DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Baidu Inc.'s (BIDU) fourth-quarter net income rose 31% as its number of online-marketing customers surged.

But Baidu, which holds a commanding share of the Internet-search market in China, noted late last year that China's economic slowdown was having a greater-than-expected effect on online marketing, especially in machinery and franchising.

The company reported net income of $42.3 million, or $1.22 per American depositary share, up from $32.2 million, or 93 cents per ADS, a year ago.

Excluding stock-based compensation costs, earnings were $1.31 per ADS.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters projected $1.32.

Revenue rose 58% to $132.2 million, in line with the company's lowered December forecast of $131 million to $133 million.

Active online-marketing customers rose 27% to more than 197,000, as revenue per customer grew 24%.

Baidu has been losing some of its market share as competition in China's search-engine market has been intensifying, including a push by Google Inc. (GOOG) to localize its strategy for the Chinese market. Baidu is facing additional pressure from China's government to clearly differentiate sponsored links from unpaid search results, a less lucrative business model which, unlike Google, it doesn't do.

The company expects first-quarter revenue of $114 million to $117 million, compared with Wall Street's expectation of $117 million.

Baidu's shares fell 2% to $125.50 in after-hours trading. The company's shares have lost nearly two-thirds of their value from a 52-week high in May, leading some analysts to suggest the shares might be a good buy at the cheaper price.

-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5285; john.kell@dowjones.com