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Amazon’s sales have increased 23% in the first quarter of the year, while profits have soared by 32% to $108m (£64m).
The global online retailer announced its financial results for the first quarter of the year to 31st March 2014 yesterday (24th April), revealing that sales had been boosted by 23% to $19.74bn (£11.75bn). Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos attributed the sales hike to a “kinetic start” to 2014. “We get our energy from inventing on behalf of customers,” he said.
However, Amazon also revealed its expenses had increased by 23% from a year earlier, impacting on profits. Its shares were flat in after-hours trading and overall, shares in the firm have declined by more than 15% this year.
Amazon’s International sales, which includes the UK, have increased 18% to $7.8bn in the first quarter but its losses have increased from $16m to $60m, thanks to big investments in infrastructure in China.
Media sales in its international division, which includes sales of e-books, have increased 3.8% to $ 2.6bn in the first quarter.
During the year, Amazon launched Amazon Student in the UK, a new programme allowing students six months of free One-Day Delivery on over 7million items. It also revealed it would begin Sunday Deliveries. Meanwhile, Amazon Publishing division revealed its intentions to publish 500 titles in the UK this year.