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Amazon has continued to fight off the recessionary blues affecting the retail space, reporting a 68% growth in net income, to $199m (£119m), or 45c per share, in the third quarter of 2009.
In the same period last year, the company reported a net income of $118 million, or 27c per share.
The company also saw net sales increase 28% to $5.45bn in the three months to end-September, up from $4.26bn in 2008, despite taking a $41m hit from "unfavourable" foreign exchange rates.
Amazon's international segment, which includes the UK, saw sales grow 33% to $2.61bn. In the US and Canada, sales were up 23%. Operating income increased 62% to $251m in the third quarter, compared with $154 million in third quarter 2008.
According to the http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/11ebe558-bf52-11de-a696-00144feab49a.html" target="_blank">Financial Times, the results "far outstripped Wall Street analysts’ forecasts", of revenues of just over $5bn and earnings of 33c per share.
The Kindle was singled out for attention by Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive of Amazon.com, as being the bestselling item "by both unit sales and dollars – not just in our electronics store but across all product categories on Amazon.com". However, no details were given as to how many units have been sold so far.
The company predicted net sales in the fourth quarter would grow between 21% and 36% year-on-year, an estimate of between $8.125bn and $9.125bn. Operating income, meanwhile, is expected to grow 10-56% compared with the fourth quarter in 2008, or between $300m and $425m.
This estimate includes approximately $100m for "stock-based compensation and amortization of intangible assets", and that no additional business acquisitions or investments are concluded, Amazon said.