Profits at eBay’s main Irish arm fell 27% last year to €4.5m

Expansion costs at the main Irish arm of online giant, eBay last year contributed to pre-tax profits at the firm declining by 27 per cent to €4.52 million.

Latest accounts for eBay Europe Services Ltd show that pre-tax profits decreased from €6.2 million a year earlier, in spite of revenues increasing by 5 per cent to €77 million.

The main activity of the company continues to be that of providing customer support service, corporate administrative services, and other shared services on behalf of the eBay group.

The services are provided to the parent in support of the ‘Marketplaces’ business segment of the eBay group.

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The decline in profits came as numbers employed at the business last year increased from 932 to 1,070. This led to staff costs rising from €52.4 million to €60 million.

Employee costs

Salaries increased from €40.4 million to €42.4 million, while share-based compensation rose from €3.2 million to €5.5 million. These costs also included redundancy payments of €218,000.

The accounts list two directors - Joseph Billante III and Hazel Mitchell. Directors' emoluments last year increased to €249,000 from €215,000 a year earlier, while a note states that the aggregate gain by directors on the exercise of share options during the year was €484,267.

The company’s operating lease costs last year increased from €2.25 million to €2.3 million. At the end of last December, the eBay subsidiary had shareholder funds of €44.8 million, including accumulated profits of €21.7 million. Its cash pile stood at €22.1 million.