PayPal helps send eBay's profits soaring

London, July 19 (ANI): Auction website eBay more than doubled its second-quarter net profit due to higher revenue from its PayPal online payments business and its e-commerce websites.

The auction website reported profits of 692 million dollars in the three months to the end of June, up from 283 million dollars in the same period a year earlier, while revenue rose 23 percent to 3.4 billion dollars.eBay said its marketplaces business, which includes its flagship website, saw the strongest growth rate since 2006.

"We delivered a great second quarter, driven by eBay Marketplaces' best performance in years, strong growth at PayPal and strong same-store-sales growth for GSI's large retail customers," The Telegraph quoted John Donahoe, eBay chief executive, as saying.The company, which makes most of its money by charging merchants a fee to list items posted for sale, generates revenue from PayPal transaction fees.

It is also expanding PayPal beyond the Internet, offering payment services to brick-and-mortar stores and to mobile devices, the report said.

PayPal ended the quarter with 113.2m active accounts, up 13pc from a year earlier. (ANI)