Google reported a 9.2 percent rise in quarterly net profit,but the Internet search giant said revenue declined for the first time ever in consecutive quarters. The Mountain View,California-based company reported a net profit for the first quarter of the year of 1.42 billion dollars compared with 1.31 billion dollars in the corresponding quarter last year. Revenue was 5.51 billion dollars for the first quarter,up six percent from the same quarter a year ago but down three percent compared with the fourth quarter of last year,Google said in a statement. Google,which makes 98 percent of its revenue from Web search advertising,reported earnings per share of 5.16 dollars,considerably better than the 4.93 dollars expected by Wall Street analysts. The decline in revenue was the first ever for Google from one quarter to the next,but it did not appear to damage the confidence of investors. Google shares were up 4.31 percent to 405.50 dollars in electronic after-hours trading in New York after gaining 2.43 percent during the day. Google had a good quarter given the depth of the recession while revenues were down quarter over quarter,they grew six percent year over year thanks to continued strong query growth, chief executive Eric Schmidt said. These results underline both the resilience of our business model and the ongoing potential of the Web as users and advertisers shift online, he said. Going forward,our priority remains investing for the long term to drive future growth in our core and emerging businesses, Schmidt said. Speaking to analysts in a conference call following the release of the quarterly earnings figures,Schmidt said the economy was "basically still in unchartered territory.
