Carole Bartz, Yahoo’s new chief executive, on Tuesday left the door open to quick agreement on a sale of the troubled internet company’s search business to Microsoft as it reported its first decline in revenues since 2001.

“I didn’t arrive here with preconceived notions about anything,” she said, countering reports that she had suggested that keeping search might be in Yahoo’s best long-term interest. She also made clear that in just eight days since arriving at Yahoo she had already studied the practicalities of shedding search, a deal which many analysts and investors have pushed for since Microsoft abandoned its offer for a full acquisition last year.