Baidu, China’s dominant search engine, tripled its profit in the fourth quarter but forecast weaker revenues for the first three months of this year, as analysts look ahead to the potential damage to its business from the coronavirus that has stalled the world’s second-largest economy.
The company said on Thursday it expects revenues for the first quarter of 2020 to be Rmb21bn ($3bn) to Rmb22.9bn ($3.3bn), which would reflect a year-over-year decline of between 5 and 13 per cent. The forecast came up short against analysts’ average estimate of Rmb23.1bn, according to Refinitiv.
“The coronavirus situation in China is evolving, and business visibility is very limited,” Baidu said. The forecast “reflects Baidu’s current and preliminary view, which is subject to substantial uncertainty”, it added.