• Bloomberg, Thursday, July 8, 2010 1:37 PM

Yahoo Chief Financial Officer Tim Morse tells Bloomberg that the company has a bad habit of overpaying for acquisitions, but vows to stop the practice. "You've seen our track record on M&A with buying really high and selling pretty low," Morse admits. "We've got to be careful." Having served as finance chief for a year, Morse now plans to improve the return on invested capital -- a measure of how profitably Yahoo is spending - from about 5% in 2009 to 18-to-24% by 2013.

How, exactly? By bypassing high-priced acquisitions that don't jibe with the company's core value, he tells Bloomberg. What's more, all potential targets have "got to have a business model ... [and] to fit into our strategy. In February, Yahoo, agreed to sell HotJobs for $225 million -- after paying about $436 million for the job listing site in 2002. In January, Yahoo sold Zimbra for $100 million -- after paying $350 million for the email and collaboration unit in 2007.

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