BEIJING: BAIDU’S first-quarter net earnings exceeded analysts’ estimates as the company tapped the strong growth in mobile Internet.
Its net profit fell 3.4 percent to 2.45 billion yuan (US$395) in the three months ended on March 31, but above the 2.34 billion yuan estimate by Bloomberg News analysts.
Sales surged 34 percent to 1.27 billion yuan with online advertising income contributing 1.25 billion yuan.
China’s largest search engine operator expects revenue to be between 16.4 billion yuan and 16.8 billion yuan in the second quarter, representing a 36.5-39.7 percent year-on-year growth, according to a stock exchange filing yesterday.
“Mobile, now making up 50 percent of overall income, continued to be the main driver of revenue growth,” Chief Executive Robin Li said in a conference call.
Baidu has unveiled new services that let advertisers target smartphone users in nearby regions, and Li said this move has “attracted a new incremental local customer base.”
The company boosted investment in research and development by 79 percent from a year ago to 2.29 billion yuan.
It also offers smartphone payment services for online food ordering and movie ticket booking to compete with Alibaba and Tencent.
