Lycos, the second most visited Web media network after rival Yahoo1! Inc, reported a loss for the quarter ended January 31 of $9.3 million, or 22 cents a share, compared with a profit of $301,119, or 1 cent a share, in the year-ago quarter.

The latest quarter's loss included $7.8 million in charges for five acquisitions Lycos made over the past year. The year-ago quarter's earnings per share figures were adjusted for a subsequent two-for-one stock split.

Excluding charges for the acquisitions, the Waltham, Massachuttes company said it had a pro forma loss of $1.5 million, or 3 cents per share, in the fiscal second quarter, a penny better than the 4-cent-per-share loss Wall Street analysts had expected, according to First Call, which compiles brokerage estimates.

The report came two weeks after Lycos set plans to merge into growing broadcast and online media empire USA Networks Inc properties' Ticketmaster Online/CitySearch Inc and its Home Shopping Network.

Revenues for the second fiscal quarter totalled $30.6 million, representing a sequential 24 per cent rise from the previous quarter ended October 31, 1999 and a 142 per cent increase over the comparable period a year ago.

``It was just an outstanding quarter by every metric,'' vice- president of finance, Tom Guilfoyle said in a phone interview following the earnings report. ``We continue to be the fastest growing network on the Internet.''

Traffic through its network of Web sites grew 39 per cent during the quarter to 50 million Web page views per day, it said in a statement announcing the results.

The Lycos Network attracted 48.4 per cent of all Web users in January, according to Media Metrix, as its audience growth continued to outpace that of its rivals, Guilfoyle said.

Advertising revenues more than doubled to $20.9 million from $9.6 million in year-ago quarter. Ad rates inched up during the quarter to $23.50 per 1,000 customer ad impressions -- a standard industry measure -- from $23 three months before.

Electronic commerce, licence, and other revenues tripled to $9.7 million from $3.0 million a year ago.

Quarterly revenues also beat Wall Street expectations, due largely to better than expected progress the company made in integrating its acquisitions of the past year, Guilfoyle said.

Last year, Lycos acquired Tripod and Angelfire, two home page publishing Web communities that were the No 10 and No 13 most visited sites on the Web in January, according to research firm Media Metrix, which tracks Internet traffic statistics.

It also purchased WhoWhere?, an address directory and free electronic-mail service, and Wired's online news division.

By the same measure, the Lycos Web site itself ranked as the 8th most visited destination, meaning that Lycos owns 3 of the 15 most heavily visited sites on the Internet.

Collectively, the Lycos Network of sites ranked No 4 in terms of Internet traffic, behind the various Web properties of America Online Inc, Microsoft Corp and Yahoo! Inc, the No 1, 2 and 3 ranked sites.

Late on Thursday, after the report, the company held a meeting in New York with Wall Street analysts and institutional investors to shore up support for its plans to form what it believes will be the dominant player in electronic commerce. The press was excluded.

The deal led Lycos' stock to tumble from around $127 to the $80s, amid fears of slackening growth as its fast-paced Internet properties are combined with USA Networks' slower moving ticketing and television merchandising businesses.

Lycos stock rose $1 to $94 in after-hours trading Thursday, building on a $2.50 gain during the regular trading day on the Nasdaq stock market.