Yahoo Inc. yesterday reported a net loss of $24.1 million, or 4 cents per share, for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with income of $47.6 million, or 8 cents per share, a year ago.
The company noted that the third-quarter loss included investment losses of $17.9 million.
Net revenue for the quarter was down substantially to $166.1 million, compared with revenue of $295.5 million in the same quarter in 2000. Yahoo decreased its total operating expenses in the quarter to $151.8 million from $186.9 million a year ago, but reported a loss from operations of $26.3 million, compared with operating income of $67.7 million in 2000.
Yahoo said its global audience grew in the third quarter to 210 million unique users, up from 166 million a year earlier. The company's traffic increased to an average of 1.25 billion page views a day in September.
It served 3,215 advertisers and merchants and enabled nearly $1.2 billion in commerce transactions in the quarter.
The company also said yesterday that it appointed Wenda Harris Millard as chief advertising sales officer, with responsibility for the company's North American advertising and marketing efforts. Millard was a co-founder of DoubleClick Inc. Her position has been vacant at Yahoo since March, when former advertising boss Anil Singh quit.
Yahoo forecasts fourth quarter revenue of $160 million to $180 million. For the full year, it expects revenue between $688 million and $708 million. Revenue from business and premium services is expected to represent 20 percent of Yahoo's total in the fourth quarter, with marketing services and commerce accounting for the remainder.
