Google's parent company Alphabet reported a return to profit growth in the fourth quarter, while revenue growth slowed from previous quarters. Sales increased 17 percent to USD 46.1 billion, operating profit rose 20 percent to USD 9.3 billion, and net profit improved to USD 10.7 billion from USD 8.9 billion in the year-earlier period.
Over the full year, Alphabet's growth also was lower. Revenues rose 18 percent in the 12 months, compared to 23 percent in 2018. Adjusted for currency changes, the gap was smaller, with 20 percent growth in 2019 versus 22 percent in 2018. EPS jumped to USD 49.16 from USD 43.70 in 2018, supported by the company's share buyback.
Google provided a new breakdown in revenues, giving data on YouTube ad and Google Cloud income for the first time. Advertising on YouTube contributed USD 4.7 billion in revenue in Q4, up nearly 31 percent year-on-year. That compares to revenues of USD 27.2 billion from Google search and the company's other properties, which grew 16.6 percent from a year earlier.
Google Cloud meanwhile has grown to an annual run rate of USD 10 billion in revenue a year. In Q4, its revenues were up 53 percent year-on-year to USD 2.6 billion.
Profit figures for the various activities were not provided, although Google did break out traffic acquisition costs. Only the 'other bets', Google's experimental services, reported an operating loss of USD 2.0 billion on revenues of USD 172 million in Q4, widening from a loss of USD 1.3 billion a year earlier. That means Google's main activities grew profit by 19.7 percent to USD 11.5 billion.
Alphabet improved its cash position by around USD 10 billion over the year, to USD 119.7 billion at year-end.
