Amazon sees first quarter sales soar

24-04-2008

by Charlie Taylor

Online retailer Amazon.com has reported strong first quarter sales that jumped 37 percent year-on-year from USD3.02 billion to USD4.1 billion.

Net income increased 30 percent to USD143 million in the first quarter, or USD0.34 per diluted share, compared with net income of USD111 million, or USD0.26 per diluted share, in first quarter 2007.

Operating income increased 36 percent to USD198 million in the first quarter, versus USD145 million in first quarter 2007.

"Our sales growth this quarter was driven by low prices and millions of in-stock items available for immediate shipment," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "We're grateful to our customers."

North America segment sales were up 31 percent year-on-year to USD2.13 billion. International segment sales, representing the company's UK, German, Japanese, French and Chinese sites, increased 44 percent from the first quarter of 2007 to USD2.01 billion.

International sales now account for 49 percent of Amazon's total business.

Worldwide media sales grew 28 percent to USD2.54 billion in the first quarter of 2008, compared with USD1.99 billion a year ago. Worldwide electronics and other general merchandise sales grew 56 percent to USD1.48 billion versus USD0.95 billion in the same quarter a year ago.

Although Amazon's latest results surpassed Wall Street's expectations, shares in the online retailer fell by more than 4 percent to below USD77 in after-hours trading, with some analysts expressing disappointment in the firm's projections for the rest of the financial year.

Amazon said that for the second quarter of 2008, it expects net sales to increase between 34 percent and 41 percent to be in the range of USD3.875 billion and USD4.075 billion,

For fiscal 2008, Amazon predicts that net sales will grow between 29 percent and 35 percent year-on-year to between USD19.1 billion and USD20 billion.

Operating income, meanwhile, is expected to be between USD740 million and USD940 million, or to grow between 13 percent and 43 percent compared with 2007.