Internet media company Yahoo! was today celebrating the most successful quarter in its history as profits more than doubled.
The California-based firm posted a surge in revenues and earnings that was ahead of both its own and analysts' expectations.
Increased optimism about the business also prompted Yahoo! to lift its forecasts for the full year.
The group, which is one of the Internet's most visited sites, said revenues for the first quarter to March 31st were $758 million, up 168 per cent on the same period of 2003.
Gross profits for the period were $476 million, against $240 million previously.
Chairman and chief executive Mr Terry Semel said: "Yahoo!'s performance surpassed even our high expectations, delivering the most successful quarter in the company's history."
Yahoo! was founded in 1994 by two PhD students, Mr David Filo and Mr Jerry Yang, and was known as Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web. It has since become a global brand with more than 237 million users in 25 countries, operating in 13 languages.