Yahoo, one of the earliest web pioneers and still one of the main portals for web users, has remained in the red, with advertising still hard to come by.

But revenue was growing faster than analysts expected, the company said, as it tried to shift from relying on advertising to providing value-added, paid-for services.

For the first three months of 2002, Yahoo reported a net loss of $53.7m (�37.4m), its sixth straight quarter of losses.

In the same period last year Yahoo lost $11.5m.

Excluding one-offs and other extraordinary items, however, it turned a modest profit of $10.5m, roughly in line with expectations.

Light ahead?

But a large part of the loss was the result of accounting changes to reflect new valuations of assets bought during the boom years.

And Yahoo was keen to point out that revenue was $192.7m, up from $180.2m a year earlier and against a prediction of about $175m.

As for the current three months to June, Yahoo said revenues would rise to $205m-225m, while observers are betting on $192m.

"We posted solid results this quarter due to the transformation of Yahoo's business model," said chief executive, Terry Semel.

"Our quarterly performance demonstrates continued momentum as we move forward in executing on our strategic objectives."