Google parent company Alphabet hit by a $3 BILLION loss

Google's parent company Alphabet has reported lower than expected profits in the last three months of 2017 after higher costs offset an increase in advertising sales. Revenue for the three months ending December 31 was $32.3 billion (£22.6bn), a rise of 24% on the same period in 2016. Overall, Alphabet reported a loss of $3 billion (£2.1bn) for the fourth quarter as it set aside $11 billion for taxes - an estimated $9.9 billion (£6.9bn) was for taxes on repatriated earnings. Excluding the tax provision, Alphabet would have posted a profit of $6.8 billion (£4.7bn), falling short of the $7 billion analysts had predicted. The tech giant's shares slid 2.3 per cent in after-hours trade on the results, highlighting concerns about the rising costs of projects such as the Waymo's self-driving car service, and the fact that profits were weaker than expected. The company also used its earning report to confirm that current board member John Hennessy has been named Alphabet chairman following the departure of Eric Schmidt in December.