By Clarence Leong


Baidu Inc.'s third-quarter net loss narrowed significantly, thanks to cost cuts and higher revenue on growth beyond online marketing.

The Chinese search-engine company said Tuesday that its quarterly loss was 146 million yuan ($20.4 million), compared with a CNY16.56 billion net loss a year earlier, when it recorded a significant noncash loss in long-term investments.

Baidu's non-GAAP net income, the company's preferred metric, increased 16% on year to CNY5.89 billion.

The bottom line was helped by a 29% drop in selling, general and administrative expenses, as Baidu scaled back on marketing, while research and development-related costs fell 7%. The company attributed the latter to "a decrease in staff-related expenses."

Baidu also booked a fair-value loss of CNY3.1 billion for the quarter, as well as CNY1.4 billion impairment of long-term investments.

Revenue rose 1.9% to CNY32.54 billion, driven by a 25% expansion in the company's nononline marketing segment, which offset a 4% decline in online-marketing revenue. Still, its online-marketing business showed improvement on a sequential basis, rising 10% from the second quarter.

Chief Financial Officer Rong Luo said the results were partly due to "relentless efforts in cost optimization and operational efficiency."

Chief Executive Robin Li said he expects the company's mobile ecosystem to generate strong cash flow and fund investment in AI Cloud and intelligent driving, "which will help maintain our leadership in the new AI business and drive long-term business growth."


Write to Clarence Leong at clarence.leong@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-22-22 0553ET