LivePerson’s first quarter revenue rises 27%

Live chat vendor LivePerson Inc. registered strong growth in revenue in the first quarter.

For first quarter ended March 31, LivePerson reported:

 

• Revenue of $25.3 million, up 27.1% from $19.9 million for the same period in 2008 and up 11% from the third quarter of 2008.
• Net income of $2.1 million, up 61.5% from $1.3 million for the same quarter in 2009.

“The year is off to a great start with revenue in line with expectations,” says LivePerson CEO Robert LoCascio. “As we look ahead to the future, we are excited to begin introducing several new applications that will extend the capabilities of our core chat offering. Customers are in the process of being introduced to these new applications, and have expressed great enthusiasm for the opportunities they present to deliver a more unique, one-to-one customer experience."

LivePerson gained 10 customers in the first quarter, including a major U.K. mobile phone and broadband provider that LivePerson declined to identify. Live Person serves 8,000 companies.

For the fourth quarter, sales in LivePerson’s business segment, which includes hosted chat services for businesses, represented 86.3% of revenue. The rest came from the company’s consumer segment, where experts provide advice directly to consumers for a fee.