Marissa Mayer says she's 'heartened' by interest in Yahoo

Yahoo's closed-door discussions about its potential sale of the company surely represent compelling drama, but its shareholder meeting Thursday? Not so much.

After attendees voted on the election of board members including current CEO Marissa Mayer and new members such as Starboard Value CEO Jeff Smith, as well as two other provisions, Mayer did offer a short synopsis of the company's situation.

"I want to start by stating very clearly, Yahoo’s management team and our board are fully aligned with one clear priority: delivering shareholder value to all of you," she said.

To that end, the company is considering "strategic alternatives" including the possibility of selling all or part of Yahoo, as a way of separating the company from its valued holdings in Chinese web giant Alibaba (about a 16% stake, valued at about $30 billion) and Yahoo Japan (36% stake, about $8 billion). "We believe there is substantial value that can be unlocked by separating our equity assets from our operating business," she said at the meeting, which was broadcast on Yahoo's web site.

What would you do without your Yahoo? Avid users fret as decision looms

Yahoo (YHOO) shares closed Thursday up 1.9% to $37.56.  They were slightly lower after hours.

Mayer offered little comment on the ongoing sale process, of which Wall Street expects to hear more after the July 4 holiday weekend. "We have no announcements today, but we are continuing to make great progress on our process," she said. "We know pursuing the process of strategic alternatives is top of mind for shareholders and is a top priority of our board."

Among the reported bidders for Yahoo are AT&T and Verizon; a consortium that includes Warren Buffett's firm Berkshire Hathaway and Dan Gilbert, founder of Quicken Loans and owner of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers; and private investment firm TPG.

She added that "on a personal note, I have been very heartened by the level of interest in Yahoo. It validates our business progress as well as our achievements to date."

Less than 30 minutes into the meeting, she along with Yahoo General Counsel and Secretary Ron Bell and CFO Ken Goldman offered to take questions. A questioner named Daniel asked about Yahoo's "anemic" growth.

"We are in a very competitive space," Mayer said. "So we have invested in our products to make sure that we attract the maximum number of users and the maximum amount of their time and energy each day. We really want to make sure we are fulfilling their needs well and we are proud of the achievements we have had overall in products.”

Banner advertising, which had been the company's biggest ad revenue generator, has declined, she said. "While the industry remains in a growth industry, some of the areas have slipped into decline," Mayer said. ​

Yahoo is now focusing on mobile and "building compelling products ... advertising offerings there, said Mayer, who had noted earlier that revenue from the company's mobile, video, native, and social business (MAVENS) accounted for more than $1.6 billion in revenue in 2015.

Another question about Yahoo Mail revealed that about 1% of Yahoo Mail users actually pay for the service. But Yahoo Mail is much more important than that, Mayer said.

"For every dollar that we make on Yahoo Mail on advertisements, we will make $3 elsewhere in our network on search or on some of our digital content," she said. "So mail is incredibly important for us because of the frequency it drives and because of the strength it drives throughout the network."

And after less than 45 minutes, the meeting came to a close.

Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider