Amazon's first quarter profit rises 41 percent

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc posted a 41.1 percent jump in first-quarter profit on Thursday, driven by sustained growth in online retail sales and its profitable cloud business.

The world's biggest online retailer said net income rose to $724 million, or $1.48 per share, from $513 million, or $1.07 per share, a year earlier. This marks the eighth straight quarter Amazon has posted a net profit.

The company's net sales rose 22.6 percent to $35.71 billion in the quarter ended March 31 from $29.13 billion.

(Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)