Loudcloud Closes In On ProfitabilityLoudcloud Closes In On Profitability

Hosting and managed services provider Loudcloud Inc. (LDCL-Nasdaq) continued to drift toward profitability by trimming its losses and signing several new contracts during its third fiscal quarter. Loudcloud has been trying to expand the services it offers beyond hosting Web sites, applications, and data to avoid the fate of now-bankrupt hosting rivals such as Exodus Communications Inc. and Intira Corp. The company, led by Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen, lost $40.7 million on sales of $14.3 million for the quarter ended Oct. 31, compared with a loss of $58.2 million on sales of $4.6 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Loudcloud, which added Boeing Autometric, Cablevision Systems' eMedia Group, and Knight Ridder Digital as clients recently, expects to lose $112 million to $113 million for the year.