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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

 


 

FORM 10-Q

 

ý

QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES
EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

 

For the quarterly period ended September 30, 2003

 

 

Or

 

 

o

TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES
EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

 

 

For the transition period from                          to                        

 

Commission file number 0-26083

 


 

INSWEB CORPORATION

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware

 

94-3220749

(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)

 

(IRS Employer
Identification Number)

 

11290 Pyrites Way, Suite 200

Gold River, California 95670

(Address of principal executive offices)

 

(916) 853-3300

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

 


 

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Sections 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ý No o

 

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes o  No ý

 

The number of outstanding shares of the Registrant’s Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share, on October 31, 2003 were 4,683,819 shares.

 

 



 

FORM 10-Q

INSWEB CORPORATION

INDEX

 

PART I

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

ITEM 1:

Financial Statements

 

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of September 30, 2003 and December 31, 2002

 

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2003 and 2002

 

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2003 and 2002

 

Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

ITEM 2:

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

ITEM 3:

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

ITEM 4:

Controls and Procedures

 

 

PART II

OTHER INFORMATION

ITEM 1:

Legal Proceedings

ITEM 6:

Exhibits and Reports on Form 8-K

 

 

 

Signature

 



 

PART I:  FINANCIAL INFORMATION

ITEM 1.  FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

INSWEB CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(in thousands)

(unaudited)

 

 

 

September 30,
2003

 

December 31,
2002

 

Assets

 

 

 

 

 

Current assets:

 

 

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents

 

$

11,681

 

$

12,382

 

Short-term investments

 

9,764

 

16,541

 

Other available for sale securities – Finance All K.K.

 

3,941

 

 

Accounts receivable, net

 

2,097

 

2,236

 

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

 

955

 

1,232

 

Total current assets

 

28,438

 

32,391

 

Property and equipment, net

 

1,595

 

2,197

 

Other assets

 

949

 

3,104

 

Total assets

 

$

30,982

 

$

37,692

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liabilities and stockholders’ equity

 

 

 

 

 

Current liabilities:

 

 

 

 

 

Accounts payable

 

$

1,133

 

$

888

 

Accrued expenses

 

5,245

 

5,605

 

Deferred revenue

 

344

 

575

 

Marketing commitment

 

311

 

2,306

 

Note payable to stockholder

 

 

1,230

 

Total current liabilities

 

7,033

 

10,604

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commitments and contingencies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stockholders’ equity:

 

 

 

 

 

Common stock

 

7

 

7

 

Paid-in capital, less treasury stock

 

198,096

 

202,051

 

Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)

 

3,178

 

(208

)

Accumulated deficit

 

(177,332

)

(174,762

)

Total stockholders’ equity

 

23,949

 

27,088

 

Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity

 

$

30,982

 

$

37,692

 

 

See accompanying notes.

 

3



 

INSWEB CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(in thousands, except per share amounts)

(unaudited)

 

 

 

Three Months
Ended September 30,

 

Nine Months
Ended September 30,

 

 

 

2003

 

2002

 

2003

 

2002

 

Revenues:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Transaction fees

 

$

5,931

 

$

5,734

 

$

19,253

 

$

18,012

 

Development and maintenance fees

 

255

 

282

 

738

 

1,157

 

Total revenues

 

6,186

 

6,016

 

19,991

 

19,169

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Technology

 

2,091

 

2,338

 

6,762

 

7,956

 

Sales and marketing

 

4,327

 

4,376

 

13,116

 

13,801

 

General and administrative

 

1,249

 

1,725

 

4,481

 

5,489

 

Total operating expenses

 

7,667

 

8,439

 

24,359

 

27,246

 

Loss from operations

 

(1,481

)

(2,423

)

(4,368

)

(8,077

)

Interest expense

 

(21

)

(67

)

(84

)

(414

)

Interest income

 

58

 

169

 

224

 

522

 

Other income

 

849

 

12

 

1,658

 

9,422

 

Net (loss) income

 

$

(595

)

$

(2,309

)

$

(2,570

)

$

1,453

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net (loss) income per share-basic and diluted

 

$

(0.13

)

$

(0.33

)

$

(0.49

)

$

0.21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weighted average shares used in computing per share amounts- basic and diluted

 

4,690

 

7,045

 

5,212

 

7,040

 

 

See accompanying notes.

 

4



 

INSWEB CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(in thousands)

(unaudited)

 

 

 

Nine Months Ended
September 30,

 

 

 

2003

 

2002

 

Cash flows from operating activities:

 

 

 

 

 

Net (loss) income

 

$

(2,570

)

$

1,453

 

Adjustments to reconcile net (loss) income to net cash used in operating activities:

 

 

 

 

 

Gain on sale of a portion of investment in Finance All K.K.

 

(822

)

 

Depreciation and amortization

 

775

 

1,530

 

Amortization of prepaid marketing costs

 

272

 

1,129

 

Other income

 

(36

)

(9,396

)

Net changes in operating assets and liabilities:

 

 

 

 

 

Accounts receivable

 

139

 

211

 

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

 

277

 

(393

)

Deposits and other assets

 

79

 

2,502

 

Accounts payable

 

245

 

259

 

Accrued expenses

 

(361

)

103

 

Deferred revenue

 

(231

)

(539

)

Changes in working capital

 

148

 

2,143

 

Net cash used in operating activities

 

(2,233

)

(3,141

)

Cash flows from investing activities:

 

 

 

 

 

Redemptions of short term investments

 

14,720

 

31,971

 

Purchases of short term investments

 

(7,946

)

(32,930

)

Proceeds from sale of investment in Finance All K.K.

 

2,097

 

 

Proceeds from sales of property and equipment

 

 

926

 

Purchases of property and equipment and capitalized website development costs

 

(77

)

(571

)

Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities

 

8,794

 

(604

)

Cash flows from financing activities:

 

 

 

 

 

Proceeds from exercise of options

 

10

 

 

Repurchase of common stock

 

(4,000

)

(11

)

Repayments of debt

 

(3,307

)

(1,887

)

Proceeds from stock issued from employee stock purchase plan

 

35

 

64

 

Net cash used in financing activities

 

(7,262

)

(1,834

)

Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents

 

(701

)

(5,579

)

Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period

 

12,382

 

14,627

 

Cash and cash equivalents, end of period

 

$

11,681

 

$

9,048

 

 

See accompanying notes.

 

5



 

INSWEB CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(Amounts in thousands)

(unaudited)

 

1.  Business of InsWeb

 

InsWeb Corporation operates an online insurance marketplace for a variety of insurance products, including automobile, term life and homeowners. InsWeb’s marketplace enables consumers to research insurance-related topics, search for, analyze and compare insurance products, apply for and receive insurance company-sponsored quotes for actual coverage and purchase automobile insurance coverage through InsWeb’s insurance agency. InsWeb has combined extensive knowledge of the insurance industry, technological expertise and close relationships with a significant number of insurance companies to develop an integrated online marketplace.

 

InsWeb is subject to all of the risks inherent in an early stage business in the electronic commerce industry and special risks related to the online insurance industry. These risks include, but are not limited to, a limited operating history, limited management resources, dependence upon consumer acceptance of the Internet, Internet related security risks, the changing nature of the electronic commerce industry, and variations in consumer traffic and insurance company participation. Due to the foregoing factors, InsWeb’s future operating results may be materially affected.

 

2.  Basis of Presentation

 

The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of InsWeb Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, InsWeb Insurance Services, Inc. and Goldrush Insurance Services, Inc. (“InsWeb” or the “Company”).  All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in the consolidated financial statements.

 

The accompanying unaudited interim financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States for interim financial information and the instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X.  Accordingly, they do not contain all of the information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States for complete financial statements.  In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments, which include only normal recurring adjustments, necessary to present fairly InsWeb’s financial position as of September 30, 2003, the results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2003 and September 30, 2002 and cash flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2003 and 2002.  The financial data and other information disclosed in these notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements related to these periods are unaudited.  The results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2003 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the year ending December 31, 2003.

 

In April 2002, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 145 (“SFAS 145”),  “Rescission of FASB Statements No. 4, 44, and 62, Amendment of FASB Statement No. 13, and Technical Corrections.” SFAS 145 requires gains and losses on extinguishments of debt to be classified as income or loss from continuing operations rather than as extraordinary items. SFAS 145 became effective for InsWeb’s fiscal year beginning January 1, 2003.  The extraordinary gain of $9,345,000 representing a reduction of obligations (fixed payments) that was recorded in connection with the amendment of the license and distribution agreement with Intuit in the quarter ended March 31, 2002, has been reclassified to other income (see discussion in Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Note 10) included in InsWeb’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2002).  Except for this reclassification, the adoption of SFAS 145 did not affect InsWeb’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

 

These condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in InsWeb’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and other information as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

3.  Concentration of Risk — Significant Customers

 

For the three months ended September 30, 2003, three customers (GE Financial Assurance (“GEFA”), Progressive Casualty Insurance Company (“Progressive”) and American Family) accounted for 16%, 12% and 11% of total revenues, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, 2003, three customers (GEFA, Progressive and American Family) accounted for 15%, 15% and 11% of total revenues, respectively.

 

In April 2003, InsWeb was notified by Progressive of their intent to terminate their participation on the InsWeb

 

6



 

insurance marketplace effective September 30, 2003. Effective November 16, 2003, GEFA will no longer participate as an instant quoting carrier within the InsWeb marketplace, as a result of its acquisition by AIG, Inc., who is and will continue as a quoting company in the InsWeb marketplace.

