Boston, MA 01/29/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer has failed to instigate improved growth at the Web portal in the 18 months for which he has been serving the company. With advertisers continuing to approach rival websites, near time prospects do not look positive either.
The Sunnyvale, California based company announced on Jan 28 that its first quarter sales will be between $1.06 billion and $1.1 billion. This figure does not include the revenue which was steered away by partner sites. Compared to last year’s sales of $1.07 billion, this average estimate given by the company would mean a growth of not even 1% throughout the year.
Rivals taking away profits
Mayer joined Yahoo in 2012 after she quit Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) in July that year. The company had high hopes that she would turn things around but evidently that has not really happened. Mayer’s former employer and Yahoo’s business rival Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) are wooing away advertisers while Mayer is losing out on ad sales.
Last year, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO)’s stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. had done the company enough good as it reported double stock values. In the fourth quarter last year, earnings from Yahoo’s equity interests had surged up from $149 million to $222 million. During that term, the company had reported a net income of $348.2 million which meant a 28% higher than the previous year’s.
Mayer’s outlook
CEO Mayer says that they cannot hope for high growth immediately and that satisfactory levels may not be reached in a short span of time. However, to kick start, she has made increase investments in engineering and has also closed down some underperforming services. Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) is now focusing on roping in users with more exciting products. A new line up of products that they hope will attract more visitors is a publication which targets consumer technology users. Another one is Yahoo Food which features recipes and trends in cuisine.
