Amazon posts 22% revenue hike on foot of strong sales

Amazon’s quarterly revenue rose 22.4 per cent, driven by strong sales in the holiday period and a jump in subscriptions for its Prime service.

The world’s biggest online retailer said its net sales rose to $43.74 billion (€40.6 billion)in the fourth quarter, from $35.75 billion a year earlier. Analysts had expected $44.68 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Amazon’s net income rose to $749 million, or $1.54 per share, from $482 million, or $1 per share, a year earlier.

Revenue from Amazon Web Services, the company's cloud services business, jumped 47 per cent to $3.54 billion, missing the average analyst estimate of $3.60 billion, according to market research firm FactSet StreetAccount.

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Amazon said last month the 2016 holiday was its best-ever shopping season, when it shipped 50 per cent more items than the prior year for third-party vendors.

– (Reuters)