Sedo notes earnings: domain parking still a drag, revenue down 18%

Sedo’s domain parking business continues to struggle.

Sedo Holding just noted earnings (pdf) for the first three quarters of 2012, and the message is more of the same: domain parking is still a drag.

Overall, Sedo Holding AG grew revenue €98.7 million in the first nine months of 2012. That’s up 7.3% compared to the same period last year.

But earnings are struggling, and the domain marketing segment (i.e. Sedo) takes a lot of the blame.

Sedo.com generated €24.0 million in first three quarters of 2012 compared to €29.4 million last year.

It ended September with only 3.5 million parked domains, down from 4.4 million at end of December. That’s a 20% drop. Add to that continuing decreases in how much parked domains earn and it’s not a pretty picture.

The firm actually noted some revenue growth in domain trading. Still, that must be due to increased commission fees instead of more domain sales; Sedo’s marketplace notes show a drop in total sales dollar volume this year compared to last.

Domains for sale decreased from 15.7 million at the end of 2011 to 15.1 million as of the end of September.

The firm assumes domain parking will continue its retreat. It may need to adjust its “structures” to keep running a profitable business, it disclosed.

Although Sedo Holding’s employee count has increased this year, the headcount at Sedo.com (which doesn’t include its affiliate marketing business) is basically flat.