Online auction house eBay on July 18 reported that its profit in the recently-ended quarter more than doubled due to strong showings by its Marketplaces and PayPal services. The California-based company said it had a net income of $692 million on revenue that rose 23 percent to $3.4 billion in the quarter that ended June 30.
The profit represented a 144 percent increase from the same three-month period last year. "We delivered a great second quarter," said eBay chief executive John Donahoe.
"Our entire company is strong, but we're particularly pleased with eBay Marketplaces." eBay shares jumped more than five percent to $42.59 in after-market trading that followed release of the earnings figures. Along with its Marketplaces platform for people and small businesses to sell items online, Donahoe credited the strong results to the PayPal online financial transactions platform and its GSI e-commerce services arm.
"Mobile continues to be a game-changer," Donahoe said, referring to how people are increasingly relying on smartphones for shopping, banking and other personal business.
"We now expect eBay and PayPal mobile to each transact $10 billion in volume in 2012 - that's more than double 2011, a staggering surge in mobile shopping and payments on devices that did not exist just a few years ago." PayPal Here uses a triangle-shaped "dongle" card reader that plugs into mobile devices to act as a credit card reader for consummating purchases.