Google profits are up

David Heath
Friday, 16 October 2009 07:31

IT Industry - Market

Google's 3rd quarter profit was 27% higher than the same quarter in 2008.  Is this the end of the GFC?

Essentially all of Google's income is derived from advertising revenue.  This means that if profit is up, either they have dramatically slashed costs or more people are advertising.  Google's overnight financial statement showed 3rd quarter net income was $1.64B compared with $1.29B a year ago.  Revenue climbed 7% from $5.54B to $5.94B.  These numbers suggests both cost cutting and increased advertising sales are true.

"The worst of the recession is clearly behind us," Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO said in a conference call.  "We now have the confidence to be optimistic about our future."

Total worldwide employee count dropped slightly between 2nd and 3rd quarters this year, but Schmidt indicated that this was likely to increase again with the upturn.

Google's share price dropped around 1% during the day but increased as much as 3% in after-hours trading.