Ebay had a good Christmas quarter in 2020: The marketplace was able to increase sales and profits significantly compared to the same period of the previous year. Sales increased by 28 percent to 2.9 billion US dollars, and operating profit was 677 million dollars a full 42 percent higher than in the same quarter of the previous year. Net profit also rose significantly: Ebay posted an increase of 52 percent and a result of 845 million dollars because the investment income was higher than the tax burden.
Ebay was also able to achieve good results in 2020 as a whole, as can be seen from the Business figures of the company emerges. In total, the company turned over $ 10.3 billion – an increase of 19 percent over the previous year. This means that Ebay has also exceeded the recently raised forecast of 10.04 to 10.11 billion dollars. The annual profit was $ 2.7 billion (+46 percent).
Ebay is experiencing a strong influx due to the corona pandemic. The number of active buyers rose seven percent to 185 million in the last quarter. The number of transactions increased by 21 percent compared to the previous year and reached a total volume of 26.6 billion dollars.
For the current quarter, Ebay expects business to remain strong: sales are expected to be between $ 2.94 and $ 2.99 billion. Investors were pleased with the strong business results, the good outlook and also the dividend increase, as reported by Heise Online: The share of Ebay rose in after-hours trading by eleven percent.
Corona aid: more money for families and companies
The government has approved financial aid for low wage earners and families, as well as tax breaks for companies. As reported by the NDR, families should receive a child bonus, as they did last year. This should be a one-time 150 euros – last year there was 300 euros per child for families to stimulate consumption in the corona crisis. The one-time grant of 150 euros should now also be given to adult recipients of basic income support.
In addition, the government wants to give more support to companies that have suffered losses as a result of the crisis: By means of an extended loss carry-back, the losses in the tax return can be offset more extensively than before against profits from previous years.
Spotify: User numbers are growing, but so are losses
The music streaming provider Spotify has a total of 345 million users and continues to expect increasing numbers: This year the service could reach 427 million users. But as the Spiegel reports, that doesn’t mean that Spotify is making strong profits – on the contrary.
Accordingly, the streaming service recorded a loss of 581 million euros in 2020. In the previous year the minus was 186 million euros. The fact that the loss has tripled is partly due to investments in better functions, it is said. In addition, a large number of Spotify users use the free version. This year the company wants to get up to 184 million customers in its paid premium version. The poor result and the weak outlook for the current quarter caused the company’s stock to fall five percent before the market.
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