Yahoo! posts quarterly net profit, revenue down

January 27, 2010

Yahoo! posted a quarterly net profit of $US153 million, reversing its losses of a year ago, but revenue continued to slide at the internet giant.
The Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo!, which recorded a loss of $US303 million in the fourth quarter a year ago, said on Tuesday revenue fell 4 per cent in the quarter to $US1.732 billion.
While lower than a year ago, fourth-quarter revenue was better than the $US1.23 billion expected by Wall Street analysts.
Adjusted earnings per share of 15 cents were also better than the 11 cents forecast by analysts.
Yahoo! said its annual net profit was up 43 per cent to $US598 million.
It said annual revenue fell 10 per cent to $US6.46 billion.
"The fourth quarter marked a strong finish to 2009, which was a transformative year for Yahoo!," said chief executive Carol Bartz, who has focused on cutting costs since taking over the reins at Yahoo! a year ago.
"Our business has positive momentum and we feel good as we head into 2010," Bartz said, adding that demand for premium display advertising had improved significantly.
Yahoo!, which is a distant second to Google in the US search engine market, said it expected revenue of between $US1.575 billion and $US1.675 billion this quarter.
Yahoo! shares were trading 1.88 per cent lower at $US15.69 in after-hours electronic trading.
AFP