Yahoo’s earnings boosted by China holdings

Apr.22, 2008 in Market Outlook

By John Letzing, MarketWatch

Last Update: 4:52 PM ET Apr 22, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Yahoo Inc. said Tuesday its first-quarter profit
was boosted by its Chinese assets, as the company seeks to remain independent or
wrangle a higher acquisition bid from Microsoft Corp.

Yahoo (YHOO) said its first-quarter net income rose to $542 million, or 37 cents
a share, from $142 million, or 10 cents a share, in the same period a year
earlier. The recent period’s earnings include a gain of $401 million related to
the IPO of Chinese Internet company Alibaba.com, in which Yahoo has an ownership
stake.

Excluding special items, Yahoo said earnings were 11 cents a share.

Revenue in the period ended in March rose to $1.82 billion from $1.67 billion,
Yahoo said, while its net revenue, or revenue excluding payments made to other
Web sites to acquire traffic, rose to $1.35 billion.

Analysts had estimated Yahoo would post earnings of 9 cents a share, and $1.32
billion in net revenue, according to Thomson Financial.

Yahoo’s report was highly anticipated, as the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company has
been fending off an unsolicited acquisition offer from Microsoft (MSFT) since the
end of January that was initially valued at $31 a share.

“Yahoo is beginning to realize the benefits of the very substantial and
deliberate long-term investments we’ve made to capitalize on the opportunities
ahead,” Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang said in a prepared statement.

Yahoo shares fell slightly to $28.46 in after-hours trading, following the
earnings report.

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