Yahoo Inc., Santa Clara, CA, yesterday said it lost $11.5 million in the first quarter and plans to lay off about 12 percent of its workforce to cut expenses.
The company said that for the first quarter revenue was $180.2 million, or a net loss $11.5 million, 2 cents per share. In the same quarter a year ago, the company posted revenue of $231 million and income of $67.5 million, or 11 cents per share.
Yahoo also said it plans to eliminate about 12 percent of its 3,510 employee workforce within the next 30 days and decrease some marketing and promotional expenses. The workforce reduction is expected to save the company about $12 million a quarter.
“We made some decisions that were difficult, but which ultimately balance the investment in our growth areas with adjustments to our near-term business plan to better position Yahoo for long-term growth,” said Tim Koogle, Yahoo’s chairman/CEO.
In the first quarter, Yahoo said it worked with 3,145 media and commerce customers in the quarter, down from 3,700 in the fourth quarter of 2000. Half of those companies were from outside the U.S., it noted.
Yahoo’s traffic increased to more than 1.1 billion page views per day in the first quarter, up 22 percent from December. Unique users increased to 192 million in the quarter, from 145 million a year ago.
The company expects revenue for the second quarter to be between $165 million and $185 million. Earnings per share are expected to rise to break even in the second quarter.
