Internet retail giant Amazon.com last night posted a net loss for the January-March period, bringing a swift end to celebrations that it had finally turned profitable.
Amazon, which had turned a net profit in the previous quarter for the first time in its history, made a net loss of $23m in the first quarter of 2002. The figure was still much improved from the first quarter of 2001, when losses totalled $234m.
Sales in the first quarter of 2002 surged to $847m, up 21% from the same period a year earlier.
'We are ahead of schedule financially,' Amazon chief financial officer Warren Jenson said in a statement. The group also announced lower book prices.
For the second quarter, Amazon said it expected net sales of $765m to $815m. Over the whole of 2002, it forecast 15% growth in net sales.
