Yahoo has posted a first quarter earnings decline of 20% to $311.6 million.
In a trading update yesterday, the company added that revenue from display advertising increased by 2% to $409 million. Additionally, first quarter group revenue came in at $1.13 billion; the best Yahoo has posted since 2010.
Chief executive Marissa Mayer said she was pleased that the company was on the right path. “The performance is an early and important sign of growth in our core business and with mobile pivotal to our future growth, we’re delighted to now see more than 430 million monthly mobile users accessing Yahoo’s new products.”
Mayer, who has been Yahoo CEO since July 2012, forecast stable but modest growth for the company in an analyst call later in the day. Yahoo also confirmed it was hiring more, having increased its total workforce by 8% to 12,400 global employees.
The company could also gain from the share float of Chinese internet giant Alibaba.com, in which its has a 24% stake. Profits at Alibaba rose 66% in the fourth quarter of 2013 on an annualised basis to $3.06 billion, compared with $1.84 billion during the corresponding quarter a year earlier.
The details were provided as part of Yahoo’s trading statement. Alibaba is expected to float on a US-based stock exchange at some point over the summer.
While Yahoo’s corporate rehabilitation is far from secure, Wall Street responded positively to Mayer’s comments and the imminent windfall from Alibaba.com. Following the trading statement, Yahoo shares were up 9% to $36.90 in afterhours trading.