/ 17 October 2007

Yahoo! reports slight drop in profits

Embattled internet portal Yahoo! reported a slight drop in quarterly net profits on Tuesday as increased spending offset increased revenue.

Yahoo! earned $151,3-million, or 11 cents per share, compared with $158,5-million, or 11 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Yahoo!’s revenue for the period totalled $1,77-billion, up from $1,58-billion in the same quarter last year.

But Yahoo!’s total operating expenses for the period rose to $877,1-million, compared with $696,9-million in the same quarter last year.

Most of that increase reflected Yahoo!’s efforts to close the gap with Google as it tries to develop and attract users and advertisers to new search and advertising systems.

The company said sales and marketing expenses had increased to $410,9-million from $331-million, while its product development expenses also rose to $274,7-million from $202,1-million. — Sapa-dpa