Google parent Alphabet reports continued revenue and profit growth
Revenue and profit at Google parent company Alphabet has continued to rise, driven by its core Google products and digital advertising arm.
The company reported revenue of 39.2 billion US dollars (£30.1 billion) in the three months up to December 31, an increase of 22% on the previous year. For the full year, revenue stood at 136.8 billion dollars (£104.9 billion), a rise of £19.8 billion on 2017’s results.
Profits also continued to grow at the tech giant, reaching 8.2 billion dollars (£6.2 billion), compared to 7.6 billion dollars (£5.8 billion) during the same period a year previous.
Its flagship Google firm proved to be the driving force behind much of the gains, netting 36.5 billion dollars (£27.9 billion) in profit but Alphabet’s other bets – which includes its self-driving project Waymo and research and development facility X – made further losses.
In the final three months of 2018, the sector lost 3.3 billion dollars (£2.5 billion), more than the year before, when losses stood at 2.7 billion dollars (£2 billion).
Greater spending on marketing, general and administrative processes, as well as European Commission fines also ate into the umbrella firm’s profits.
“In 2018 we delivered strong revenue growth, up 23% year over year to 136.8 billion dollars, and up 22% for the fourth quarter to 39.3 billion dollars,” said Ruth Porat, chief financial officer of Alphabet and Google.
“With great opportunities ahead, we continue to make focused investments in the talent and infrastructure needed to bring exceptional products and experiences to our users, advertisers and partners around the globe.”
Alphabet’s results revealed a sharp rise in its number of employees too, adding more than 18,000 people, to 98,771.
