China's Baidu tops profit estimates on ad sales growth

(Reuters) - Chinese internet search giant Baidu Inc on Tuesday topped Wall Street estimates for quarterly profit on the back of strong growth in its online advertisement business.

FILE PHOTO: Members of staff work at the Baidu booth during Global Mobile Internet Conference (GMIC) at the National Convention in Beijing, China April 27, 2018. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File Photo

Revenue for the segment rose 25 percent to 21.1 billion Chinese yuan ($3.10 billion) in the second quarter.

The company has seen rapid growth in its newsfeed product, an app that is similar to Facebook’s feed, and has managed to escape the ire of regulators even as competitors continue to suffer temporary bans and fines for failing to censor content.

Net income attributable to Baidu rose to 6.4 billion Chinese yuan, or 18.14 yuan per American depositary share (ADS), in the second quarter ended June 30 from 4.42 billion yuan, or 11.31 yuan per ADS, from a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, Baidu earned 21.06 yuan per ADS, above expectations of 16.46 yuan.

Total revenue rose 24.4 percent to 25.97 billion yuan from 20.87 billion yuan.

The company’s U.S.-listed shares rose about 3 percent to $254 in after-hours trading.

Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru and Cate Cadell in Beijing; Editing by Arun Koyyur

(Original source)