Internet media company Yahoo has reported a quarterly profit and forecast a second consecutive year of double-digit gains would carry revenues above the high-water mark of the Internet boom.
Yahoo reported a fourth-quarter net profit of $46.2 million compared with a year-earlier loss of $8.7 million.
But the results disappointed many analysts. Yahoo shares, which have been trading near a 52-week high, fell on the report, dropping as much as 6.2 per cent to $18.37 on Instinet from a Nasdaq close of $19.58.
"It was a solid quarter but I don't believe investors will greet this with exuberance because their expectations were very high going into the quarter," technology analyst Mr Jordan Rohan said.
Revenue in the latest quarter was $285.8 million, compared to $188.9 million a year earlier. Despite weakness in the ad market, Yahoo has seen success recently as it shifted toward paid search listings.
Total paying subscribers for the year rose to 2.2 million. The company passed its goal of two million by early December.
For 2003 it expects revenue of $1.15 billion to $1.22 billion and earnings of $295 million to $330 million, which would be an increase of as much as 60 per cent over 2002. It expects subscriber growth of at least 50 per cent and marketing services growth of 20 per cent.