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Baidu.com says 1Q profit up 71.5 percent as online marketing revenue doubles
(Associated Press WorldStream Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) BEIJING_Baidu.com Inc., China's leading search engine, said Friday its first-quarter profit rose 71.5 percent as revenue from online marketing services more than doubled.
Baidu said it earned 146.6 million yuan (US$20.9 million; ?13.3 million) in the three months ending March 31. That was 4.22 yuan (60 U.S. cents; 38 euro cents) per American Depositary Share.
Revenues rose by 108.4 percent over the same period last year to 574.4 million yuan (US$81.9 million; ?52.3 million).
Revenue growth was strong despite a quarter that included the Chinese New Year, normally a slack time for business, and snowstorms that battered China's south, CEO Robin Li said in a statement.
Li said the credit was due to Baidu's sales and customer service staff.
Online marketing services revenue, which makes up the bulk of Baidu's revenue, rose 108.5 percent to 572.7 million yuan (US$81.7 million; ?52.1 million), the company said.
The increase was driven mostly by growth in the number of active online marketing customers and an increase in revenue per customer, Baidu said.
China's population of Internet users rose to 221 million in February, tying the United States as the world's largest, according to data reported Thursday by the government's Xinhua News Agency.
The financial size of China's online industries still lags the U.S., South Korea and other markets. But incomes are rising quickly, and the research firm BDA China Ltd. says the number of Chinese online is expected to grow by 18 percent annually over the next five years.
Baidu's share of the Chinese search market rose to 60.7 percent in the first quarter, up from 60.1 percent in the previous quarter, according to Analysys International, a Beijing research firm.
U.S.-based Google Inc.'s Chinese arm was in second place with 26.8 percent, up from 25.9 percent, Analysys said. Yahoo Inc.'s Chinese service was in third place, with 8.3 percent, down from 9.6 percent.
Baidu has begun to branch out from China, launching a search engine in Japan.
Baidu said its number of active online marketing customers in China rose 43.8 percent to about 161,000 in the first quarter. Revenue per online marketing customer rose 44 percent to about 3,600 yuan (US$513; ?327).
For the second quarter, Baidu said it expects revenue to range between 780 million yuan (US$111 million; ?71 million) and 800 million yuan (US$114 million; ?73 million). Analysts expect revenue of US$100.6 million (?158 million).
Baidu's ADRs rose US$6 to US$348 in after-hours trading. They finished regular trading down US$7.66 at US$342.
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On the Net:
Baidu.com Inc.: http://www.baidu.com
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