Yahoo makes a loss as sales slip

Yahoo has reported a loss in the final three months of 2008 as the economic downturn hit sales of online ads.

Its figures showed a loss of $303.4m (£215m) compared with a profit of $205.7m a year earlier.

But analysts said the company had weathered the downturn better than expected, with the loss mainly due to one-off costs.

The results come as Carol Bartz takes over from Jerry Yang as the firm's new chief executive.

Mr Yang stepped down following his rejection of a $47.5bn takeover offer from Microsoft last year, which rankled the company's shareholders.

"The company made important investments while aggressively managing costs, leaving us better positioned to weather the economic downturn and emerge stronger when advertiser spending improves," said Ms Bartz.