Yahoo reports 36% first-quarter surge in profit

PanARMENIAN.Net - Despite a first-quarter surge in profit, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer acknowledged that the Internet giant is still facing challenges in its turnaround effort, starting with a decline in what's usually the biggest segment of its advertising business, according to Mercury News.

Revenue from online display advertising fell by 11 percent from last year, the company reported, at a time when rivals such as Google and Facebook are showing gains in the same business.

Mayer, who was hired last year to help turn Yahoo around, told analysts on a conference call that she is pleased with recent progress in recruiting new talent and introducing new online products.

But even though she's projecting revenue growth in the second half of 2013, Mayer warned: "Getting the company growing at the rate we would like is going to take several years."

Yahoo's earnings report was a mixed bag overall. Revenue for the quarter was unchanged from a year ago, at $1.07 billion excluding commissions paid to advertising partners. That was less than expected by Wall Street analysts, who were projecting revenue of just under $1.1 billion, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.

Profit for the quarter that ended March 31 rose 36 percent to $390 million, as the company kept tight control on expenses and reaped the benefit of investments in the Chinese Internet company Alibaba.

Yahoo's revenue from search-related ads rose 6 percent, to $408 million after subtracting commissions. But the key segment of display advertising fell to $402 million excluding commissions.

Yahoo's monthly visits from mobile device users rose from 200 million at the end of 2012 to more than 300 million and the company expects more people will be using mobile devices than PCs by 2015.