 

4.  Concentration of Risk — Marketing Partners

 

InsWeb relies on relationships with Internet portals and other online companies to attract consumers to its website. In a typical arrangement, the online company includes a “link” on its website on which a user can click to jump to InsWeb’s website or to a site that InsWeb operates under the online company’s name; as part of the arrangement, InsWeb typically pays the online company a portion of the resulting transaction fees and in some cases a fixed fee. These relationships may not continue to generate a substantial amount of new traffic on InsWeb’s website, or the revenues generated by these relationships may be insufficient to justify InsWeb’s payment obligations. InsWeb has experienced fluctuations in the traffic from its online partners as a result of redesigns of their websites or being outbid for promotions by other online insurance providers. Furthermore, the value of these relationships is based on the continued positive market presence, reputation and growth of these online companies’ websites and services. Any decline in the market presence, business or reputation of these online companies’ websites and services will reduce the value of these relationships to InsWeb and could harm its business.

 

During 2002, InsWeb significantly expanded its on-line marketing relationship with LowerMyBills.com, Inc., as a result of which LowerMyBills.com delivered approximately 34% of InsWeb’s website traffic for the year ended December 31, 2002. During the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2003, LowerMyBills.com accounted for 34% and 42% of InsWeb’s website traffic, respectively; however, InsWeb expects significantly less traffic from LowerMyBills.com going forward, as a result of a change in LowerMyBills’ insurance offering.  See additional discussion in Item 2, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - 2003 Developments. ”

 

5.  Per Share and Stock Based Compensation Information

 

Basic earnings per share, is computed using the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding. Diluted earnings per share reflects the potential dilution that would occur if stock options and warrants had been exercised.  For the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2003, and for the three months ended September 30, 2002 , common equivalent shares from stock options and warrants have been excluded from the computation of net loss per share-diluted as their effect would be antidilutive.  For the nine months ended September 30, 2002, shares used in the computation of diluted earnings per share are not significantly different than the number of shares used in the computation of basic earnings per share.

 

InsWeb accounts for its stock-based compensation plans under the recognition and measurement principles of APB Opinion No. 25, “Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees,” and related interpretations.  The following table illustrates the effect on net loss and net loss per share if InsWeb had applied the fair value recognition provisions of Financial Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 123,  “Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation,” to stock-based employee compensation (in thousands, except per share amounts):

 

 

 

Three months ended September 30,

 

Nine months ended September 30,

 

 

 

2003

 

2002

 

2003

 

2002

 

Net (loss) income

 

$

(595

)

$

(2,309

)

$

(2,570

)

$

1,453

 

Deduct:  Stock-based employee compensation expense determined under fair value based method for all awards

 

(452

)

(680

)

(1,225

)

(1,619

)

Pro forma net loss

 

$

(1,047

)

$

(2,989

)

$

(3,795

)

$

(166

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net (loss) income per share:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic and diluted-as reported

 

$

(0.13

)

$

(0.33

)

$

(0.49

)

$

0.21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic and diluted-pro forma

 

$

(0.22

)

$

(0.42

)

$

(0.73

)

$

(0.02

)

 

Option valuation models require the input of highly subjective assumptions. Because InsWeb’s employee and director stock options have characteristics significantly different from those of traded options, and because changes in the subjective input assumptions can materially affect the fair value estimate, in management’s opinion, the existing models do not necessarily provide a reliable measure of the fair value of its employee stock options. For purposes of pro forma disclosures, the estimated fair value of the options is amortized over the options’ vesting period. The above pro forma disclosures are not necessarily representative of the effects on reported income or loss for future periods as additional grants are made each year and options vest over several years.

 

7



 

6.  Comprehensive (Loss) Income

 

Total comprehensive income (loss) for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2003 and 2002 were as follows (in thousands):

 

 

 

Three months ended September 30,

 

Nine months ended September 30,

 

 

 

2003

 

2002

 

2003

 

2002

 

Net (loss) income

 

$

(595

)

$

(2,309

)

$

(2,570

)

$

1,453

 

Other comprehensive income:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Change in cumulative translation adjustment due to the partial sale of investment in Finance All K.K.

 

132

 

 

132

 

 

Change in unrealized gain on available for sale securities (principally, Finance All K.K. for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2003)

 

3,254

 

2

 

3,254

 

10

 

Total comprehensive income (loss)

 

$

2,791

 

$

(2,307

)

$

816

 

$

1,463

 

 

7.  Related Party Transactions

 

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2003, InsWeb recognized $68,000 and $310,000, respectively, in marketing expenses under a marketing agreement with an Internet company, compared to $207,000 and $947,000, respectively for the comparable periods in 2002.  An affiliate of the Internet company became a stockholder of InsWeb in December 1998.

 

8. Commitments and Contingencies

 

Leases

 

In July 2002, InsWeb and one of its sublessees agreed to amend the sublease covering portions of the property InsWeb formerly occupied as its headquarters in Redwood City, California. Under the terms of the amendment, the sublessee agreed to rent the entire facility for the duration of InsWeb’s lease (through September 2008). All rent and operating expenses otherwise payable by InsWeb to the landlord are required to be paid directly by the sublessee. Therefore, the amended sublease offsets InsWeb’s aggregate operating lease commitments by approximately $9,439,000 through the remainder of the lease.  However, the sublessee is a start-up company with a limited operating history and, therefore, there are inherent risks and uncertainties associated with its future operations and its ability to discharge its obligations through the term of the sublease.  In the event that the sublessee defaults on its obligations under the amended sublease, InsWeb would be responsible for making the required lease payments to the landlord throughout the remaining term of the lease.  In connection with this lease and other lease obligations for formerly occupied facilities, InsWeb must make assumptions regarding the estimated future sublease income relative to these facilities.  As a result of the decline in the real estate market in the geographic area where the properties are located and the inherent risks associated with its sublessee, the Company has an accrual of $2,716,000 as of September 30, 2003 for lease commitments related to these formerly occupied facilities, as compared to an accrual of $2,800,000 as of December 31, 2002. These estimates and assumptions are affected by area-specific conditions such as new commercial development, market occupancy rates and future market prices. If these estimates or their related assumptions change in the future, InsWeb may be required to record a charge to increase its accrual.

 

Securities Class Action Lawsuit

 

A securities class action lawsuit was filed on December 5, 2001 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, (the “Court”) purportedly on behalf of all persons who purchased InsWeb’s common stock from July 22, 1999 through December 6, 2000.  The complaint named as defendants InsWeb, certain current and former officers and directors, and three investment banking firms that served as underwriters for InsWeb’s initial public offering in July 1999.  The complaint, as subsequently amended, alleges violations of Sections 11 and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 10 and 20 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, on the grounds that the prospectuses incorporated in the registration statements for the offering failed to disclose, among other things, that (i) the underwriters had solicited and received excessive and undisclosed commissions from certain investors in exchange for which the underwriters allocated to those investors material portions of the shares of our stock sold in the offerings and (ii) the underwriters had entered into agreements with customers whereby the underwriters agreed to allocated shares of the stock sold in the offering to those customers in exchange for which the customers agreed to purchase additional shares of InsWeb stock in the aftermarket at pre-determined prices.  No specific damages are claimed.  Similar allegations have been made in lawsuits relating to more than 300 other initial public offerings conducted in 1999 and 2000, all of which have been consolidated for pretrial purposes.  In October 2002, all claims against the individual defendants were dismissed

 

8



 

without prejudice.  In February 2003, the Court dismissed the claims in the InsWeb action alleging violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 but allowed the plaintiffs to proceed with the remaining claims.  In June 2003, the plaintiffs in all of the cases presented a settlement proposal to all of the issuer defendants.  Under the proposed settlement, the plaintiffs will dismiss and release all claims against participating defendants in exchange for a contingent payment guaranty by the insurance companies collectively responsible for insuring the issuers in all the related cases, and the assignment or surrender to the plaintiffs of certain claims the issuer defendants may have against the underwriters. The settlement is subject to acceptance by a substantial majority of the issuer defendants and execution of a definitive settlement agreement.  The settlement is also subject to approval of the Court, which cannot be assured.  If the settlement is not accepted by the requisite number of defendants or if it is not approved by the Court, InsWeb intends to defend the lawsuit vigorously.  However, the litigation is in the preliminary stage, and we cannot predict its outcome.  The litigation process is inherently uncertain.  An unfavorable outcome could have a material adverse effect on InsWeb’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

 

9.  Stockholders Equity

 

In February 2003, InsWeb repurchased 2,241,440 shares of InsWeb common stock, consisting of 1,169,898 shares held by Intuit Insurance Services, Inc. and 1,071,542 shares held by SOFTBANK America, Inc. The shares were purchased for $3,810,000, or $1.70 per share. With the closing of this transaction, SOFTBANK Corporation’s holdings of InsWeb common stock have been reduced to 353,032 shares, while Intuit Insurance Services, Inc. holds no shares.

 

 

10.  Recent Accounting Pronouncements

 

In November 2002, the Emerging Issues Task Force reached a consensus on Issue 00-21 (“EITF 00-21”), “Revenue Arrangements with Multiple Deliverables.”  EITF 00-21 addresses how to account for arrangements that may involve the delivery or performance of multiple products, services, and/or rights to use assets and focuses on when a revenue arrangement should be separated into components or deliverables, or alternatively, when smaller deliverables or elements should be combined for purposes of recognizing revenue. EITF 00-21 is applicable for agreements entered into in fiscal periods beginning after June 15, 2003, with early adoption permitted.  The adoption of EITF 00-21 did not and is not expected to have an  impact on InsWeb’s results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.

