eBay Q4 revenue up 16% to $2.37bn

Witnesses double-digit growth in PayPal and turnaround progress in core business

eBay has posted fourth quarter revenue of 2.37bn, an increase of 16% compared to $2.03bn in the same period last year primarily driven by the continued growth in PayPal and StubHub and improvement in growth rates in the core eBay business and positive impact from foreign currency movements.

The payments business unit reported revenue of $795.6m, an increase of 28% year-over-year. The marketplaces business unit, which consists of eBay, Shopping.com, StubHub, Kijiji and other e-commerce sites, recorded $1.5bn in revenue, a 15% year-over-year increase. Skype contributed $112m in revenue for the period that eBay fully owned it.

Operating margin decreased to 29.3% for the quarter, compared to 32.8% for the same period last year. eBay said that the decrease in operating margin was due primarily to the impact from a settlement agreement between Skype, Joltid and entities controlled by its founders. eBay sold the majority of Skype to an investor group for approximately $1.9bn in November, retaining 30% of stake in Skype.

Net income was $585.8m or $0.44 per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2009, compared to $524m, or $0.41 per diluted share in the same period a year ago. For full year, the company posted revenue of $8.7bn and net income of $2.06bn or $1.58 per diluted share.

John Donahoe, president and CEO of eBay, said: “We delivered a strong fourth quarter with double-digit revenue growth driven by exceptional performance at PayPal and turnaround progress and momentum in our core eBay business. PayPal significantly expanded its presence globally and, for the first time, processed more than $20bn in total payment volume in a quarter.

“Gross merchandise volume and sold items accelerated for the third consecutive quarter. We are starting 2010 with significant progress against our three-year growth strategies for PayPal and eBay and a clear focus on our priorities going forward.”

For the first quarter of 2010, eBay estimates net revenues to be in the range of $2.1bn to $2.2bn, representing growth of 12% to 18% excluding the 2009 impact of Skype. The company expects net revenues to be in the range of $8.8bn to $9.1bn, a growth of 9 to 12%.

• Share:
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•