Baidu finds rich profit in search revenue

Baidu Inc, the nation's leading Internet search provider, said on Friday that first-quarter revenue soared 59.1 percent year-on-year to 9.5 billion yuan ($1.53 billion).

The Beijing-based company released unaudited results for the first three months of this year that show net profit expanded 24.1 percent year-on-year to 2.54 billion yuan.

The solid performance was powered by the company's core search business, said Robin Li, founder and chief executive officer of the Nasdaq-listed Baidu.