LinkedIn's profit outlook for 2015 tops estimates

New York

LINKEDIN Corp's push into China and new products geared to advertisers and salespeople are starting to pay off, with the professional-networking service issuing a profit forecast for 2015 that topped estimates.

Shares jumped 7.8 per cent after LinkedIn said annual profit, excluding certain items, will be US$2.95 a share, topping the average of US$2.74 of analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg. User growth was steady, climbing 25 per cent to 347 million members.