Technology

Amazon profits soar 71pc in fourth quarter on festive shoppers

29.01.2010
Profits at online retailing giant Amazon soared by 71pc during the final three months of 2009 as shoppers flocked to the web during the festive season.

Amazon reported a net profit of US$384m in the fourth quarter, or US$0.85 per diluted share, compared with net profit of US$225m, or US$0.52 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Net sales rose by 42pc to US$9.52bn during the quarter, Amazon said, compared with US$6.7bn reported in the same quarter in 2008.

Strong Kindle sales
Amazon pointed to strong sales of its Kindle e-reader device (pictured).

“Millions of people now own Kindles,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com.

“And Kindle owners read, a lot. When we have both editions, we sell six Kindle books for every 10 physical books. This is year-to-date and includes only paid books — free Kindle books would make the number even higher.

“It's been an exciting 27 months,” Bezos added, although he did not disclose how many Kindle devices the company had sold.

Amazon’s US Kindle Store now has more than 410,000 books, including 100 of 112 New York Times bestsellers, more than 8,000 blogs, and more than 130 US and international newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Times (U.K.), Le Monde, The Economist, The New Yorker, Newsweek and Time.

2010 sales look strong
Looking ahead, Amazon said it is expecting sales to grow between 32pc and 43pc during the first three months of 2010, compared to the same period in 2009.

Amazon also announced today that its board had authorised it to buy back up to US$2bn in common stock.

“The program allows the company to opportunistically repurchase its shares from time to time when it believes that doing so would enhance long-term shareholder value,” Amazon said.