B2B boom time for Trader.com

NEWS B2B exchange Trader.com has reported a 12 per cent jump in third quarter sales, bringing revenue for the quarter to E105.5m (£65.5m). Revenue for the same quarter last year was E94m (£58.4m). Revenue for the first nine months of 2001 was up 14 per cent to E310.7m (£193m). Trader.com, which offers a marketplace for buyers and sellers of classified advertising, said the strongest growth came from online revenue, which grew 33 per cent to E6.5m (£4m), up from E4.8m (£2.9m) in the same quarter a year ago. Trader.com raised its full year profit forecast to E60m (£37.2m), up from earlier expectations of E50m (£31m). In first half results earlier this year, the company reported a net loss of E5.6m (£3.47m), down from a net loss of E52.3m (£32.4m) in the year ago period.