 

In January 2003, in an effort to expand upon and strengthen existing accounting guidance that addresses when a company should include in its financial statements the assets, liabilities and activities of another entity, the FASB issued Interpretation No. 46 (“FIN 46”), “Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities.” The objective of FIN 46 is not to restrict the use of variable interest entities but to improve financial reporting by companies involved with variable interest entities. Prior to the issuance of FIN 46, a company generally included another entity in its consolidated financial statements only if it controlled the entity through voting interests. FIN 46 changes that by requiring a variable interest entity to be consolidated by a company if that company is subject to a majority of the risk of loss from the variable interest entity’s activities or entitled to receive a majority of the entity’s residual returns or both. The consolidation requirements of FIN 46 apply immediately to variable interest entities created after January 31, 2003. The consolidation requirements apply to older entities in the first fiscal year or interim period beginning after June 15, 2003. Certain of the disclosure requirements apply in all financial statements issued after January 31, 2003, regardless of when the variable interest entity was established. As of September 30, 2003, the Company had a minority financial interest in Finance All K.K. (an unconsolidated entity). The Company has evaluated the effect that FIN 46 may have, and has concluded that since it (i) does not have majority voting rights, (ii) does not have majority residual interests in this entity’s assets or income, (iii) does not have obligations to absorb the majority of the losses of this, or any, unconsolidated entity, (iv) has not guaranteed any obligations of this, or any, unconsolidated entity, and (v) does not have any commitment or intent to provide funding to this, or any, such entity; the Company’s maximum exposure to loss is limited to $3,941,000, the carrying value of the investment in Finance All K.K. as of September 30, 2003.  In September 2003, InsWeb recognized a gain of $822,000 from the sale of a portion of its investment in Finance All K.K., a Japanese corporation. Subsequent to September 30, 2003, the Company sold its remaining interest in Finance All K.K.

 

11. Subsequent Events

 

In October 2003, InsWeb sold the remaining portion of its investment in Finance All K.K.   As a result of this transaction, InsWeb received proceeds of $6,781,000 and will record a gain of $6,016,000 during the quarter ending December 31, 2003.

 

The Company entered into direct linking agreements with Progressive and Government Employees Insurance Company (“GEICO”), whereby, starting October 3, 2003, certain consumer segments from much of the country, as well as consumers from specific smaller states, will no longer be provided quotes on the InsWeb site, but will be provided direct links to the Progressive and GEICO websites..

 

9



 

ITEM 2.  MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION

AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

InsWeb has included in this filing certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 concerning InsWeb’s business, operations and financial condition.  The words or phrases “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” and similar expressions are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements.  Such forward-looking statements are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, and InsWeb cautions you that any forward-looking information provided by, or on behalf of, InsWeb is not a guarantee of future performance.  Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, some of which are beyond InsWeb’s control, including, but not limited to, uncertain economic conditions which could result in lower growth rates, decreasing revenue and reduced participation in InsWeb’s marketplace, limited operating history, anticipated losses, the unpredictability of future revenues, reliance on key customers - property and casualty insurance carriers- who are themselves subject to volatility in their operating cycles, competition, risks associated with system development and operation risks, management of potential growth and risks of new business areas, business combinations, and strategic alliances.  These risks and uncertainties, as well as other risks and uncertainties are described in greater detail in the section entitled “Factors That May Affect Future Performance.” All forward-looking statements are based on information available to InsWeb on the date hereof, and InsWeb assumes no obligation to update such statements.

 

Overview

 

InsWeb operates an online insurance marketplace that enables consumers to shop online for a variety of insurance products, including automobile, term life, homeowners, renters and health insurance, and obtain insurance company-sponsored quotes for actual coverage.  In order to create this marketplace, InsWeb has established close relationships with a significant number of insurance companies throughout the United States.

 

InsWeb’s principal source of revenues is transaction fees from participating insurance companies. While quotes obtained through InsWeb’s online insurance marketplace are provided to consumers free of charge, InsWeb earns revenues from participating insurance companies based on the delivery of qualified leads. With certain insurance companies, InsWeb is paid a fee only when the consumer purchases an insurance policy, and with others, InsWeb is paid a transaction fee based on the delivery of a lead, regardless of whether or not the consumer actually purchases a policy. Qualified leads are produced in two ways: for insurance companies providing instant online quotes, a qualified lead is produced when a consumer clicks to request insurance coverage based on a specific quote; for insurance companies providing e-mail or other offline quotes, a qualified lead is produced when a consumer clicks to request the quote itself. Once a lead is generated by the consumer’s request for an application or offline quote, InsWeb transmits the lead either to InsWeb Insurance Services, or to the selected insurance company or other entity by e-mail, file transfer or direct connection to the insurance company’s information system. InsWeb provides each participating insurance company with custom-formatted lead information based on the insurance companies individual requirements.

 

As of September 30, 2003, InsWeb’s subsidiary, InsWeb Insurance Services, Inc., has been appointed as an authorized automobile insurance agent by 12 participating insurance companies and is acting as an agent in ten states. InsWeb receives a commission based on a percentage of the initial insurance policy premium related to each insurance policy sale where InsWeb has acted as the agent. InsWeb recognizes the revenue from these activities on the effective date of the policy, less an estimate for early cancellations of the underlying insurance policies. InsWeb also recognizes revenue when an applicable policy is renewed. Commission revenue is included in transaction fees. InsWeb intends to expand its online insurance agency operations by adding additional participating insurance companies.

 

A less significant, but ongoing source of revenues for InsWeb are development and maintenance fees that are paid by insurance companies that participate on the InsWeb insurance marketplace. Development fees are generated from the design and development of customized interfaces between an insurance company’s information system and the InsWeb site. InsWeb charges maintenance fees for maintaining and servicing the programs of the individual insurance companies and for maintaining any hardware at InsWeb’s facility that is dedicated to specific insurance companies.

 

Technology expenses consist primarily of payroll and related expenses, including employee benefits, facility costs, telecommunications and systems costs, for product and site development personnel involved with the planning and design of carrier

 

10



 

implementation and integration.  InsWeb expects its technology expenditures to remain at current levels for the remainder of 2003.

 

Sales and marketing expenses consist of direct marketing expenditures that include advertising, promotions and fees paid to online companies with which InsWeb has contractual relationships to drive consumer traffic to the InsWeb online marketplace.  InsWeb’s current consumer marketing program is focused on maintaining key online relationships and selective cost-effective marketing campaigns designed to maintain consumer awareness of InsWeb and its online insurance marketplace. InsWeb has experienced occasional fluctuations in the traffic from its online partners as a result of redesigns of their websites or being outbid for promotions by other online insurance providers. During 2002, InsWeb significantly expanded its on-line marketing relationship with LowerMyBills.com, Inc., as a result of which LowerMyBills.com delivered approximately 34% of InsWeb’s website traffic for the year ended December 31, 2002. During the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2003, LowerMyBills.com accounted for 34% and 42% of InsWeb’s website traffic, respectively; however, InsWeb expects significantly less traffic from LowerMyBills.com going forward, as a result of a change in LowerMyBills’ insurance offering. Also included in sales and marketing expenses are payroll and related expenses, including employee benefits, facility costs, telecommunications and systems costs, for InsWeb’s sales and marketing personnel and the personnel and related costs for InsWeb’s insurance agency operations, which includes selling agents, underwriters, supervisors and customer service and support groups.  Direct marketing costs will fluctuate based on the amount of consumer traffic driven to the InsWeb marketplace, while all other sales and marketing expenditures are expected to remain at current levels for the remainder of 2003.

 

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of payroll and related expenses, including employee benefits, facility costs, telecommunications and systems costs, for InsWeb’s general management, administrative and accounting personnel, as well as other general corporate expenses. General and administrative expenditures are expected to decline slightly over the remainder of 2003 as a result of the settlement of litigation with eHealthInsurance in March 2003. See discussion in Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Note 16) included in InsWeb’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2002.

 

Since its inception, InsWeb has incurred significant losses, and as of September 30, 2003, InsWeb had an accumulated deficit of $177.3 million. These losses, and this accumulated deficit, have resulted from the significant costs incurred in the development of InsWeb’s technology platform, the establishment of relationships with insurance companies, their integration with the InsWeb site, and InsWeb’s marketing and sales activities. InsWeb intends to continue to invest in product development and maintenance and sales and marketing activities. As a result, InsWeb believes that it will continue to incur operating losses at least through early 2004. InsWeb’s operating results for future periods are subject to numerous uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that InsWeb  will be able to achieve and sustain profitability. In view of the rapidly evolving nature of InsWeb’s business and its limited operating history, InsWeb believes that period-to-period comparisons of its operating results are not necessarily meaningful and should not be relied upon as an indication of future performance.

 

2003 Developments

 

In February 2003, InsWeb repurchased 2,241,440 shares of its common stock, consisting of 1,169,898 shares held by Intuit Insurance Services, Inc. and 1,071,542 shares held by SOFTBANK America, Inc. The shares were purchased for $3.8 million, or $1.70 per share. With the closing of this transaction, SOFTBANK Corporation’s holdings of InsWeb common stock have been reduced to 353,032 shares, while Intuit Insurance Services, Inc. holds no shares.

 

In March 2003, InsWeb and eHealthInsurance agreed to settle ongoing litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern California. The litigation stemmed from eHealthInsurance’s decision in February 2001 to terminate an agreement concerning the marketing of health insurance to consumers originating at InsWeb. Although specific terms of the settlement agreement are confidential, eHealthInsurance paid InsWeb $0.8 million for the services performed by InsWeb prior to the termination of the marketing agreement, which is classified as other income for the nine months ended September 30, 2003. In addition, the parties have released all claims against each other relating to the marketing agreement.

 

In September 2003, InsWeb recognized a gain of $0.8 million from the sale of a portion of its investment in Finance All K.K., a Japanese corporation. In October 2003, InsWeb sold the remaining portion of its investment and received proceeds of $6.8 million and as a result will record a gain of $6.0 million during the quarter ending December 31, 2003.

