Internet music, book and merchandise vendor Amazon.Com trimmed losses in the first quarter of 2003 as sales grew to more than $1 billion.
Net losses amounted to $10.1m or three cents a share in the three months, compared with a year-ago loss of $23.2m or six cents a share, Amazon said in a statement. Sales surged 28% to $1.08 billion.
'Our strategy of driving down costs to give customers lower prices continues to pay off,' chief financial officer Tom Szkutak said.
Operating profit - ignoring items such as taxes or interest payments - soared to $39.2m from $1.8m a year earlier, Amazon said.
The company forecast second quarter sales of between $1-1.05 billion, with operating profit climbing 24-30% to between $45-60m. For the whole of 2003, it expected sales to be up more than 19% at $4.7 billion or more, with operating income up more than 50% to at least $275m.
