News
Internet company splits out financials for its core operations as well as ‘Other Bets’.
Google’s new parent company Alphabet reported a strong set of fourth-quarter and full-year financials on Monday, driven by its core search and advertising business.
Alphabet Inc. generated revenues of US$21.33 billion (€19.5 billion) in the three months to 31 December, up 18% on the year-ago quarter. The Google segment accounted for $21.18 billion of the total, with turnover from what the company terms ‘Other Bets’ – which includes initiatives like the firm’s Project Loon – coming in at $151 million.
Similarly, Google generated an operating income of $6.77 billion, up 30% on the previous year, while Other Bets recorded a $1.24 billion loss, wider than the previous and year-ago quarters.
Overall, Alphabet’s operating income came in at $5.38 billion in Q4, up 22%, while its net income was $4.92 billion, an increase of 5%.
The publication of the figures on Monday excited the markets, with Google briefly overtaking Apple in market cap terms, but the balance has since been restored.
"Our very strong revenue growth in Q4 reflects the vibrancy of our business, driven by mobile search as well as YouTube and programmatic advertising, all areas in which we’ve been investing for many years," said Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat in a statement accompanying the numbers.
"We’re excited about the opportunities we have across Google and Other Bets to use technology to improve the lives of billions of people," she said.
Google generated $14.94 billion in revenues from its own Websites, up 20% on the same quarter in 2014, while the contribution from its network members’ sites grew by 7% to $4.14 billion. Google advertising revenues increased by 17% to $19.08 billion.
Its aggregate paid clicks grew by 17% year-on-year, but aggregate cost-per-click fell by 5%.