 

During 2002, InsWeb significantly expanded its on-line marketing relationship with LowerMyBills.com, Inc., as a result of which LowerMyBills.com delivered approximately 34% of InsWeb’s website traffic for the year ended December 31, 2002. During the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2003, LowerMyBills.com accounted for 34% and 42% of InsWeb’s website traffic, respectively; however, InsWeb expects significantly less traffic from LowerMyBills.com going forward, as a result of a change in LowerMyBills’ insurance offering.

 

Effective October 2003, Progressive commenced transitioning from an instant quoting carrier on the InsWeb auto

 

11



 

insurance marketplace to an arrangement that provides certain InsWeb consumer segments with the option of direct linking to the Progressive website.  For the year ended December 31, 2002, Progressive represented approximately 7% of InsWeb’s total revenues, and for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2003, Progressive represented approximately 16% and 15%, respectively, of total revenues.

 

Effective November 16, 2003, GE Financial Assurance (“GEFA”) will no longer participate as an instant quoting carrier within the InsWeb marketplace, as a result of its acquisition by AIG, Inc., who is and will continue as a quoting company in the InsWeb marketplace. For the year ended December 31, 2002, GEFA represented approximately 14% of InsWeb’s total revenues, and for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2003, GEFA represented approximately 12% and 15%, respectively, of total revenues.

 

The Company expects fourth quarter results to be impacted by the reduction in consumer traffic from LowerMyBills.com, the carrier shifts occurring within our auto insurance marketplace (Progressive and GEFA, as mentioned above), as well as the traditional seasonal softness in the insurance business.  These factors will have a negative impact on revenues and operating earnings in the fourth quarter and possibly beyond. Taking these factors into account, the Company expects auto insurance transaction revenues in the fourth quarter to be reduced by more than $1.0 million sequentially. However, InsWeb expects to report net income in the fourth quarter as a result of the gain on the sale of the remaining investment in Finance All K.K.

 

Results of Operations

 

The following table sets forth certain statement of operations items as a percentage of total revenues for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2003 and 2002:

 

 

 

Three months ended
September 30,

 

Nine months ended
September 30,

 

 

 

2003

 

2002

 

2003

 

2002

 

Revenues:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Transaction fees

 

96

%

95

%

96

%

94

%

Development and maintenance fees

 

4

%

5

%

4

%

6

%

Total

 

100

%

100

%

100

%

100

%

Operating expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Technology

 

34

%

39

%

34

%

41

%

Sales and marketing

 

70

%

73

%

66

%

72

%

General and administrative

 

20

%

28

%

22

%

29

%

Total

 

124

%

140

%

122

%

142

%

Loss from operations

 

(24

)%

(40

)%

(22

)%

(42

)%

 

Revenues

 

 

 

Three months ended
September 30,

 

Three months ended
September 30,

 

(Amounts in thousands)

 

2003

 

2002

 

2003

 

2002

 

Transaction revenues:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Auto insurance

 

$

4,711

 

$

4,670

 

$

15,624

 

$

14,640

 

Term life insurance

 

1,123

 

938

 

3,223

 

3,081

 

Other insurance

 

97

 

126

 

406

 

291

 

Total transaction revenues

 

$

5,931

 

$

5,734

 

$

19,253

 

$

18,012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Completed Shopping Sessions - Auto

 

812

 

708

 

2,513

 

2,218

 

Consumer Quotes Presented - Auto

 

2,858

 

2,216

 

8,208

 

6,586

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Completed Shopping Sessions - Term life

 

90

 

81

 

273

 

275

 

Consumer Quotes Presented - Term life

 

1,660

 

1,490

 

4,749

 

4,325

 

 

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Auto insurance transaction revenues remained relatively constant for the three months ended September 30, 2003 compared to same period in 2002. While the number of completed shopping sessions increased, the impact of this increase was offset by a decrease in the amount of revenue per completed shopping session.  The increase in completed shopping sessions resulted from increased consumer traffic from InsWeb’s online marketing activities. However, revenue per completed shopping session decreased during the three months ended September 30, 2003, due to lower than expected close rates of auto insurance policies by many of InsWeb’s participating insurance carriers, which effectively resulted in lower revenue per lead generated. The increase in auto transaction fees for the nine months ended September 30, 2003 was primarily attributable to the increased number of leads generated by an increased number of completed shopping sessions, due to an increase in consumer traffic from InsWeb’s online marketing activities.

 

Term life insurance transaction revenues increased for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2003 compared to the same periods in 2002.  The increase was due to a change in the compensation arrangement with one of InsWeb’s customers in the fourth quarter of 2002, as a result of which the customer now compensates InsWeb when the consumer purchases an insurance policy, rather than on the delivery of a qualified lead.

 

Other insurance transaction revenues remained relatively constant for the three months ended September 30, 2003 compared to same period in 2002, as the number of shopping sessions remained constant.  Other insurance transaction revenues increased for the nine months ended September 30, 2003, compared to the same period in 2002  primarily due to revenue generated from the sale of certain statistical data in the quarter ended June 30, 2003.

 

Development and maintenance fees accounted for $0.3 million and $0.7 million of total revenues for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2003, compared to $0.3 million and $1.2 million, for the comparable periods in 2002. Development and maintenance fees, while an ongoing source of revenues, are expected to continue to decline as set-up programs have become a less significant component in an insurance company’s initial participation in the InsWeb market place.

 

Operating Expenses

 

Technology.  Technology expenses decreased to $2.1 million and $6.8 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2003, from $2.3 million and $8.0 million for the comparable periods in 2002.  These decreases were primarily attributable to reduced headcount and decreased amortization of capitalized website costs.

 

Sales and Marketing.  Sales and marketing expenses decreased to $4.3 million and $13.1 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2003, from $4.4 million and $13.8 million for the comparable periods in 2002.  Direct marketing expenses, a component of sales and marketing expenses, remained constant at $2.5 million for the three months ended September 30, 2003 compared to the same period in 2002.  Direct marketing expenses decreased to $7.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2003 from $8.2 million for the comparable period in 2002. During 2002, InsWeb significantly expanded its on-line marketing relationship with LowerMyBills.com, Inc., as a result of which LowerMyBills.com delivered approximately 34% of InsWeb’s website traffic for the year ended December 31, 2002. During the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2003, LowerMyBills.com accounted for 34% and 42% of InsWeb’s website traffic, respectively; however, InsWeb expects significantly less traffic from LowerMyBills.com going forward, as a result of a change in LowerMyBills’ insurance offering.  The impact of this change on InsWeb’s fourth quarter financial results will be a significant decrease in auto transaction revenues, offset somewhat by a decrease in direct marketing expenses.

 

General and Administrative.  General and administrative expenses decreased to $1.2 million and $4.5 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2003, from $1.7 million and $5.5 million for the comparable periods in 2002. These decreases were primarily due to a decrease in legal expenses incurred during the periods as a result of the settlement of the eHealthInsurance litigation in March 2003.

 

Interest Income

 

Interest income decreased to $0.1 million and $0.2 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2003, from $0.2 million and $0.5 million for the comparable periods in 2002. Interest income is earned on InsWeb’s investments.  The decrease in interest income was a result of lower average cash and short-term investment balances and lower market interest rates during 2003.

 

Interest Expense

 

Interest expense decreased to $21,000 and $0.1 million during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2003, from $0.1 million and $0.4 million for the comparable periods in 2002. The decrease in interest expense was primarily attributable to lower imputed interest associated with long-term marketing commitments (fixed payments).  Lower imputed interest is due to the reduction of these obligations resulting from the amendment of the license and distribution agreement with Intuit in March 2002.

 

13



 

Other Income

 

Other income increased to $0.8 million for the three months ended September 30, 2003, from $12,000 for the comparable period in 2002. For the three months ended September 30, 2003, other income included the $0.8 million gain from the sale of a portion of InsWeb’s interest in Finance All K.K.  For the nine months ended September 30, 2003, other income decreased to $1.7 million from $9.4 million for the comparable period in 2002.  For the nine months ended September 30, 2003, other income included a $0.8 million gain from the sale of a portion of InsWeb’s investment in Finance All K.K. and $0.8 million relating to the eHealthinsurance litigation settlement. For the nine months ended September 30, 2002, other income consisted primarily of the $9.3 million gain recognized in connection with the renegotiation of an online marketing distribution agreement.

 

14



 

Critical Accounting Policies

 

InsWeb’s discussion and analysis of its financial condition and results of operations are based on InsWeb’s consolidated financial statements which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. The preparation of these financial statements requires InsWeb to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. InsWeb bases its estimates and judgments on historical experience and on various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. InsWeb believes the following critical accounting policies affect its more significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of its consolidated financial statements.

 

Accrual for Lease Obligations.  InsWeb is contractually obligated to make future lease payments on certain formerly occupied facilities through September 2008. As of September 30, 2003, total future obligations for these facilities amounted to $12.1 million; these obligations are offset by total future sublease income of approximately $9.6 million.  Substantially all future sublease income is due from a sublessee which is a start-up company with a limited operating history and, therefore, there are inherent risks and uncertainties associated with its future operations and its ability to discharge its obligations through the term of the sublease. In the event that the sublessee defaults on its obligations under the amended sublease, InsWeb would be responsible for making the required lease payments to the landlord through the remaining term of the lease. In connection with this lease and other lease obligations for formerly occupied facilities, InsWeb must make assumptions regarding the estimated future sublease income relative to these facilities.  As a result of the decline in the real estate market in the geographic area where the properties are located and the inherent risks associated with its sublessee, the Company has an accrual of $2.7 million as of September 30, 2003 for lease commitments related to these formerly occupied facilities, as compared to an accrual of $2.8 million as of December 31, 2002. These estimates and assumptions are affected by area-specific conditions such as new commercial development, market occupancy rates and future market prices. If these estimates or their related assumptions change in the future, InsWeb may be required to record a charge to increase its accrual.

