CChristmas sales were glum for most retailers but online giant Amazon managed to buck the trend.
The Seattle-based company last night said that net profits grew by 9% in the fourth quarter over a year ago to $225m, or 52 cents a share, well above the 31 cents a share forecast by Wall Street.
Amazon said revenues grew by 18% in the quarter, which ended on December 31, to $6.7 billion and would have been 24% if not for the unfavourable impact in foreign exchange rates.
For the year, Amazon reported a 36% rise in net profit to $645m, or $1.49 a share, again significantly better than the $1.37 a share expected by analysts.
Amazon said it expected net sales to grow by 9-19% to between $4.5 billion and $4.9 billion in the first quarter of the year.
'We remain relentlessly focused on serving customers with low prices, great selection and free shipping offers,' Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said.
Amazon did not release figures but Bezos said demand for the Kindle electronic book readers was 'unusually strong' in the fourth quarter.
Amazon, which is expected to issue a new version of the Kindle in New York next month, said it now offers 230,000 titles for the Kindle including 103 of the 112 current New York Times bestsellers.
Amazon said North America sales rose by 18% to $3.63 billion in the fourth quarter and accounted for 54% of total sales. International sales rose by 19% to $3.07 billion and would have been higher - 31% - if not for the unfavourable impact of foreign exchange rates.
Amazon also said that sales of electronics and other general merchandise grew by 31% to $2.89 billion in the fourth quarter.
