Baidu announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015. Baidu reported total revenues of RMB12.725 billion ($2.053 billion), a 34% increase from the corresponding period in 2014.
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Online marketing revenues for the first quarter of 2015 were RMB12.519 billion ($2.019 billion), representing a 33.5% increase from the corresponding period in 2014.
Baidu had about 524,000 active online marketing customers[2] in the first quarter of 2015, representing a 17.5% increase from the corresponding period in 2014 and flat from the fourth quarter of 2014.
Revenue per online marketing customer for the first quarter of 2015 was approximately RMB23,800 ($3,839), a 13.9% increase from the corresponding period in 2014 and a 9.8% decrease compared to the fourth quarter of 2014.
Traffic acquisition costs as a component of cost of revenues were RMB1.722 billion ($277.7 million), representing 13.5% of total revenues, as compared to 12.4% in the corresponding period in 2014 and 13.4% in the fourth quarter of 2014. The increase mainly reflects increased contribution of contextual ads.
Bandwidth costs as a component of cost of revenues were RMB849.6 million ($137.1 million), representing 6.7% of total revenues, compared to 6.8% in the corresponding period in 2014.
Depreciation costs as a component of cost of revenues were RMB582.4 million ($94.0 million), representing 4.6% of total revenues, compared to 4.5% in the corresponding period in 2014.
Content costs as a component of cost of revenues were RMB608.4 million ($98.1 million), representing 4.8% of total revenues, compared to 4.1% in the corresponding period in 2014, and 4.2% in the fourth quarter of 2014. The increase was mainly due to iQiyi.
Selling, general and administrative expenses were RMB2.957 billion ($477.0 million), representing an increase of 47.2% from the corresponding period in 2014, and a decrease of 16.1% from the previous quarter. The year-over-year increase was primarily due to the increased promotional spending for mobile products and services.
Research and development expenses were RMB2.286 billion ($368.8 million), a 79.1% increase from the corresponding period in 2014，and an increase of 7.1% from the previous quarter, primarily due to an increase in the number of research and development personnel.
Share-based compensation expenses, which were allocated to related operating costs and expense line items, were RMB291.1 million ($47.0 million) in the first quarter of 2015, compared to RMB169.0 million in the corresponding period in 2014, and RMB339.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. The year-over-year increase was a result of increased share grants to employees.
Operating profit was RMB2.155 billion ($347.7 million), representing a 9.2% decrease from the corresponding period in 2014. Operating profit excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) was RMB2.446 billion ($394.6 million), a 3.8% decrease from the corresponding period in 2014.
Income tax expense was RMB541.0 million ($87.3 million), compared to income tax expense of RMB430.3 million in the corresponding period in 2014. The effective tax rate for the first quarter of 2015 was 20.7% as compared to 15.1% for the corresponding period in 2014. The higher effective tax rate reflects that some loss-generating entities in the group cannot be consolidated for tax purposes under PRC tax law and the expiration of a preferential tax license for one of our subsidiaries.
Net income attributable to Baidu was RMB2.449 billion ($395.1 million), representing a 3.4% decrease from the corresponding period in 2014. Basic and diluted earnings per ADS for the first quarter of 2015 amounted to RMB6.79 ($1.09) and RMB6.76 ($1.09), respectively.
Net income attributable to Baidu excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) was RMB2.740 billion ($442.1 million), a 1.3% increase from the corresponding period in 2014. Basic and diluted earnings per ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the first quarter of 2015 amounted to RMB7.62 ($1.23) and RMB7.58 ($1.22), respectively.
As of March 31, 2015, the Company had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of RMB58.038 billion ($9.363 billion).
Net operating cash inflow for the first quarter of 2015 was RMB2.839 billion ($458.1 million). Capital expenditures for the first quarter of 2015 were RMB1.021 billion ($164.8 million).
Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP), defined in this announcement as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, other non-operating income and share-based compensation expenses, was RMB3.296 billion ($531.7 million) for the first quarter of 2015, representing a 2.4% increase from the corresponding period in 2014.
Baidu currently expects to generate total revenues in an amount ranging from RMB16.365 billion ($2.640 billion) to RMB16.750 billion ($2.702 billion) for the second quarter of 2015, representing a 36.5% to 39.7% year-over-year increase. This forecast reflects Baidu's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change. ■
A robust atmospheric river will continue to dump overly abundant moisture across the Pacific Northwest which in turn will keep the threat for excessive rainfall and flooding elevated through Thursday.