Yahoo has reported a net loss of $303.4m for the fourth quarter 2008, compared to net profit of $205.7m in the year-ago quarter, on revenue down 1.4% at $1.8 billion. It made an operating loss of $278.3m compared to an operating profit of $191.2m last year.
Marketing services revenue grew marginally to $1.59 billion, with owned and operated sites revenue increasing 2.6% to $1 billion and affiliate sites revenue decreasing 4.2% to $532m. Fees revenue fell 12.3% to $212m. Geographically, US revenue rose 1.9% to $1.33 billion, while international revenue fell 9.8% to $468m.
For fiscal 2008 it reported a 35.7% decline in net profit to $424m, on revenue up 3.4% at $7.2 billion. Operating profit fell 98.1% to $12.9m compared to $695m in the year-ago quarter.
Carol Bartz, chief executive at Yahoo, said: Despite the challenging economic environment, Yahoo delivered adjusted operating cash flow above the midpoint of guidance for the fourth quarter. The company also made important investments while aggressively managing costs, leaving us better positioned to weather the economic downturn and emerge stronger when advertiser spending improves.
Looking ahead, the company expects to generate revenue in the range of $1.5 billion to $1.7 billion in the first quarter 2009.
