Earthlink Drops Most in Decade After Loss, COO Departure

EarthLink Inc. (ELNK), an Internet service provider, fell the most in a decade after the company reported a second-quarter loss and said Chief Operating Officer Joseph Wetzel is leaving.

The shares dropped 10 percent to $6.09 at the close in New York, the biggest one-day decline since August 2002. Through yesterday, the stock had increased 5.6 percent this year.

Revenue sank 7 percent to $338.2 million in the second quarter from $363.6 million in the same period a year earlier, as sales to business customers declined, the Atlanta-based company said today in a statement. The net loss was $1.11 million, or 1 cent a share, compared with income of $6.55 million, or 6 cents, a year earlier.

Analysts on average had estimated the company would report net income of 3 cents a share on sales of $339 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg

Wetzel will depart on Dec. 31, the company said. EarthLink didn’t name a replacement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lisa Rapaport in New York at lrapaport1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net