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Yahoo reports 22% rise in revenue as it enters final quarter as an independent company.
Yahoo late on Tuesday said it expects to complete the sale of its core Internet business to Verizon in June.
Verizon’s $4.48 billion acquisition of Yahoo – originally agreed in July 2016 – was initially expected to close in the first quarter. However, revelations about major cyberattacks carried out against Yahoo before the deal was struck led to the closure being pushed back to some time during the second quarter.
In January, Yahoo said it was working to close the transaction "as soon as practicable in Q2."
It now looks like it will practically be Q3 before the deal completes.
The disclosure was included in Yahoo’s first quarter financial results.
Revenue for the three months to 31 March came in at $1.33 billion (€1.24 billion), up 22% on the first quarter of 2016. Traffic acquisition costs (TAC) rose to $493.50 million from $227.76 million.
The reason for the large year-on-year swings in both figures was due to a required change in the way Yahoo presents its revenue, which stemmed from an amendment to its search deal with Microsoft.
Absent this change, Yahoo’s revenue would have been $1.02 billion, down 6% on Q1 2016, and TAC would have been down 17% to $190 million.
Yahoo’s operating loss narrowed to $58.75 million from $167.21 million, and it swung to a net profit attributable to shareholders of $99.94 million, from a loss of $98.29 million.
"As we enter our final quarter as an independent company, we are committed to finishing strong and planning for the best possible integration with Verizon," said Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, in statement.
"With the transaction anticipated to complete in June, I’ve never been more proud of the improvements we’ve made to the business and the value we’ve delivered to our shareholders."
