearly has to look at that."

Where that leaves Vivendi Universal, the giant Frenchentertainment conglomerate and Scoot's biggest shareholder with a22.4 per cent stake, was unclear.

Last year, Vivendi backed Scoot, which is headed by chiefexecutive Robert Bonnier, with funds of pounds 195m to roll-out theUK company's online directory business across Europe over threeyears. Vivendi received options to increase its shareholding inScoot. The last of those options allows the French firm until Octoberto buy 23 million additional shares at pounds 2.50 per share.Vivendi's backing was instrumental in allowing Scoot to buy Loot, thefree-ads paper, for pounds 177.5m in cash and loan notes last July.

Yesterday Scoot said it had agreed to sell as many as 60 millionshares, or 8.7 per cent of its capital, in a private placement tobolster finances.

It reported that losses before tax for the 15 months to Decemberrose to pounds 71.5m compared with losses of pounds 21.1m in the yearto September 1999. Gross revenue for the latest fiscal year rose 42per cent to pounds 27.2m. Scoot said it had changed its reportingperiod to harmonise results from all of its divisions.

The company's number of subscribers almost tripled to 55,658 inthe December quarter from a year earlier. Scoot insisted that its UKunit is on track to be operating cash flow positive in the fourthquarter.