The internet search engine Google has released its first set of results since the company floated on the stock market two months ago. Shares in the firm have risen seventy percent since the offering. This report from Louise Cooper:

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Investors will be pleased with these figures and delighted with the share price performance. Only two months ago, there was much criticism of the way the founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, organised the floatation and interacted with Wall Street. But shareholders who believed in their vision have now been rewarded.

The six-year-old company is valued at around forty billion dollars. Given the amount of sales and profits Google produces, the company is highly valued. This shows investors are assuming many years of strong growth. Wall Street could still be disappointed if Google fails to live up to those high expectations.

Louise Cooper, BBC

Listen to the words

doubled
became twice as big

due to
the result of

fees
money paid for professional services

delighted
very pleased

floatation
the process of launching or financing a commercial enterprise

interacted with
communicated with, talked to

valued at
worth

assuming
expecting

fails to live up to
doesn't meet

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