SAN FRANCISCO: Online auction company eBay Inc. posted a 52 per cent increase in its first quarter profit, helped by higher fees and more number of auctions overseas.
The company's net income rose to $377.2 million, or 27 cents a share, compared to $248.3 million, or 17 cents a share, in the corresponding previous year quarter. Revenue was up 27 per cent to $1.77 billion.
Excluding expenses like stock-based compensation and acquisition costs, the company earned $460 million, or 33 cents per share, which is up 34 per cent, compared to the previous year quarter.
Analysts had predicted an average net profit of 24 cents per share. Excluding one-time items and option costs, it was 30 cents a share.
They had expected the revenue to reach $1.72 billion.
eBay's chief executive Meg Whitman described the results as very strong and said the company is accelerating its organic growth rate, excluding the impact of foreign exchange and acquisitions.
She also said the company is very confident of the rest of the year.
For the full year, the company is expecting the revenue to be between $7.2 billion and $7.45 billion, while profits would be $1.30 to $1.34 a share, which is five cents higher than the company's January forecast.
Analysts are expecting the revenue of $7.33 billion and a profit of $1.27 a share.
eBay offers goods through auctions and on fixed prices and makes money on listing fees and commissions. It raised the listing fee during the quarter and its revenue from the auction business rose 23 per cent to $1.25 billion.
Revenue from registered users was up 21 per cent to 233 million around the globe and online payments service PayPal up 31 per cent to $439 million. Revenue from its Skype unit doubled to $78.5 million, and the unit had its first profit during the quarter.
Users had posted 588 million new listings during the first quarter. This compares with 610 million in the fourth quarter and 575 million a year earlier.
The number of registered users of PayPal rose 36 per cent to 143 million.
The company's overseas revenue rose 38 per cent as a result of sustained demand in western Europe. In the U.S., revenue gained 18 per cent. The U.S., however, accounted for 54 per cent of the total revenue, while 46 per cent was generated overseas.
The company repurchased about 10 million shares during the quarter valued at $333 million. It said it intends to buy back an additional $2 billion worth of shares by January 2009.
Shares of the company rose 6 per cent after the results were announced but closed down at $34.55 on Nasdaq.
