eBay Q4 net income declines; revenue surges

eBay Inc has reported a 59 per cent fall in the net income to $559.2 million during October-December but overall revenues of the online marketplace surged five per cent.

The entity had a net income of $1.35 billion during the fourth quarter (Oct-Dec) of 2009 calender year, eBay said in a statement.

EBay Inc's net income fell 59 per cent compared with a year-ago period despite the numbers getting a boost of $1.4 billion gain from the sale of its internet-telephone unit Skype.

But excluding Skype and other one-time items, eBay's net income increased 24 per cent from a year earlier.

The global ecommerce firm registered an increase of five per cent in revenue from the year-ago period to $2.5 billion in the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2010.

This was on account of growth in its PayPal online payments unit coupled with a holiday season.

"We delivered a strong fourth quarter and a solid year, driven by our customer focus, commitment to technology-led innovation and our operating discipline, which is enabling us to reinvest in growth," eBay Inc President and CEO John Donahoe said.

The company's PayPal business delivered strong fourth quarter performance, expanding its leadership position in global payments.

PayPal was a growth driver for the company, with revenue from the division growing 22 per cent to $971 million during the quarter under review.

PayPal ended the quarter with 94.4 million active registered accounts, adding about one million active accounts per month.

"We are driving strong global growth at PayPal and strengthening our core eBay business. And we are innovating quickly in areas such as mobile, which is helping to position us at the forefront of trends shaping the future of shopping and payments," Donahoe said.

For the full year (Jan-Dec, 2010), eBay posted a net income of $1.8 billion and revenue of $9.2 billion.

Looking ahead, the company is bullish over its outlook for 2011 as the holiday quarter showed signs that eBay was making some progress in its promised turnaround.

Full year 2011, eBay expects net revenues in the range of $10.3 to $10.6 billion with earnings per share between $1.56-$1.61.