Overhaul at Yahoo aimed at competing with online rivals

Yahoo put in a steady, if unspectacular, performance over the third quarter as chief executive Marissa Mayer focuses on overhauling the struggling internet giant’s products and services to help it compete with online rivals such as Google.

In the three months to the end of September, revenues excluding the website’s traffic acquisition costs came in at $1.08bn, or one percent lower than last year, the company said on Tuesday, while earnings fell to $0.34 per share, down 13 per cent on the year but slightly better than the $0.33 per share pencilled in by analysts. The revenue figure was in line with Wall Street forecasts.

The lack of growth was expected as Ms Mayer, who arrived from Google last year, attempts to turn around the business by launching new products or revamping existing offerings. In a sign that investors were willing to give her time to implement her strategy, the company’s shares, which declined ahead of results, turned positive in after-hours trading, rising by around 1 per cent soon after the release of the third quarter figures.

Commenting on Yahoo’s performance, Ms Mayer said her overhaul was bringing more users to Yahoo’s services. “With more than 800 million monthly users on Yahoo - up 20 percent over the past 15 months - we’re achieving meaningful increases in user engagement and traffic,” she noted.