Consumer spending propels eBay profit
By Rachel Metz |
April 23, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
EBAY Inc said on Wednesday its first-quarter profit rose 11 percent as consumers spent more on its main Website, but a disappointing forecast for the current quarter pushed the company's shares down sharply in after-hours trading.
The portal said it earned US$397.7 million, or 30 cents per share, in the first quarter, compared with US$357.1 million, or 28 cents per share, in the same period of 2009.
Excluding one-time items, it earned 42 cents per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected 41 cents.
Revenue climbed 9 percent to US$2.2 billion, matching analyst estimates.
That reflected an improvement in eBay's biggest segment, which includes eBay.com, Shopping.com and other e-commerce sites. The company has been sprucing up its main site in hopes of attracting and keeping more shoppers. That has included rejigging its search and feedback system and starting a buyer-protection program in the United States and UK.
"We're making steady, solid progress," said eBay CEO John Donahoe in an interview.
Indeed, marketplace revenue rose 13 percent to US$1.39 billion. Sales of fixed-price "Buy it Now" items and the acquisition of South Korea's Gmarket contributed to the jump in revenue, eBay said.
San Jose-based eBay said the number of active registered users on its site rose just 1 percent from last year to 89.5 million. But its gross merchandise volume, which counts the value of all the items sold on eBay, excluding vehicles, rose 24 percent to US$13.4 billion.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Stephen Ju said he was satisfied with eBay's quarter as the firm showed "incremental progress" as it improves its marketplace business.
"It's always going to be slow ... progress to turn a large e-commerce property like eBay around," he said.
The portal said it earned US$397.7 million, or 30 cents per share, in the first quarter, compared with US$357.1 million, or 28 cents per share, in the same period of 2009.
Excluding one-time items, it earned 42 cents per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected 41 cents.
Revenue climbed 9 percent to US$2.2 billion, matching analyst estimates.
That reflected an improvement in eBay's biggest segment, which includes eBay.com, Shopping.com and other e-commerce sites. The company has been sprucing up its main site in hopes of attracting and keeping more shoppers. That has included rejigging its search and feedback system and starting a buyer-protection program in the United States and UK.
"We're making steady, solid progress," said eBay CEO John Donahoe in an interview.
Indeed, marketplace revenue rose 13 percent to US$1.39 billion. Sales of fixed-price "Buy it Now" items and the acquisition of South Korea's Gmarket contributed to the jump in revenue, eBay said.
San Jose-based eBay said the number of active registered users on its site rose just 1 percent from last year to 89.5 million. But its gross merchandise volume, which counts the value of all the items sold on eBay, excluding vehicles, rose 24 percent to US$13.4 billion.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Stephen Ju said he was satisfied with eBay's quarter as the firm showed "incremental progress" as it improves its marketplace business.
"It's always going to be slow ... progress to turn a large e-commerce property like eBay around," he said.
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