Chinese search engine Baidu reports dip in revenue and warns of further declines in the fourth quarter
Shares in Chineses search engine giant Baidu have dipped by 2.1 per cent in out of hours trading after the company warned that revenue would decline further in the fourth quarter of 2016.
The figures
Revenue dropped 0.7 per cent to 18.25bn renminbi (£2.21bn), with mobile revenue representing 64 per cent of the total during the three months to 30 September, compared with 54 per cent in the same period of last year.
Operating profit was 2.79bn renminbi, an 11 per cent uptick on the third quarter of 2015.
Robin Li, chairman and chief executive of Baidu, warned revenue could slip further in the current quarter, with a drop of as much as 4.6 per cent possible.
This is a marked turnaround from the company's position at the end of last year – the tech firm reported a 663 per cent profit jump in the final quarter of 2015.
What Baidu said
“We saw further improvements in customer quality in the third quarter as we continued to implement stricter standards for online marketers,” said Li.
“During the quarter the growing popularity of our news feed product helped drive user stickiness in search and across the Baidu content ecosystem.”
Jennifer Li, the group's finance chief added: “We continue to enhance user experience by taking proactive measures to raise customer quality and foster a healthier industry environment.
"Looking ahead, we will maintain this focus on delivering the best user experience, while investing in technology and infrastructure to drive long term growth.”
Baidu is a major investor in Uber China.