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.
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