$1M Domain Name Portfolio; Domain Parking Flat — Tucows Sells
Firm sells big portfolio, enters into $1.8M expired domain name deal, and sees domain name parking revenue flatline.
Domain name wholesaler Tucows Inc (AMEX: TCX) has sold a portfolio of 2,553 domain names for $1 million, the firm disclosed in its quarterly earnings call yesterday. That’s an average of $392 per domain name. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the firm noted that the same buyer has rights to purchase up to $1.8 million more in domain names under similar terms between now and June 2010.
On the conference call, Tucows CEO Elliot Noss stated the continuation deal gives a buyer rights to buy expired domain names from Tucows as they expire. The firm just inked a deal to send domain names to NameJet. It sounds like Tucows has a separate deal to offer expiring domains to a third party buyer either ahead of domains go to NameJet or sell remnants that aren’t purchased at NameJet. I have contacted Tucows for clarification. [Read response from Tucows].
In a positive sign for the domain name parking business, Tucows noted that its domain name parking revenue flatlined over the fourth quarter, ending a trend of dropping revenue.
Tucows continues to grow its domain name registration business, with fresh registrations up 9% compared to the same quarter last year and renewals up 15%. Since its domain names are mostly sold through resellers such as web hosts, Tucows states it has a higher proportion of domain names in use (as opposed to parked) compared to other domain registrars.
The firm also disclosed it is purchasing up to 4 million shares of its stock for 32-45 cents each.
