Yahoo on Monday reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue, and said the sale of its core internet business to Verizon Communications should be completed in the second quarter.

The $4.8 billion Verizon transaction had originally been expected to close in the first quarter but was delayed by the disclosure of two major cyber breaches that exposed information from more than a billion Yahoo accounts.

Yahoo's operating results for the fourth quarter were 15 percent higher in revenue from a year ago. Revenue from Mavens - the mobile, video, native and social advertising units rose 25 percent to $590 million.

Gross search revenue fell 6 percent to $821 million as Yahoo struggled to win back market share from bigger rivals such as Google.

Yahoo's revenue rose 15.4 percent to $1.47 billion. Excluding items, the company earned 25 cents per share.

"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. What we have achieved reflects some of the most impressive teamwork, focus, and resilience I've seen throughout my career. We continued to build our mobile and native businesses -- delivering nearly $1.5 billion in mobile revenue and over $750 million 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," said Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo. "In addition to integration planning, our top priority continues to be enhancing security for our users. With security protocols and password changes in place, approximately 90% of our daily active users have already taken or do not need to take remedial action to protect their accounts, and we're aggressively continuing to drive this number up. Our commitment to our users is unwavering, and we continue to be encouraged by their loyalty to us and their ongoing patronage of our products."