For the fourth quarter, service revenues rose 38%, to $259.9 million, up from $14 million in the same quarter the year before, and net EBITDA of $36.3 million, compared to $23.4 million for 4Q of 1999. Income from real estate operations reached $15.1 million in 4Q 2000, an increase of 109% from 4Q '99.

Net income, however, was lower for the quarter due to a write off of investments in third-party Internet-based businesses and it own Internet initiatives. This resulted in a decrease of $200,000 in net income to $6.8 million. "Our Internet initiatives have been a disappointment," says Andrew L. Farkas, chairman and CEO of the company. "We provided seed capital for many internal technology initiatives, and then turned to strategic partners for incremental content, and to finance ongoing development. Unfortunately, the market for financing technology initiatives evaporated during the latter half of 2000."

Insignia decided to sell, merge or liquidate most of the Internet businesses it developed to eliminate any exposure to the financing requirements of these operations. Approximately $45 million had been invested in Internet and related operations during 2000, including about $16 million in development costs.