 

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets.  In assessing the recoverability of InsWeb’s long-lived assets, including prepaid marketing costs, InsWeb must make assumptions regarding estimated future cash flows and other factors to determine the fair value of the respective assets. Specifically, the variability in anticipated traffic levels, number of completed shopping sessions, and revenue per completed shopping session affect these estimates and assumptions. If the number of completed shopping sessions, and/or revenue per completed shopping session is below currently anticipated amounts, InsWeb may be required to record an impairment charge.

 

 

Contingencies.  As discussed in “Part I - Item 1, Note 6 - “Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements” and Part II – Item 1,” a class action lawsuit has been filed that alleges InsWeb violated certain federal securities laws at the time of its initial public offering. Although some claims against InsWeb in this class action have been dismissed, InsWeb cannot accurately predict the ultimate outcome of this matter at this time and therefore, cannot estimate the range of probable loss, if any, due to the inherent uncertainties of litigation. InsWeb believes it has meritorious defenses; however InsWeb cannot assure that it will prevail in this action. An unfavorable outcome could have a material adverse effect on InsWeb’s financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

 

15



 

Liquidity and Capital Resources

 

Summarized cash flow information is as follows (in thousands):

 

 

 

Nine months ended
September 30,

 

 

 

2003

 

2002

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash used in operating activities

 

$

(2,233

)

$

(3,141

)

Cash provided by (used in) investing activities

 

8,794

 

(604

)

Cash provided used in financing activities

 

(7,262

)

(1,834

)

 

At September 30, 2003, InsWeb’s principal source of liquidity was $21.4 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments (excluding InsWeb’s remaining investment in Finance All K.K., which was sold in October 2003 for $6.8 million), which decreased from $28.9 million as of December 31, 2002.  At September 30, 2002, InsWeb’s principal source of liquidity was $30.9 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, which decreased from $35.6 million as of December 31, 2001.

 

For the nine months ended September 30, 2003, net cash used by operating activities was $2.2 million compared to $3.1 million for the comparable period in 2002.  For the nine months ended September 30, 2003, non-cash items included depreciation and amortization of assets of $1.0 million.  The operating loss of $2.6 million and a decrease of accrued expenses of $0.4 million, partially offset by a decrease in prepaid expenses and other current assets of $0.3 million and an increase in accounts payable of $0.3 million, contributed to the cash used by operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2003. For the nine months ended September 30, 2002, non-cash items included an extraordinary gain of $9.3 million, amortization of intangibles and prepaid marketing costs of $1.1 million, and depreciation and amortization of assets of $1.5 million.  A decrease in deposits and other assets of $2.5 million offset by a security deposit payable of $1.0 million and an increase in accrued expenses of $1.1 million, also contributed to the cash used in operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2002.

 

For the nine months ended September 30, 2003, net cash provided by investing activities was $8.8 million, which primarily consisted of the redemptions of short-term investments offset by the purchase of short-term investments and the gain on the sale of the investment in Finance All K.K. For the nine months ended September 30, 2002, net cash used by investing activities was $0.6 million, which primarily consisted of the redemptions of short-term investments offset by the purchase of short-term investments and $0.6 million of expenditures for property and equipment.

 

For the nine months ended September 30, 2003, net cash used in financing activities was $7.3 million.  Cash outflows were attributable to the repurchase of common stock of $4.0 million, a payment of $2.0 million made to Intuit for marketing commitments pursuant to the agreement entered into with Intuit in January 2001, as amended in March 2002, and payment of InsWeb’s note payable to SOFTBANK Corporation in the amount of $1.3 million. For the nine months ended September 30, 2002, net cash used in financing activities was $1.8 million.  Cash outflows were attributable to a fixed payment made to Intuit for marketing commitments pursuant to the agreement entered into with Intuit in January 2001, as amended in March 2002, offset partially by the proceeds from the issuance of common stock through InsWeb’s stock plans.

 

As of September 30, 2003, InsWeb had the following contractual commitments (in thousands):

 

 

 

Total

 

2003

 

2004

 

2005

 

2006

 

2007

 

Thereafter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating leases

 

$

19,801

 

$

862

 

$

3,356

 

$

3,257

 

$

3,391

 

$

3,483

 

$

5,452

 

Marketing commitments

 

288

 

288

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

20,089

 

$

1,150

 

$

3,356

 

$

3,257

 

$

3,391

 

$

3,483

 

$

5,452

 

 

In addition to the fixed payments for marketing commitments paid to Intuit through July 2003, InsWeb will pay Intuit a portion of the transaction fees received by InsWeb from Intuit Internet traffic, payable on a quarterly basis through the remainder of the agreement (January 2006).

 

In July 2002, InsWeb and its sublessee agreed to amend the sublease covering portions of the property InsWeb formerly occupied as its headquarters in Redwood City, California.  Under the terms of the amendment, the sublessee agreed to rent the entire facility for the duration of InsWeb’s lease (through September 2008).  All rent and operating expenses otherwise payable

 

16



 

by InsWeb to the landlord are required to be paid directly by the sublessee.  Therefore, the amended sublease offsets InsWeb’s operating lease commitments by approximately $9.4 million through the remainder of the lease (which is not reflected in the table above).  However, the sublessee is a start-up company with a limited operating history and, therefore, there are inherent risks and uncertainties associated with its future operations and its ability to discharge its obligations through the term of the sublease.  In the event that the sublessee defaults on its obligations under the amended sublease, InsWeb would be responsible for making the required lease payments to the landlord throughout the remaining term of the lease.  In connection with this lease and other lease obligations for formerly occupied facilities, InsWeb must make assumptions regarding the estimated future sublease income relative to these facilities.  As a result of the decline in the real estate market in the geographic area where the properties are located and the inherent risks associated with its sublessee, the Company has an accrual of $2.7 million as of September 30, 2003 for lease commitments related to these formerly occupied facilities, as compared to an accrual of $2.8 million as of December 31, 2002. These estimates and assumptions are affected by area-specific conditions such as new commercial development, market occupancy rates and future market prices. If these estimates or their related assumptions change in the future, InsWeb may be required to record a charge to increase its accrual.

 

InsWeb currently anticipates that its cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments will be sufficient to meet its anticipated cash needs for working capital and capital expenditures for at least the next 12 months. Although InsWeb does not anticipate the need for additional financing, InsWeb nevertheless may require additional funds to meet operating needs, or to expand its business internally or through acquisition. InsWeb cannot be certain that additional financing will be available when required, on favorable terms or at all. If InsWeb is not successful in raising additional capital as required, its business could be materially harmed. If additional funds were raised through the issuance of equity securities, the percentage ownership of InsWeb’s then-current stockholders would be reduced.

 

17



 

Factors That May Affect Our Future Performance

 

Our future business, operating results and financial condition are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including those described below.

 

Our business is difficult to evaluate because we did not begin to generate significant revenues from our core business until 1998

 

We were incorporated in February 1995, but we did not begin to generate significant transaction fees from our online marketplace until 1998. Our limited operating history makes an evaluation of our future prospects very difficult. An investor in our common stock must consider the uncertainties frequently encountered by early stage companies in new and rapidly evolving markets. These uncertainties include:

 

                                          an evolving and unpredictable business model, which makes prediction of future results uncertain and an investment in our common stock highly speculative;

 

                                          the development of comparable services by competitors, which may reduce our market share;

 

                                          the uncertainty of the extent to which the consumer market will adopt the Internet as the preferred medium for comparison shopping for and purchase of insurance products, which may limit our ability to generate revenue from consumers that visit our online marketplace or our insurance agency;

 

                                          our potential inability to successfully manage growth, which could lead to management distractions and increased operating expenses;

 

                                          our ability to retain key employees; and

 

                                          our reliance on key customers and ability to retain customers.

 

Our business strategy may not be successful and we may not be able to successfully address these uncertainties. Moreover, our ability to take the necessary steps to address these uncertainties may be hampered by our limited financial resources should we fail to rapidly increase revenues or should increased revenues be more than offset by increased operating expenses.

 

We have a history of losses, we expect future losses, and we may not achieve or maintain profitability

 

Given planned investment levels, our ability to achieve profitability will depend upon our ability to generate and sustain substantially increased revenues. As a result, we believe that we will incur operating losses at least through early 2004. We incurred operating losses of $15.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2002, $46.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2001, and $53.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2000. For the nine months ended September 30, 2003 we have incurred an operating loss of $4.4 million. As of September 30, 2003, our accumulated deficit was $177.3 million. Our operating results for future periods are subject to numerous uncertainties, and we may not achieve sufficient revenues to become profitable. Even if we achieve profitability, we may not sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis in the future. If we are unable to achieve profitability, or if our profitability is delayed we may need to seek additional financing to continue our business operations. Such financing could be on terms that are dilutive to our existing stockholders or could involve the issuance of securities that have rights and preferences that are senior to those associated with our common stock. Moreover, if such financing were not available or were available only upon terms that were unacceptable to us, we could be required to significantly curtail our operations.

 

Our future revenues are unpredictable, our operating results are likely to fluctuate from quarter to quarter, and if we fail to meet the expectations of investors, our stock price could decline significantly

 

Due to our limited operating history, the emerging nature of the market in which we compete and the high proportion of our revenues that are derived from consumer traffic on our website, our future revenues are inherently difficult to forecast. We believe that period-to-period comparisons of our operating results may not be meaningful, and you should not rely upon them as an indication of our future performance. Moreover, our expense levels are based largely on our investment plans and estimates of future revenues. We may be unable to adjust our spending to compensate for an unexpected shortfall in revenues. Accordingly, anysignificant shortfall in revenues relative to our planned expenditures would harm our results of operations and could cause our stock price to fall sharply, particularly following quarters in which our operating results fail to meet the expectations of investors.

