Yahoo! Inc, the Internet company that rejected a takeover offer from Microsoft Corp., reported a 64 per cent drop in profit after advertisers curbed spending. The company also announced plans to cut at least 10 per cent of jobs.  

Third-quarter net income fell to $54.3 million, or 4 cents a share, from $151.3 million, or 11 cents, a year earlier, Yahoo said today in a statement distributed by Business Wire. Sales, excluding fees passed on to partner sites, rose 3 per cent to $1.33 billion.            

Yahoo lowered its forecast for 2008 gross sales, saying they would reach as much as $7.38 billion.

 Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, California, fell 79 cents, or 6.1 per cent, to $12.07 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have declined 48 per cent this year.