Amazon posts 45% fall in net income

on 30/01/2013 15:29:10

Amazon.com says its fourth-quarter net income fell 45%, as higher revenue failed to keep pace with increased spending on order fulfilment and digital content.

The online giant said it earned $97m, or 21 cents per share, in the October-December period.

That is down from $177m, or 38 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue at the world's biggest online retailer grew 22% to $21.27bn from $17.43bn.

FactSet says analysts had expected earnings of 28 cents per share on revenue of $22.26bn.

For the current quarter, Amazon expects revenue of $15bn to $16.6bn. Analysts had expected revenue of $16.86bn.