eBay posted results:
eBay Inc. Announces Third Quarter 1999 Financial Results
SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) (www.ebay.com), the world's largest online personal trading
community, today reported financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 1999. (Photo:
newscom.com )
The Company generated consolidated net revenues of $58.5 million in the third quarter of 1999, a 169 percent increase over the
$21.7 million reported for the same period last year. Consolidated net income for the quarter was $1.4 million, or $0.01 per share on a
diluted basis. eBay's consolidated net income excluding the effects of certain non-cash charges was $3.2 million, or $0.02 per diluted
share, compared with $1.8 million, or $0.02 per diluted share during the third quarter of 1998.
"In the third quarter of 1999, eBay continued to record strong increases in gross merchandise sales and registered users," said Meg
Whitman, President and CEO of eBay. "The eBay community now transacts almost $3 billion per year on an annualized basis on our site.
This reaffirms eBay as the world's largest personal trading community."
Key operating metrics on the eBay site:
-- eBay's gross merchandise sales (the value of goods traded on the eBay
site) for the third quarter of 1999 climbed to $741 million, up
280 percent over the $195 million reported in the third quarter of 1998
-- Registered users increased to 7.7 million by quarter end, an increase
of 509 percent from the 1.3 million at September 30, 1998
-- eBay hosted 36.2 million auctions during the third quarter, compared to
9.2 million during the same period of last year. This represents year
over year growth of 292 percent
Ms. Whitman continued, "This was a quarter of strong execution and many accomplishments in every part of the company, as eBay
continued to expand into new markets and leveraged the acquisitions made in the last quarter into new online initiatives."
Execution highlights:
-- Launched a new "Automotive" category for both general and collector
cars (in conjunction with Kruse International --
pages.ebay.com )
-- Launched "eBay: Go Local!" new regional search that permits users to
buy and sell in their local areas
( pages.ebay.com )
-- Delivered a highly successful "free listing day" that generated
tremendous community excitement with over 4 million items on the site
-- an all-time record
-- Launched eBay's German site and initiated final value fees. eBay
Germany currently has well over 500,000 listings on its site (not
included in the "stats" section of the eBay home page or key operating
metrics -- ebay.de )
-- Rolled out eBay's strategy for the wireless Internet: "eBay
Everywhere" by partnering with both SkyTel and Palm Computing to enable
users to track, view and bid on items
( pages.ebay.com )
-- Launched a new AOL co-branded site across all AOL categories
( ebay.aol.com )
-- Completed eBay "From our homepage to your hometown" tour of
30 communities across the country
-- Improved response time for customer support by more than 50% in the
last six months
-- Added key new members to the eBay team, including Maynard Webb, head of
eBay Technologies, and Jeff Jordan, General Manager of End-to-End
trading services
-- Installed the warm back-up system, upgraded the operating and database
systems and added system capacity
-- Expanded eBay's co-location facilities at Exodus and opened new
facilities at AboveNet
Financial and operating summary:
The primary contributor to the increase in eBay net revenues for the quarter was the increased usage of the eBay site. As expected,
net revenues from eBay's traditional auction subsidiaries decreased seasonally. The seasonal decrease in Butterfield & Butterfield's net
revenues was partially offset by Kruse's strong quarter.
In the third quarter, the Company continued to make significant investments in personnel, contractors and equipment to support the
site's infrastructure. These investments, along with continued additions to customer support personnel, resulted in increased cost of net
revenues both in absolute dollars and as a percentage of net revenues versus the prior quarter.
Personnel and contractor costs were the largest single contributor to the increase in operating expenses during the third quarter. Sales
and marketing expenses increased over the prior quarter due to increased online advertising costs, including the recognition of
advertising costs under the AOL agreement, and expenses associated with Kruse's Auburn auction and other promotional activities.
Increases in product development costs were driven largely by personnel additions, including those involved with new business
initiatives. General and administrative cost increases were driven by personnel additions, legal costs, and public company expenses,
including SEC filing fees.
For the third quarter, eBay recorded consolidated non-cash amortization charges of $1.4 million related to stock-based compensation
and $430,000 associated with acquired intangibles. The Company recorded a consolidated tax provision of $979,000 representing an
effective tax rate of 42 percent of third quarter consolidated pretax income.
The Company's overall balance sheet was relatively unchanged in the third quarter compared to the second quarter. Consolidated
assets as of September 30, 1999 were approximately $910 million, which included over $740 million of cash and high quality financial
instruments. About eBay
eBay (www.ebay.com), the world's personal trading community(TM), pioneered person-to-person online trading. Founded in 1995,
eBay has developed an efficient and entertaining trading site on the Web. Currently, there are more than 3.0 million items listed for
sale. More than 400,000 items are added daily in more than 2,200 categories including: antiques; books, movies and music; coins and
stamps; collectibles; computers; dolls and figures; jewelry and gemstones; photo and electronics; pottery and glass; sports memorabilia;
and toys. eBay is also engaged in the traditional auction business through its subsidiaries, Butterfield & Butterfield and Kruse
International. Forward Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including those relating to the Company's
ability to grow its user base. Actual results could differ materially from those discussed. Factors that could cause or contribute to such
differences include, but are not limited to, the Company's need to maintain site stability, to successfully manage and integrate its new
acquisitions, to manage significant growth in all aspects of its business, to deal with the increasingly competitive environment for online
trading and to successfully expand its model outside of the U.S. More information about potential factors which could affect the
Company's business and financial results is included in the Company's Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 1998 under the
headings "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations", its Form 10-Q for
the period ending June 30, 1999, its Form 8-K/A filed on July 26, 1999, its Form 8-K filed on September 14, 1999 and its Form S-3
filed on September 30, 1999. All forward looking statements are based on information available to the Company on the date hereof,
and the Company assumes no obligation to update such statements. |
