PayPal revenue boosts EBay’s third quarter profits

EBay has reported its third-quarter profit climbed 23% to $432m (£275m) compared with the same period a year ago, mainly due to its growing PayPal division.

Revenue rose 1% to $2.25bn ahead of analysts' expectations of only $2.18bn, helped by the sale of is Skype Internet telephony division at the end of 2009.

Excluding Skype, eBay said its revenue jumped 10%.

EBay also predicted better-than-expected results for the current quarter, sending shares up more than 7% in after-hours trading.

The online payments business made up of PayPal and Bill Me Later reported $838m in revenue, up 22% on the same period a year ago.

The payments business has grown rapidly, while eBay's main online marketplace business has faltered, according to the Washington Post.

EBay chief executive John Donahoe predicted that revenue from the online payments business will surpass that of eBay's marketplaces segment in a few years' time.

But eBay's marketplace revenue still rose 3% in the quarter to $1.41bn, as more people used eBay to buy and sell.

There were 93,200,000 active eBay users at the end of the third quarter, up 4% from 89,200,000 a year ago.