Google has reported double-digit gains in first-quarter profit and sales, indicating that it is an early beneficiary of the rebound in online advertising.
The company posted net profits of $1.96 billion, or $6.06 a share, an improvement of 38 per cent on the same period last year. The performance exceeded the expectations of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
The company, which controls around two thirds of the US search engine market, said that revenue in the first quarter totalled $6.77 billion, up 23 per cent from last year.
Net revenue, which excludes sums paid to partners, stood at $5.06 billion, up 2.2 per cent from the seasonally strong fourth quarter and above analysts’ average estimates of $4.95 billion.
Patrick Pichette, Google’s chief financial officer, said that an improving economy and a return of large advertisers helped the company to a “very positive” start to the year.
Mr Pichette said the company expected to hire aggressively through the year. In the last quarter it had increased its workforce by nearly 800 employees, the biggest growth since the first quarter of 2008.
Despite the results Google shares slid 3.1 per cent to $576.92 in after-hours trading last night, reversing a 1.1 per cent gain notched up earlier in the day and reflecting continuing uncertainty over the company’s acquisition of the mobile-advertising company AdMob, as well as concerns over its censorship dispute with China and its ability to add revenue from new formats or platforms.
The company’s shares have fallen by nearly 5 per cent this year, against a 10 per cent rise in the Nasdaq index.
Mr Pichette said last night that the company was still working on the AdMob deal, despite a review of the acquisition by the Federal Trade Commission.
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