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Amazon.com: 37% sales growth in Q1

24.04.08 Anna Richardson

Net sales at Amazon.com rose by 37% to $4.1bn in the first quarter of 2008 (ended 31st March), with international sales (representing the Company's U.K., German, Japanese, French and Chinese sites) increasing by 44% to $2bn from 2007's first quarter and rising to 49% of worldwide net sales from 46%.

Overall net operating income increased 30% to $143m in the first quarter, compared with net income of $111m in first quarter 2007, while first quarter gross profit rose from $719m in 2007 to $956m this year.

Sales in worldwide media, which include books, grew 28% to $2.54bn in the first quarter, compared with $1.99bn in the first quarter of 2007.

The results did not split out books sales, but highlighted that Kindle selection continues to grow, with more than 115,000 titles now available, up from 90,000 at the launch.

"Our sales growth this quarter was driven by low prices and millions of in-stock items available for immediate shipment," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "We're grateful to our customers."

In a revised prediction for the year, Amazon said it expects sales to increase between 29% to 35%, up from 26% to 33%; operating income was changed to a growth rate between 13% and 40% from 20% and 40%.

The company advised that such forward-looking statements were "inherently difficult to predict" and that results may be materially affected by many factors, including fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, changes in global economic conditions and consumer spending, world events, the rate of growth of the internet and online commerce.

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