See Search Box
lower down this column for searches of Finfacts news pages. Where there may be
the odd special character missing from an older page, it's a problem that
developed when Interactive Tools upgraded to a new content management system.
Welcome
Finfacts is Ireland's leading business information site and
you are in its business news section.
We
provide access to live business television and business
related videos from: Bloomberg TV; The Wall Street Journal;
CNBC and the Financial Times. Click image:
Google's first-quarter earnings jumped 37% and revenue rose 23%, as advertising continues to rebound with the economy.
The company reported earnings of $1.96bn, or $6.06 a share, from $1.42bn, or $4.49 a share, a year earlier. Excluding stock-compensation costs, per-share profit rose to $6.76 from $5.16. Revenue was $6.78bn, compared with $5.51bn a year ago. Excluding commissions to partners, Google reported revenue of $5.06bn, up 2.2% from the seasonally strong fourth quarter.
“Google performed very well in the first quarter, with 23% year over year revenue growth driven by strength across all major verticals and geographies,” said Patrick Pichette, CFO of Google.“Going forward, we remain committed to heavy investment in innovation -- both to spur future growth in our core and emerging businesses as well as to help build the future of the open web.”
However, the stock was down nearly 5% in after-hours trading as the results were lower than what is termed the “whisper number” of analysts - - the unpublished estimate that some analysts give clients. Google shares closed at $595.30 in regular trading before the earnings announcement.
Google chief executive Eric Schmidt did not participate in an earnings teleconference for the first time since the company went public in August 2004, apparently to ensure focus on the results rather than issues such as the dispute with China.
Google reported that in the first quarter, paid clicks on ads on Google sites and other sites that run Google ads grew 15% over the year-ago quarter.
The company said it was pleased with the demand for the company's Nexus One cellphone, which launched in the quarter and is sold directly to consumers, but it declined to say how many units the company has sold so far.
Google had cash of $26.5bn at March 31st and on a worldwide basis, Google employed 20,621 full-time employees up from 19,835 full-time as of December 31, 2009.
On Thursday evening in the UK, leaders of the three largest British parties took part in the UK’s first live televised debate in the run up to the May 6 general election. Alastair Stewart of ITN hosted Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the Labour Party, Conservative Party leader David Cameron and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg as they discussed domestic affairs before a Manchester T.V. studio audience.
Gordon Brown told David Cameron, “I'm grateful, by the way, David, for you putting up these posters about me and about crime and about everything else. You know, there's no newspaper editor done as much for me in the last two years, because my face is smiling on these posters, and I'm very grateful to you and Lord Ashcroft for funding that”, generating queries for Gordon Brown poster and Lord Ashcroft. David Cameron’s statement, “We’re going to get rid of some of these quangos” sent users scurrying to determine what a quango is. Nick Clegg’s repeated railing against renewing the Trident missile and David Cameron’s repeated railing against the jobs tax, a one percent increase in National Insurance contributions, were the other issues generating queries. Overwhelming these debate-related queries was the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano and the closure of British air space.
A breakdown of the tech giant's earnings results with Rick Munarriz, Motley Fool; Lee Eugene Munson, Portfolio Asset Management and CNBC's Jim Goldman.:
