Yahoo profit boost leaves Microsoft unmoved

24 April 2008

Yahoo has reported a three-fold hike in profits – apparently still not enough to earn it a revised offer from would-be owner Microsoft.

Yahoo's latest financial results reveal a tripling in income for the first quarter of this year when compared to the same period in 2007. The figures were bolstered by a $401 million profit resulting from the sell-off of Chinese trading site Alibaba.com.

However, prior to the announcement Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had stated that it would not alter its original offer of $44.6 billion for Yahoo, whatever the results.

"Microsoft is breathing a sigh of relief," commented Jim Friedland, analyst at Cowen & Co. "Even though these are solid results, given long and short-term challenges, there's been no overall shift in Yahoo's business.

"Microsoft's offer is still the best offer on the table. The trends are still the trends."

Category: MSN, Search engines, Yahoo