Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer has outlined plans to explore options for the company’s stake in its Japanese division as another report showed disappointing sales and profit.

Japan’s SoftBank Corp is in talks to acquire DreamWorks Animation, the Hollywood studio behind the Shrek and Madagascar movie hits, a person with knowledge of the situation said.

Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock and three other directors will step down as the struggling company ploughs ahead with an internal overhaul, including discussions on dealing with its stakes in China’s Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan.

Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang is leaving the struggling internet company, as it tries to revive its revenue growth and win over disgruntled shareholders under a new leader.

Yahoo Japan's H1 current profit is 9.4 billion yen versus 4.1 billion.

A computer game modelled on the fatal stabbing of eight children in western Japan has been removed from a Web site, a major Internet service company said today.