Vocus reported its second quarter net loss jumped to $5.2M although revenue surpassed expectations at $43.6M, buoyed by price increases, sales of its marketing software, and the acquisition of email marketing suite iContact.
CFO Steve Vintz said the 56% jump in revenue was boosted by higher average selling prices -- Vocus raised prices in April -- and more units sold, resulting in better than expected bookings for the quarter.
Vocus, which has been aggressively expanding its initial PR focus to a broader marketing offering to woo small and mid-sized businesses, spent $23M on sales and marketing in the quarter, including the addition of 70 sales reps. It set an expanded goal of 475 reps by the end of the year, up from a forecast of 450 last quarter. It had 270 reps in January.
The company bought iContact in February for $169M in cash and said the unit's sales beat expectations, but Vocus did not break out its contribution to earnings.
The PR and marketing software provider added 1,013 net new subscribers during Q2, including Cash for Cars Quick, Tripwire and the University of Pennsylvania.
Vocus forecasts third quarter revenue in the $44.7M-$45M range and earnings per share of -$0.24 to -$0.23.