Chinese Internet search engine Baidu.com's (BIDU) unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2007 show total revenues in the first quarter of 2007 increased to CNY275.6 million, a 103.3% increase from the same period in 2006.

"During the first quarter, revenue continued to grow as we experienced strong traffic growth after the Chinese New Year," said Robin Li, Baidu's chairman and CEO. "More and more customers are realizing that Baidu's online marketing platform is a very effective way to promote their products and services in China."

Online marketing revenues for the first quarter were CNY274.7 million, representing a 108.0% increase from the first quarter of 2006. The growth was driven by the increases in both the number of active online marketing customers and revenue per customer. Baidu had more than 112,000 active online marketing customers in the first quarter of 2007, representing a 3.7% increase from the previous quarter. Revenue per online marketing customer for the first quarter of 2007 remained stable at approximately CNY2,500, compared with the fourth quarter of 2006.

Operating profit was CNY73.8 million, representing a 174.2% increase from the corresponding period in 2006. Operating profit excluding share-based compensation expenses was CNY86.0 million for the first quarter of 2007, a 116.5% increase from the corresponding period in 2006.

Net income was CNY85.5 million, representing a 142.6% increase from the corresponding period in 2006. Basic and diluted EPS for the first quarter of 2007 amounted to CNY2.53 and CNY2.47, respectively.

As of March 31, 2007, Baidu had cash, cash equivalents and short- term investments of CNY1.2 billion. Net operating cash flow and capital expenditures for the first quarter of 2007 were CNY113.0 million and CNY153.8 million, respectively. The company says increase in capital expenditure was due to new search engine data centers established in southern China and Japan.