 

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Factors that may cause fluctuations in our operating results include the following, many of which are outside our control:

 

                                          We may experience consumer dissatisfaction with our online marketplace as we add or change features, or as the insurance coverage offered by participating insurance companies varies;

 

                                          Consumer traffic on our online marketplace may decline as a result of the announcement or introduction of a competing online insurance marketplace or other new websites, products or services offered by our competitors;

 

                                          Consumer traffic may also fluctuate as a result of changes in level of advertising by entities with which we have insurance marketing relationships;

 

                                          Our revenues may be harmed if we lose one or more significant insurance company relationships or if any of our participating insurance companies merge with one another;

 

                                          Use of the Internet by consumers may fluctuate due to seasonal factors or other uncontrollable factors affecting consumer behavior and may be affected by slow Internet performance due to technical problems or traffic bottlenecks on the network;

 

                                          Our ability to convert site visits into transaction fees and/or revenue from insurance agency activities may fluctuate due to changes in our user interface or other features on our site;

 

                                          Our ability to generate transaction fees may be adversely affected by changes in the underwriting criteria used by our participating insurance companies to determine which consumers will be offered quotes; and

 

                                          Our ability to generate transaction fees and/or revenue from insurance agency activities may also be harmed due to technical difficulties on our website that hamper a consumer’s ability to start or complete a shopping session.

 

Seasonality affecting insurance shopping and Internet usage may cause fluctuations in our operating results

 

We have experienced seasonality in our business associated with general slowness in the insurance industry during the year-end holiday period. We expect to continue to experience seasonality as our business matures. Because of this seasonality, investors may not be able to predict our annual operating results based on a quarter-to-quarter comparison of our operating results. We believe seasonality will have an ongoing impact on our business.

 

Because a significant portion of our revenue is attributable to automobile insurance shopping on our online marketplace, we are especially vulnerable to risks related to the online market for automobile insurance or the automobile insurance industry generally

 

Automobile insurance accounted for approximately 83% of our transaction revenues in 2002, approximately 67% in 2001 and approximately 69% in 2000. For the nine months ended September 30, 2003, auto insurance accounted for approximately 81% of our transaction revenues.  We anticipate that automobile insurance will continue to account for a substantial portion of our revenues for the foreseeable future. As a result, if we fail to attract a broad base of consumers to shop for automobile insurance on our site, or if changes in the automobile insurance industry make electronic commerce a less attractive means to shop for this type of insurance, our ability to generate revenue will be reduced and our business will be harmed. In addition, property and casualty insurance, including automobile insurance, is subject to operating cycles. During a cycle in which loss ratios rise, insurance companies may choose to restrict the amount of business they write while they await approval of rate increases from the various state insurance departments. Our business could be harmed if our participating insurance companies reduce their participation in our online marketplace.

 

Competition in the market for online distribution of insurance is intense, and if we are unable to compete effectively with current competitors or new competitors that enter the market, the fees paid to us by participating insurance companies may fall, the fees charged by online companies with which we have strategic relationships may rise, and our market share may suffer

 

A growing number of websites offer services that are similar to and competitive with the services offered on our online insurance marketplace. Increased competition, particularly by companies offering online insurance distribution, could reduce the fees we are able to charge our participating insurance companies or increase the fees we are required to pay to online companies with which we have strategic relationships, resulting in reduced margins or loss of market share, any of which could harm our business.

 

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Therefore, a positive recognition of our brand is critical to attracting additional consumers to our website, strengthening our relationships with participating insurance companies and attracting new insurance companies. In order to attract and retain consumers and insurance companies and to promote and maintain our brand, we are continuing our financial commitment to create and maintain brand awareness. Our current marketing program consists of the maintenance of certain network online relationships and other selective cost effective marketing campaigns, designed to maintain consumer awareness of InsWeb and our online insurance marketplace. If our marketing efforts do not generate a corresponding increase in revenues or we otherwise fail to successfully promote our brand, or if these efforts require excessive expenditures, our business will be harmed. Moreover, if visitors to our website do not perceive our existing services or the products and services of our participating insurance companies to be of high quality, or if we alter or modify our brand image, introduce new services or enter into new business ventures that are not favorably received, the value of our brand could be harmed.

 

Our ability to maintain a positive recognition of our brand also depends in part on the quality of the products and services consumers receive from our participating insurance companies or our insurance agency, including timely response to requests for quotes or coverage. If we are unable to provide consumers with high-quality products and services, the value of our brand may be harmed and the number of consumers using our services may decline.

 

Because a limited number of insurance companies account for a majority of our revenues, the loss of a single insurance company relationship could result in a substantial drop in our revenues

 

Revenues from Amica, GE Financial Assurance and Kemper Direct accounted for approximately 14%, 14%, and 10%, respectively, of our revenues in 2002. Revenues from Amica, GE Financial Assurance and AIG accounted for approximately 11%, 11%, and 10%, respectively, of our revenues in 2001.  Revenues from GE Financial Assurance, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and American Family accounted for approximately 15%, 15% and 11%, respectively, of our revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2003.  In April 2003, we were notified that Progressive would discontinue its participation in the InsWeb market place effective September 30, 2003. The discontinuation of Progressive’s participation will adversely affect our operating results beginning in the fourth quarter of 2003.  In addition, effective November 16, 2003, GE Financial Assurance will no longer participate as an instant quoting carrier within the InsWeb marketplace, as a result of its acquisition by AIG, Inc., who is and will continue as a quoting company in the InsWeb marketplace.

 

Should one or more of our other key insurance company partners cease to participate in our online marketplace, change its underwriting criteria or geographic coverage in a way that reduces the proportion of consumers that are offered quotes from that insurance company, or suffer a significant decline in its ratings, our operating results could be materially harmed. Because of the broad market presence of some of our participating insurance companies, we expect to continue to generate a substantial portion of our revenues from a limited number of insurance companies for the foreseeable future. Although InsWeb continually seeks new insurance companies to participate in the online marketplace, we may be unable to add any new insurance companies.

 

In most jurisdictions, we rely on the participation of a limited number of insurance companies on our online marketplace, and the loss of any of these insurance companies could make our online marketplace less attractive to consumers

 

Consumer demand for the services offered on our website in any jurisdiction is substantially dependent upon the participation of competing brand-name insurance companies offering competitive quotes for a given insurance product in that jurisdiction. Accordingly, the success of our business depends on our ability to attract and retain well-known insurance companies to participate in our marketplace. Although we currently have relationships with a significant number of insurance companies overall, in individual jurisdictions where competing quotes for comparable products are available on our online marketplace, the number of companies offering quotes ranges from one to 15. If we are unable to increase the number of insurance companies that participate in our online marketplace, particularly in the jurisdictions where we currently offer comparable insurance products from only three or fewer insurance companies, we may not be able to attract additional consumers or may lose our existing consumers to other online competitors offering a wider variety of insurance companies. At September 30, 2003, there were 12 jurisdictions in which three or fewer insurance companies were offering automobile insurance quotes on our online marketplace. No automobile insurance quotes are available in New Jersey and Massachusetts as of September 30, 2003. If any insurance company participating in a number of jurisdictions discontinued or significantly reduced its participation in our online marketplace, the attractiveness of the marketplace to consumers in these jurisdictions would be greatly diminished.

 

We may have difficulty integrating new insurance companies into our online marketplace or agency operations, which could harm our ability to offer improved comparison-shopping opportunities and thus limit the attractiveness of our service to consumers

 

Integration of an insurance company into our online marketplace requires a significant commitment of time and resources on our part and on the part of the insurance company, and is a technologically difficult process. This integration process typically takes from three to nine months to complete and typically requires us to expend between 160 and 2,000 man-hours. To develop

 

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company-sponsored quotes for consumers, the integration requires either the development of a customized interface with the insurance company’s own rating system, accessing a third-party rating engine of the insurance company’s choice, or adding the insurance company’s rating information into InsWeb’s proprietary rating engines. Though integration into our agency operations may require fewer resources to implement than integration of an insurance company into our online marketplace, potential participating insurance companies may not be willing to invest the time and resources necessary to achieve this integration, or we may not be able to overcome the technological difficulties associated with, or devote the time and resources necessary to, successfully integrate the insurance company into our online marketplace or our agency operations.

 

We do not have exclusive relationships or long-term contracts with insurance companies, which may limit our ability to retain these insurance companies as participants in our marketplace and maintain the attractiveness of our services to consumers

 

We do not have an exclusive relationship with any of the insurance companies whose insurance products are offered on our online marketplace, and thus, consumers may obtain quotes and coverage from these insurance companies without using our website. Our participating insurance companies offer their products directly to consumers through insurance agents, mass marketing campaigns or through other traditional methods of insurance distribution. These insurance companies can also offer their products and services over the Internet, either directly to consumers or through one or more of our online competitors, or both. In addition, most of our agreements with our participating insurance companies are cancelable at the option of either party upon 90 days’ notice or less. We have experienced, and expect to continue to experience, reductions in the level of participation in our marketplace or complete termination by participating insurance companies. These reductions in participation, terminations, or an inability to attract additional insurance companies to our marketplace could materially affect our revenues and harm our business.

