Ebay posts revenue above forecasts

Online auctioneer eBay Inc posted a 22 per cent rise in quarterly net profit, topping Wall Street's average estimate, as pricing…

Online auctioneer eBay Inc posted a 22 per cent rise in quarterly net profit, topping Wall Street's average estimate, as pricing changes drove auction listings and pushed revenue above all forecasts.

For 2008, eBay said it expects net revenue of $8.7 billion to $9.0 billion, boosting the growth rate by 2 to 3 percentage points above its downbeat full-year forecast issued in January - and putting it in the top half of Wall Street expectations.

EBay is in the midst of a long-term plan to revive growth in its core auctions business that involve sweeping changes to how buyers and sellers deal with one another on the site.

Buoyed by a buyback of 3 per cent of its common shares, first-quarter net income rose to $459.7 million, or 34 cents a share, from the year-earlier quarter's $377.1 million, or 27 cents per share. Revenue rose 24 per cent to $2.19 billion.

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Revenue growth benefited from growth in eBay's international businesses, which generated 55 per cent of revenue. The effect of translating overseas currencies into dollars boosted quarterly sales by $110 million.

US revenue grew 16 percent while international sales grew at twice that rate, at 32 per cent.