(Reuters) – Baidu reported a 3% fall in third-quarter revenue on Thursday, beating market estimates, as China’s biggest internet search provider grappled with weak spending on its advertising services in a sluggish economy.
Revenue reached 33.56 billion yuan ($4.64 billion) for the three months ended Sept. 30. That compared with the 33.43 billion yuan average of 20 analysts’ estimates compiled by LSEG.
Net income climbed 14% to 7.63 billion yuan versus a consensus estimate of 4.67 billion yuan.
($1 = 7.2370 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru, Brenda Goh in Shanghai and Liam Mo in Beijing; Editing by Christopher Cushing)