 

The outcome and impact of a securities class action lawsuit involving InsWeb is uncertain

 

A securities class action lawsuit was filed on December 5, 2001 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, (the “Court”) purportedly on behalf of all persons who purchased our common stock from July 22, 1999 through December 6, 2000.  The complaint named as defendants InsWeb, certain current and former officers and directors, and three investment banking firms that served as underwriters for InsWeb’s initial public offering in July 1999.  The complaint, as subsequently amended, alleges violations of Sections 11 and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 10 and 20 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, on the grounds that the prospectuses incorporated in the registration statements for the offering failed to disclose, among other things, that (i) the underwriters had solicited and received excessive and undisclosed commissions from certain investors in exchange for which the underwriters allocated to those investors material portions of the shares of our stock sold in the offerings and (ii) the underwriters had entered into agreements with customers whereby the underwriters agreed to allocated shares of the stock sold in the offering to those customers in exchange for which the customers agreed to purchase additional shares of InsWeb stock in the aftermarket at pre-determined prices.  No specific damages are claimed.  Similar allegations have been made in lawsuits relating to more than 300 other initial public offerings conducted in 1999 and 2000, all of which have been consolidated for pretrial purposes.  In October 2002, all claims against the individual defendants were dismissed without prejudice.  In February 2003, the Court dismissed the claims in the InsWeb action alleging violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 but allowed the plaintiffs to proceed with the remaining claims.  In June 2003, the plaintiffs in all of the cases presented a settlement proposal to all of the issuer defendants.  Under the proposed settlement, the plaintiffs will dismiss and release all claims against participating defendants in exchange for a contingent payment guaranty by the insurance companies collectively responsible for insuring the issuers in all the related cases, and the assignment or surrender to the plaintiffs of certain claims the issuer defendants may have against the underwriters.  The settlement is subject to acceptance by a substantial majority of the issuer defendants and execution of a definitive settlement agreement.  The settlement is also subject to approval of the Court, which cannot be assured.  If the settlement is not accepted by the requisite number of defendants or if it is not approved by the Court, InsWeb intends to defend the lawsuit vigorously.  However, the litigation is in the preliminary stage, and we cannot predict its outcome.  The litigation process is inherently uncertain.  An unfavorable outcome could have a material adverse effect on InsWeb’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

 

Traffic on our website is heavily dependent on our online relationships. These relationships may not generate sufficient revenues to justify the fees we pay to online companies. Further, our consumer traffic may decline in the event an online relationship is unsuccessful

 

We rely on relationships with a variety of Internet portals, financial institutions, and other online companies to attract consumers to our website. In a typical arrangement, the online company includes a “link” on its website on which a user can click to jump to our website or to a site that we operate under the online company’s name; as part of the arrangement, we typically pay the online company a portion of the resulting transaction fees and in some cases a fixed fee. These relationships may not continue to generate a substantial amount of new traffic on our website, or the revenues generated by these relationships may be insufficient to justify our payment obligations. We have experienced occasional fluctuations in the traffic from our online partners as a result of redesigns of their websites or being outbid for promotions by other online insurance providers. Furthermore, the value of these

 

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relationships is based on the continued positive market presence, reputation and growth of these online companies’ websites and services. Any decline in the market presence, business or reputation of these online companies’ websites and services will reduce the value of these relationships to us and could harm our business.

 

For the years ended December 31, 2002, 2001 and 2000, we received approximately 11%, 32% and 25%, respectively, of our website traffic from the major Internet portals Yahoo! Inc., MSN and AOL.  For the nine months ended September 30, 2003, we received approximately 12% of our website traffic from these online relationships.  We did not renew our agreement with MSN for 2002 but did sign a non-exclusive agreement effective February 15, 2003, and our status as exclusive provider to Yahoo! and AOL was converted to non-exclusive, effective November 1, 2001 and January 1, 2002, respectively. Additionally, during 2002 InsWeb significantly expanded its on-line marketing relationship with LowerMyBills.com, Inc., as a result of which LowerMyBills.com delivered approximately 34% of InsWeb’s website traffic for the year ended December 31, 2002. During the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2003, LowerMyBills.com accounted for 34% and 42% of InsWeb’s website traffic, respectively; however, InsWeb expects significantly less traffic from LowerMyBills.com going forward, as a result of a change in LowerMyBills’ insurance offering.  See additional discussion in Item 2, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - 2003 Developments. ”

 

Most of our relationships with online companies are terminable by either party on 30 to 90 days’ notice. We may not be able to negotiate or renew marketing agreements with online companies on terms that are acceptable to us. The termination, non-renewal or renewal on unfavorable terms of a relationship from which we generate significant traffic to our website would harm our business. If the recent trend of failing online companies continues, the traffic currently being received as well as the ability to attract new consumer traffic to our site could be harmed. Additionally, an online company’s failure to maintain efficient and uninterrupted operation of its computer and communications hardware systems would likely reduce the amount of traffic we receive at our site, harming our business.

 

Laws and regulations that govern the insurance industry could expose us, or our participating insurance companies, our officers, or agents with whom we contract, to legal penalties if we fail to comply, and could require changes to our business

 

We perform functions for licensed insurance companies and are, therefore, required to comply with a complex set of rules and regulations that often vary from state to state. If we fail to comply with these rules and regulations, we, an insurance company doing business with us, our officers, or agents with whom we contract, could be subject to various sanctions, including censure, fines, a cease-and-desist order or other penalties. This risk, as well as changes in the regulatory climate or the enforcement or interpretation of existing law, could expose us to additional costs, including indemnification of participating insurance companies for their costs, and could require changes to our business or otherwise harm our business. Furthermore, because the application of online commerce to the consumer insurance market is relatively new, the impact of current or future regulations on InsWeb’s business is difficult to anticipate.

 

Our intended expansion of our business, including, in particular, our agency activities, will subject us to additional regulations which may delay or prevent our expansion and harm our business

 

Over time, we intend to expand our operations to include new products and services and to offer existing and new products in new jurisdictions, which may require us to comply with additional laws and regulations. If we fail to adequately comply with these laws and regulations, our ability to offer some of our products or services in a particular jurisdiction could be delayed or prevented and our business could be harmed. Compliance with these laws and regulations and those of other jurisdictions into which we expand may require us to obtain appropriate business licenses, make necessary filings and obtain necessary bonds, appoint foreign agents and make periodic business reports.

 

If we are unable to safeguard the security and privacy of consumers’ and participating insurance companies’ confidential data, consumers and insurance companies may not use our services and our business may be harmed

 

A significant barrier to electronic commerce and communications is the secure transmission of personally identifiable information of Internet users as well as other confidential information over public networks. If any compromise or breach of security were to occur, it could harm our reputation and expose us to possible liability. A party who is able to circumvent our security measures could misappropriate proprietary information or cause interruptions in our operations. We may be required to make significant expenditures to protect against security breaches or to alleviate problems caused by any breaches. To date, we have experienced no breaches in our network security. We rely on encryption and authentication technology licensed from third parties to provide the security and authentication necessary to effect secure transmission of confidential information, such as names, addresses, Social Security and credit card numbers, user names and passwords and insurance company rate information. Advances in computer capabilities, new discoveries in the field of cryptography, or other events or developments could result in a compromise or breach of the algorithms we use to protect consumers’ and insurance companies’ confidential information.

 

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Uncertainty in the marketplace regarding the use of Internet users’ personal information, or proposed legislation limiting such use, could reduce demand for our services and result in increased expenses

 

Concern among consumers and legislators regarding the use of personal information gathered from Internet users could create uncertainty in the marketplace. This could reduce demand for our services, increase the cost of doing business as a result of litigation costs or increased service delivery costs, or otherwise harms our business. Laws have been enacted at both the federal and state levels that limit the uses of personally identifiable information of Internet users gathered online or require online services to establish privacy policies Many state insurance codes also limit the collection and use of personal information by insurance companies, agents, or insurance service organizations. Failure to adhere to the growing body of privacy regulations could result in administrative actions or private litigation and harm our business.

 

System failures could reduce or limit traffic on our website and harm our ability to generate revenue

 

Since launching our online marketplace, we have experienced occasional minor system failures or outages that have resulted in the online marketplace being out of service for a period ranging from several minutes to three hours while our technicians brought backup systems online. We may experience further system failures or outages in the future that could disrupt the operation of our website and could harm our business. Our revenues depend in large part on the volume of traffic on our website and, more particularly, on the number of insurance quotes generated by our website in response to consumer inquiries. Accordingly, the performance, reliability and availability of our website, quote-generating systems and network infrastructure are critical to our reputation and our ability to attract a high volume of traffic to our website and to attract and retain participating insurance companies. Moreover, we believe that consumers who have a negative experience with an electronic commerce website may be reluctant to return to that site. Thus, a significant failure or outage affecting our systems could result in severe long-term damage to our business.

 

Our facilities and systems are vulnerable to natural disasters and other unexpected losses, and we may not have adequate insurance to cover such losses

 

Our computer hardware operations are located in leased facilities in Gold River, California. A third-party service provider located in Rancho Cordova, California maintains a full backup system. If both of these locations experienced a system failure, the performance of our website would be harmed. These systems are also vulnerable to damage from fire, power loss, telecommunications failures, break-ins, natural disasters and similar events. If we seek to replicate our systems at other locations, we will face a number of technical challenges, particularly with respect to database replications, which we may not be able to address successfully. Although we carry property and business interruption insurance, our coverage may not be adequate to compensate us for all losses that may occur. Our servers may also be vulnerable to computer viruses, physical or electronic break-ins and similar disruptions.

