So-called Chinese Google Baidu sees share price rocket as profit jumps 663 per cent and revenue climbs in fourth quarter
Shares in Chinese internet giant Baidu have rocketed by 13.13 per cent in after hours trading, after the company reported 663 per cent growth in profit in the final quarter of 2015, up to 24.7bn yuan (£2.7bn) from 3.2bn yuan in the same period of 2014.
The group,sometimes referred to as China's Google, also posted revenue of 18.7 yuan for the quarter,compared with 14.1bn yuan one year prior.
Baidu, which owns a chunk of Uber, is continuing the upward trend it started when reporting figures for the third quarter of 2015. The company said it wanted to continue to invest in mobile, which has paid off based on the fourth quarter numbers – the number of mobile search monthly active users grew by 21 per cent to 657m year-on-year in December, and mobile revenue represented 56 per cent of total revenue in the quarter.
Baidu chief exec Robin Li said 2015 was “a touchstone year for Baidu”, and pointed out that the group had managed to buck the trend of the Chinese market in general.
“We made significant progress in broadening our online marketing platform and further extending our reach into transactions services," Li added. "Even as China's overall growth slows, services and domestic consumption are growing.
“Our top revenue verticals—retail/ecommerce, local services, financial services, healthcare, and education—reflect Baidu's vital role in connecting users with merchants in these growing sectors. Looking ahead, we will continue to build the Next Baidu not only to benefit from, but also drive, key secular trends of rising domestic consumption, growth in services, and a rapidly evolving mobile environment."