• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, February 4, 2005

Boosted by a strong market for paid search, DoubleClick Thursday reported fourth-quarter profits of $10.6 million, or 8 cents a share, beating analysts' predictions of 6 cents a share. Last year's fourth-quarter profits were double those of 2003, when the company earned $3.84 million, or 3 cents a share.

But the New York-based company also stated that it expected first-quarter revenue this year to be between $70 million and $75 million, and warned that first-quarter earnings could range from a loss of 1 cent to a gain of 3 cents, triggering a 4 percent fall in share price in after-hours trading.

DoubleClick's Performics division, which handles search engine and affiliate marketing, had $9.1 million in revenue in the fourth quarter--a 60 percent increase from the last three months of 2003. Total revenue for the quarter rose to $83.5 million from $72.9 million in 2003.

Last October, DoubleClick said it hired Lazard Freres & Co to explore "strategic options," such as selling all or part of the company.