eBay's non-Skype profits climb 16%

Our pal, PayPal

eBay's third-quarter revenues climbed 10 per cent over the same quarter last year, if you exclude revenues from the failed VoIP experiment with Skype, while non-Skype, non-GAAP profits rose 16 per cent.

With net earnings per share topping out at 40 cents, eBay beat the expectations of the Wall Street guessmen, and it gave much of the credit to PayPal, which ended the quarter with over 90 million active accounts worldwide. "We delivered strong third quarter results, with great performance at PayPal and stable results at eBay,” read a canned statement from CEO John Donahoe.

“PayPal gained share globally and eBay continued to improve key metrics. Our company is strong and we are managing our global portfolio to balance strengths, challenges and opportunities, invest in growth and deliver consistent performance.”

Overall revenues reached $2.2 billion, a one per cent increase over Q3 2009, but last year, eBay still had its stake in Skype. Non-GAAP net income came in at $530.6m, or 40 cents per diluted share. Those Wall Street types expected 37 cents.

Revenue from PayPal reached $838m, a 22 per cent leap from last year, and total payment volume jumped 26 per cent to $4.368bn. Revenue from the company's core marketplace business was $1.411bn, a 3 per cent increase from the previous year. For several quarters now, PayPal has been the company's main source of growth — not its marketplaces. ®