Sohu profits drop in Q4

Chinese internet firm Sohu.com (SOHU.NASDAQ, XOU.FRA) reported that earnings fell in the fourth quarter and advised that first-quarter profits would likely fall below analysts’ forecasts as costs increase, Bloomberg reported. The company’s fourth-quarter profit fell 9% to US$23 million, Sohu said in a release Tuesday. Revenue in the same period increased 22% to US$299 million, as visitors to Sohu’s various online platforms increased. The company predicted that profit in the first-quarter is likely to be 50 to 55 cents per share, well below the median analyst estimate of 77 cents, according to figures collected by Bloomberg. The lower-than-expected earnings forecast comes amid rising labor and bandwidth costs.