The world’s largest auction platform saw net revenues for the final quarter of the year rise to $648.4m (up 57 per cent year on year) translating into a record operating profit of $203.1m (up 78 per cent year on year). The value of items sold on the site, as registered by the top ten categories, was a collective $23.7bn of which collectables, (the category incorporating antiques) accounted for $1.5bn.
There were a record 292 million listings in the October to December period. As in previous reports, users in the United States continued to provide the lion’s share of business in the final quarter at 62 per cent.
For the whole of 2003, eBay generated revenues of $2.17bn – an increase of 78 per cent from the $1.21bn reported for the full year of 2002. At a time when the world’s largest auction houses struggle to move into the black, eBay’s total operating profit ran at $441.8m or a margin of around 20 per cent. The total number of listings was 971 million, a 52 per cent increase on 2002.
eBay end record $2.17bn year on a high
EBAY, the great survivors of the dot-com boom and bust, have again posted a record set of results to complete a remarkable year in which the company reaped revenues of over $2bn. There were 41 million people who have bid, bought or listed on eBay over the past 12 months.