April 12 (Reuters) – Google Inc announces its board
has unanimously approved a dividend of new stock to existing
shareholders that it called a stock split, effectively. It said
the move was designed to preserve its current structure, under
which co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin exert heavy
influence over the entire corporation.
The Internet search leader also posted first-quarter revenue
of $8.14 billion, roughly in line with Wall Street’s
expectations.
COMMENTARY:
STEVE WEINSTEIN, ANALYST, ITG INVESTMENT RESEARCH
“The stock split has nothing to do with the fundamentals of
the business. In theory, it makes the stock more accessible to
smaller investors. I don’t think it’s material.
“There are not a ton of surprises here (in the quarter), it
may be a little bit better than expected. Costs have been well
controlled.
“We’re seeing a continuation of a trend where there is very
strong growth in clicks but we’re seeing a decline in pricing.
There’s a combination of growth coming from lower margin areas
such as mobile, display, emerging markets.”
(Reporting by Noel Randewich in San Francisco, Liana Baker and
Jennifer Saba in New York)
