Yahoo’s $4.8bn (£3.8bn) deal to sell its core business to telco Verizon is now not expected to be completed until the second quarter of 2017, following the revelation of two major security breaches last year.
The revelation came after it emerged the business is being investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission over the two huge data breaches it revealed in September and December last year.
Hundreds of thousands of user accounts were affected by the attacks.
The SEC will consider whether Yahoo should have disclosed the breaches to investors sooner.
“Yahoo has continued to work with Verizon on integration planning for the sale of its core business,” the company said in a release.
One of the original early internet search providers, Yahoo admitted in December 2016 it had been hit by a large cyber attack in 2013 which affected more than a billion customer accounts.
Yahoo had already admitted another breach in 2014 that had affected around half a billion users.
The company has focused since then on restoring confidence in its key search business. But results published on Monday showed a fall in search revenue of 6% in the final quarter of 2016.
Revenue from other parts of the business – the mobile, video, native and social advertising units – grew more strongly.
The company reported a $162m profit in the final three months of last year.
“Our top priority continues to be enhancing security for our users,” Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer said.
Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer, who is expected to leave Altaba and move to Verizon after the sale completes, added: “I’m very pleased with our Q4 results and incredibly proud of the team’s execution on our 2016 strategic plan, particularly given the uniquely eventful past year for Yahoo.
“We continued to build our mobile and native businesses – delivering nearly $1.5bn in mobile revenue and over $750m in native revenue – while operating the company at the lowest cost structure in a decade. With our 2016 and Q4 financial results ahead of plan, and the continued stability in our user engagement trends, the opportunities ahead with Verizon look bright.”