 

We may experience technological problems or service interruptions with individual insurance companies, which could harm the quality of service on our website

 

Several of our participating insurance companies have chosen a technical solution that requires that our website servers communicate with these insurance companies’ computer systems in order to perform the underwriting and risk analysis and rating functions required to generate quotes. Thus, the availability of quotes from a given insurance company may depend in large part upon the reliability of that insurance company’s own computer systems, over which we have no control. A malfunction in an insurance company’s computer system or in the Internet connection between our website servers and the insurance company’s system, or an excess of data traffic on that system, could result in a delay in the delivery of e-mail quotes or could cause an insurance company that provides instant quotes to go offline until the problem can be remedied. Moreover, the malfunction could cause the insurance company to dispute the number of leads it received from InsWeb. Further, a computer malfunction could cause an insurance company to quote erroneous rates, in which case the insurance company would be required to take itself offline until the malfunction can be corrected. Any technological problems with or interruption of communications with an insurance company’s computer systems could materially reduce the number of competing insurance companies available to provide quotes, and therefore the level of service perceived by consumers, on our online marketplace.

 

We rely on the services of our executive officers and other key personnel, whose knowledge of our business and the insurance industry and technical expertise would be extremely difficult to replace

 

Our future success is substantially dependent on the continued services and continuing contributions of our senior management and other key personnel, particularly Hussein A. Enan, Chairman of our Board, and Mark P. Guthrie, our President and Chief Executive Officer, and the loss of the services of any of our executive officers or other key employees could harm our business.

 

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We have no long-term employment agreements with any of our key personnel, although Mr. Guthrie is entitled to certain severance benefits should his employment be involuntarily terminated. We maintain a $2 million life insurance policy on each of Mr. Enan and Mr. Guthrie that names us as the beneficiary, but maintain no similar insurance on any of our other key employees. Additionally, InsWeb has granted stock options as incentives to executive officers and new employees, including Mr. Guthrie, and certain other key personnel. As the value of these incentives are highly dependent on an increase in the market price of our common stock, we may be unable to retain such key employees, nor retain or recruit other officers and key employees in the future.

 

We may not be able to recruit or retain necessary personnel, which could slow the process of adding new insurance companies to our website or otherwise harm our business

 

Our future success depends on our continuing ability to attract, retain and motivate highly skilled employees, particularly with respect to technology development and implementation. The implementation of new insurance companies on our site is a technologically complex and labor-intensive process. Accordingly, any difficulty we face in attracting and retaining talented development and implementation personnel could slow the process of adding new insurance companies to our online marketplace and therefore limit our ability to increase the attractiveness of our services to consumers. If we are not able to attract and retain new personnel, particularly within our technology development and implementation team, our business will be harmed.

 

Regulation of the Internet is unsettled, and future regulations could inhibit the growth of the Internet and otherwise harm our business

 

The laws governing the Internet remain largely unsettled, even in areas where there has been some legislative action. Furthermore, the growth and development of the market for electronic commerce may prompt the enactment of more stringent consumer protection laws that may impose additional burdens on companies conducting business online. For example, many states have adopted laws or regulations relating to unsolicited commercial email or “spam”. These laws typically prohibit the sending of a commercial email to a recipient unless the recipient has consented in some manner. However, there are inconsistencies in these state laws that make it difficult to implement national email-based marketing campaigns. These laws may inhibit the growth of the Internet as a medium for commerce and comparison insurance shopping, which could, in turn, decrease demand for our services, increase our cost of doing business, or otherwise harm our business. In addition, applicability to the Internet of existing laws governing issues including property ownership, copyrights and other intellectual property issues, taxation, libel and personal privacy is uncertain. The vast majority of these laws was adopted prior to the advent of the Internet and related technologies and, as a result, do not contemplate or address the unique issues of the Internet and related technologies.

 

Any acquisitions that we undertake could be difficult to integrate, disrupt our business, dilute stockholder value and harm our operating results

 

We may acquire or make investments in complementary businesses, technologies, services or products if appropriate opportunities arise. The process of integrating any acquired business, technology, service or product into our business and operations may result in unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures. Integration of an acquired company also may consume much of our management’s time and attention that would otherwise be available for ongoing development of our business. Moreover, the anticipated benefits of any acquisition may not be realized. We may be unable to identify, negotiate or finance future acquisitions successfully, or to integrate successfully any acquisitions with our current business. Future acquisitions could result in potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities or the incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities or amortization expenses related to goodwill and other intangible assets, any of which could harm our business.

 

We may be subject to claims for infringement of intellectual property, with or without merit, which could be costly to defend or settle

 

We may from time to time be subject to claims of infringement of other parties’ proprietary rights or claims that our own trademarks, patents or other intellectual property rights are invalid. We have been subject to infringement claims in the ordinary course of business, including claims of alleged infringement of the patent and trademark rights of third parties by companies and us with which we have business relationships. Any claims of this type, with or without merit, could be time-consuming to defend, result in costly litigation, divert management attention and resources or require us to enter into royalty or license agreements. License agreements may not be available on reasonable terms, if at all, and the assertion or prosecution of any infringement claims could significantly harm our business.

 

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We incorporate third-party technologies and services into our online marketplace, and if the providers of these technologies and services fail in a timely manner to develop, license or support technology necessary to our services, market acceptance of our online marketplace could be harmed

 

We have incorporated technology developed by third parties into our online marketplace, and we will continue to incorporate third-party technology in our future products and services. We have limited control over whether or when these third-party technologies will be developed or enhanced. If a third-party fails to timely develop, license or support technology necessary to our services, market acceptance of our online marketplace could be harmed.

 

Our stock price has fluctuated widely, and Internet stocks in general have been extremely volatile

 

The trading price of our common stock has been highly volatile and may be significantly affected by factors including actual or anticipated fluctuations in our operating results, new products or new contracts by us or our competitors, loss of key customers, conditions and trends in the electronic commerce and insurance industries, changes in financial estimates by securities analysts, general market conditions and other factors. The trading prices of many Internet stocks have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations. These fluctuations often have been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of these companies. These fluctuations may continue and could harm our stock price. Any negative change in the public’s perception of the prospects of Internet or electronic commerce companies could also depress our stock price regardless of our results.

 

Delaware law and our charter documents contain provisions that could discourage or prevent a potential takeover, even if such a transaction would be beneficial to our stockholders

 

Provisions of Delaware law and our certificate of incorporation and bylaws could make more difficult the acquisition of us by means of a tender offer, a proxy contest, or otherwise, and the removal of incumbent officers and directors.

 

 

ITEM 3.  QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURE ABOUT MARKET RISK.

 

There have been no material changes to the Company’s disclosures related to certain market risks as reported under Part II, Item 7A, “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk,” in the Annual Report of InsWeb to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2002.

 

 

ITEM 4.  CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

 

Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, we evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a – 15 (e)).  Based upon this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our  disclosure controls and procedures were adequate as of the end of the period covered by this quarterly report.

 

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PART II:  OTHER INFORMATION

 

ITEM 1.  LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

 

A securities class action lawsuit was filed on December 5, 2001 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, (the “Court”) purportedly on behalf of all persons who purchased our common stock from July 22, 1999 through December 6, 2000.  The complaint named as defendants InsWeb, certain current and former officers and directors, and three investment banking firms that served as underwriters for InsWeb’s initial public offering in July 1999.  The complaint, as subsequently amended, alleges violations of Sections 11 and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 10 and 20 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, on the grounds that the prospectuses incorporated in the registration statements for the offering failed to disclose, among other things, that (i) the underwriters had solicited and received excessive and undisclosed commissions from certain investors in exchange for which the underwriters allocated to those investors material portions of the shares of our stock sold in the offerings and (ii) the underwriters had entered into agreements with customers whereby the underwriters agreed to allocated shares of the stock sold in the offering to those customers in exchange for which the customers agreed to purchase additional shares of InsWeb stock in the aftermarket at pre-determined prices.  No specific damages are claimed.  Similar allegations have been made in lawsuits relating to more than 300 other initial public offerings conducted in 1999 and 2000, all of which have been consolidated for pretrial purposes.  In October 2002, all claims against the individual defendants were dismissed without prejudice.  In February 2003, the Court dismissed the claims in the InsWeb action alleging violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 but allowed the plaintiffs to proceed with the remaining claims.  In June 2003, the plaintiffs in all of the cases presented a settlement proposal to all of the issuer defendants.  Under the proposed settlement, the plaintiffs will dismiss and release all claims against participating defendants in exchange for a contingent payment guaranty by the insurance companies collectively responsible for insuring the issuers in all the related cases, and the assignment or surrender to the plaintiffs of certain claims the issuer defendants may have against the underwriters.  The settlement is subject to acceptance by a substantial majority of the issuer defendants and execution of a definitive settlement agreement.  The settlement is also subject to approval of the Court, which cannot be assured.  If the settlement is not accepted by the requisite number of defendants or if it is not approved by the Court, InsWeb intends to defend the lawsuit vigorously.  However, the litigation is in the preliminary stage, and we cannot predict its outcome.  The litigation process is inherently uncertain.  An unfavorable outcome could have a material adverse effect on InsWeb’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

 

ITEM 6.  EXHIBITS AND REPORTS ON FORM 8-K

 

(a)                                  Exhibits

 

Exhibit
Number

 

Description of Document

 

 

 

31.1

 

Certification of Chief Executive Officer, pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 13a-14(a).

 

 

 

31.2

 

Certification of Chief Financial Officer, pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 13a-14(a).

 

 

 

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Certification of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350.

 

(b)                                 Reports on Form 8-K:

 

On July 17, 2003, we filed a report on Form 8-K, under Item 12, announcing InsWeb Corporation’s financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2003.

 

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SIGNATURE

 

In accordance with the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

 

Dated: November 12, 2003

INSWEB CORPORATION

 

(Registrant)

 

 

 

 

 

/s/ WILLIAM D. GRIFFIN

 

 

William D. Griffin

 

Chief Financial Officer

 

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