Baidu beats expectations with 4Q profit growth of 48.2%

Baidu, China’s number one internet search provider, saw its fourth quarter net profit increase 48.2% year-on-year to US$62.7 million, outperforming most analysts’ expectations, the Financial Times reported. Revenues rose by 39.8% to US$184.7 million. Baidu management warned in October that the transition to Phoenix Nest, a new platform for bidding on paid search words, would squeeze revenues as many customers were not ready for the change. The company estimated that it would take a couple of quarters for its performance to get back on track, but these fears have proved to be unfounded. Baidu expects strong growth to continue in the first quarter, but said this bullish outlook was not influenced by potential changes in the competitive landscape. It remains unclear whether Google will make good on its threat to exit the China market. Baidu’s full-year net profit increased 41.7% to US$217.6 million, while revenues grew 39.1% to US$651.6 million.