eBay profits jump 52 per cent

eBay beat Wall Street expectations with a net profit jump of 52 per cent. The online auction leader's first quarter net income hit $377m this quarter compared with $248.3m last year.

Revenue grew 27 per cent to $1.77bn (Q1' 06: $1.39bn). Analyst expectations had ranged from $1.69bn to $1.77bn.

"This first quarter of 2007 was a very strong one for the company, eBay CEO Meg Whitman said. "The strength of our core business, as well as the significant traction we're beginning to see across our newer businesses helped us deliver great results around the board."

eBay forecasts a second-quarter revenue range from $1.75bn to $1.8bn. Analysts had estimated Q2 revenue of 1.75bn.

The company expects full year profits to reach up to 7.45bn.

eBay's online payment service PayPal has been largely successful defending market territory from challenger Google Checkout. PayPal accounts for about a quarter of eBays total sales.

In an earnings call yesterday, Yahoo! said it is expanding its partnership with eBay, to further combine PayPal with Yahoo!'s search ads. Under the program, Yahoo!-sponsored results will have a shopping cart icon linking to merchants that accept PayPal Express Checkout. ®