Yahoo tries to show Microsoft bid too low

A presentation to Yahoo investors has described the company's ambitious plans to double its cash flow over the next three years.

The plan is three months old however, as it was originally presented to the internet company's board of directors in December.

After rejecting Microsoft's unsolicited part-stock, part-cash $44.6 billion (22.3 billion) offer to buy the second largest search engine site, Yahoo has sought to prove to the Windows-maker that it is actually worth much more.

Microsoft has already examined some aspects of the company it may have overlooked when determining its initial bid - most notably the company's strong position in the ever-expanding Asian market.

With the release of these plans however, Yahoo may have given Microsoft a few more things to look at. This week's presentation outlines key elements of its success that it hopes will help generate $8.8 billion (4.4 billion) in revenue over the next three years.

"Yahoo is positioned for accelerated financial growth - we have a powerful consumer brand, a huge global audience and a highly profitable operating model," Jerry Yang, chief executive of the company, said.

Yahoo's board also used the presentation to justify its unanimous decision to reject Microsoft's bid, saying that the offer significantly undervalued the company. Yahoo's global brand, worldwide audience, and "significant recent investments" were among the board's list of potentially overlooked company assets.

The presentation reiterated the company's current main objectives, most notably its goal of making the site a starting point for internet users. Yahoo hopes to encourage its 305 million monthly visitors to use the site numerous times a day and have it serve as their portal to the rest of the web.

Another major objective for the company is to increase the usability of its advertising platform. Yahoo anticipates its video and display advertising to generate an additional $1.9 billion (95 million) in revenue over the next three years.

"With industry-leading tools, technology, people and platforms, Yahoo is poised to capture growth in display advertising where we believe growth will be the greatest," Yang said.