Yahoo Revenue Rises 15.4% Amid Verizon Deal Uncertainty

Yahoo Inc reported better-than-expected quarterly adjusted profit and revenue, and said it expected the sale of its core internet business to Verizon Communications Inc to complete in the second quarter from the first.

The company's shares were up 1.2 percent at $42.90 in heavy after-market trading on Monday.

The fate of the deal was thrown into doubt after Yahoo disclosed two major data breaches last year.

The internet pioneer said in December it had uncovered a massive cyber attack in 2013 affecting more than 1 billion user accounts, double the number compromised in a 2014 breach that Yahoo disclosed in September.

The company said on Monday it was working with Verizon on the sale, but given the work required to meet closing conditions, the deal will now close in the second quarter.

Revenue from Mavens - the mobile, video, native and social advertising units that Chief Executive Marissa Mayer touts as its emerging businesses - rose 25 percent to $590 million.

Gross search revenue fell 6 percent to $821 million as Yahoo struggles to win back market share from bigger rivals such as Alphabet Inc's Google.

The Verizon deal would transform Yahoo into a holding company called Altaba, whose primary assets would include its 15 percent stake in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and a 35.5 percent interest in Yahoo Japan Corp.

Net income attributable to Yahoo was $162 million, or 17 cents per share in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a loss of $4.43 billion, or $4.70 per share, a year earlier.

The year-ago quarter included a $4.46 billion write-down to account for the lower value of some units.

Yahoo's revenue rose 15.4 percent to $1.47 billion, above analysts' average estimate of $1.38 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Excluding items, the company earned 25 cents per share, beating the average estimate of 21 cents.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened a probe into whether Yahoo's data breaches should have been disclosed sooner to investors, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. (http://on.wsj.com/2kjNMFd)

The company has said it would not hold a conference call or webcast after the release of the results, citing the pending deal. This is the second straight quarter that Yahoo is not holding a post-earnings call.

Verizon is reporting fourth-quarter results on Tuesday before markets open.