EBay's first-quarter earnings exceed forecasts
EBay reported earnings that beat Wall Street forecasts and expressed confidence about its outlook.
The firm's profits more than doubled in the three-month period ending March 31 to $47.6m (around €53.38m) on revenue of $245.1m (around €274m).
In the comparable period last year, eBay pulled in $21.1m (around €23.6m), or on revenue of $154.1m (around €172m).
"We feel really good," said Rajiv Dutta, eBay's chief financial officer. "There's only a handful of companies that can grow (pro forma income) at 65% and increase profits against a backdrop of a tough economic environment and a down market for Internet advertising."
EBay now expects to earn revenue of around $260m (around €291m) for this quarter and just over $1bn (around €1.12bn) for the year.
Although year-over-year sales growth fell somewhat - to 59% from 64% in the previous quarter - chief executive Meg Whitman says she is increasingly comfortable with her long-term goal of getting eBay's revenues to $3 bn (around €3.36bn) a year by 2005.
EBay's success has come from its domination of the domestic internet auction market and the steadily improving performance of its sites tailored for users in 26 other countries.
Even though eBay pulled up stakes in Japan, the company's international revenue amounted to $53m (around €60m) in the first quarter, nearly three times last year's total.
One of the few downsides in the report was a 32% decline in advertising revenue from the previous quarter.
Analysts also expressed concern about a 17% year-over-year drop in sales of services that enhance trading on the site.
