Internet giant Google last night said that its first-quarter profit rose 60% from a year ago to $592m as online advertising revenues surged.
The Internet search leader said the profit amounted to $1.95 per share for the January-March period. Excluding special items, the earnings were $2.29 a share, well ahead of the average Wall Street estimate of $1.98.
Google reported revenues of $2.25 billion for the quarter, a jump of 79%. Excluding expenses Google pays to its distribution partners, revenues grew to $1.53 billion, up 92% from the same time last year.
'Google had an exceptional quarter with strong growth and profitability, from both Google properties and the network,' said CEO Eric Schmidt. 'We are driving this growth through investments in our infrastructure and our people, product innovations that attract new users, and relationships with advertisers and partners around the world,' he said.
'The strength of our business model gives us the opportunity to invest in our business, allowing us to maintain and grow our market leadership,' he added.
Google, which added 1,110 employees in the quarter, now controls 49% of the market for Internet searches and has been gaining market share against rivals like Yahoo and Microsoft's MSN service.
As its share of that market grows, Google is capturing a greater portion of online advertising spending. While Google does not provide estimates, as other companies do, the company's results and comments will help analysts adjust their own expectations. Analysts currently predict that Google will earn $2.06 a share on sales of $1.58 billion in the second quarter.
In its report, the company said Google-owned sites generated revenues of $1.30 billion, or 58% of total revenues. Google said its partner sites generated revenues, through advertising, of $928m, or 41% of total revenues. Revenues from outside of the US contributed 42% of the total.
