BIZCHINA / Li Yanhong
Baidu.com sales may double on rise in ads
By Janet Ong and Jonathan Thaw (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-23 09:19
Baidu.com Inc, China's most-used Internet search engine, said sales in
the first quarter may double from a year earlier as the company attracts
more advertisers. The shares surged 12 per cent.
Revenue will probably rise to between 125 million yuan (US$15.5 million)
and 130 million yuan, an increase of between 174 per cent and 185 per
cent from a year earlier, the company said in a statement. The company,
which listed on the NASDAQ in August, didn't provide comparative figures.
Baidu.com and Internet companies such as Google Inc, the world's No 1
search engine, are expanding in China, where the number of online users
rose 18 per cent last year. The nation had 111 million Internet
subscribers by the end of 2005 and is the world's second-largest Internet
market after the United States.
"The online search market is growing at a rate much faster than the
overall online advertising market in China," Robin Li, chairman and
founder of Beijing-based Baidu.com said in a conference call yesterday.
"We continue to see strong potential for China's search market."
Baidu.com reported net income in the fourth quarter rose almost fourfold
to 24.5 million yuan, or 0.71 yuan per share, from 6.37 million yuan, or
0.22 yuan. Profit for the full year soared to 47.6 million yuan from 12
million yuan.
American depositary shares of Baidu.com rose to US$57.75 in extended
trading after the results were reported. The stock gained US$1.63 to
US$51.69 yesterday in NASDAQ Stock Market composite trading. The shares
have lost 17.9 per cent this year.
Sales in the fourth quarter rose to 114.9 million yuan from 42.9 million
yuan, beating the company's October forecast of as much as 106 million
yuan.
Like Google, Baidu.com sells space next to its Internet search results.
Advertisers pay a fee when users click on the ads. By the end of
December, Baidu.com had 63,000 active online marketing customers, or
advertisers, a rise of 18.6 per cent from the previous quarter. The
company didn't provide comparative figures. Revenue per online marketing
customer was 1,772.9 yuan, an increase of 9.7 per cent from the previous
quarter, it said.
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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