Yahoo! profit dips, but stays ahead of forecasts

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Yahoo! said on Tuesday its profit in the past quarter fell modestly in results reflecting upheaval at the struggling Internet pioneer, which named a new top executive this week.

The company, which appointed Marissa Mayer of Google as its new chief executive on Monday, said profit fell four percent to $226.6 million, in a report that was better than expected.

That translated to 27 cents per share excluding special items, ahead of analyst expectations of 23 cents a share.

Revenues excluding traffic acquisition costs, the key barometer for the Web giant, were flat at $1.08 billion, below most forecasts.

The results underscored the turmoil at the California tech firm, which has been undergoing a major restructuring and then forced out its top executive in May over an inflated resume.

Tim Morse, Yahoo!'s chief financial officer, said the results beat consensus forecasts in several areas including display and search advertising, where Yahoo! has been pounded by Google.

Over the past quarter, Yahoo! "moved aggressively with new strategic agreements" and unveiled new partnerships, he said, as it tried to reposition itself in the sector.

Morse pointed out that display revenues rose one percent and search revenue increased four percent. But that was well below the 23.8 percent growth pace of online advertising in the quarter, according to the research firm eMarketer.

The results came a day after the 37-year-old Mayer -- one of Google's first employees -- was named CEO.

The appointment "signals a renewed focus on product innovation to drive user experience and advertising revenue," Yahoo! said in a statement.