Thaindian News

SEATTLE (BNO NEWS) — Amazon.com, Inc. on Thursday announced its fourth quarter sales were up 42 percent while fourth-quarter earnings surged 70 percent thanks to strong holiday sales of media products and other items.

Amazon.com’s operating cash flow was $3.29 billion in 2009, compared to $1.70 billion in 2008. Free cash flow increased 114% to $2.92 billion in 2009, compared with $1.36 billion in 2008. They also reported an operating income increase of 75% to $476 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $272 million in the fourth quarter of 2008.

“Millions of people now own Kindles,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, noting the company’s new found success in the e-book reader market. “And Kindle owners read, a lot. When we have both editions, we sell 6 Kindle books for every 10 physical books. This is year-to-date and includes only paid books – free Kindle books would make the number even higher. It’s been an exciting 27 months.”

Net sales increased 28% to $24.51 billion in the full year of 2009, compared with $19.17 billion in 2008. Operating income increased 34% to $1.13 billion, compared with $842 million in 2008. Included in the 2009 operating income is the impact of Amazon.com’s lawsuit settlement with Toysrus.com LLC for $51 million.

Amazon.com made note of significant highlights of its fourth quarter, including its aquistion of Zappos.com, which contributed $200 million to fourth quarter revenue, the international success of the Kindle, which is shipping to over 100 countries and has a selection of more than 410,000 books, and its international segment sales, which rose 49% from fourth quarter 2008.

Besides posting positive fourth quarter results, Amazon.com also announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the company to repurchase up to $2 billion of the company’s common stock. The new approval replaces a previous authorization, in 2008, to repurchase $1 billion stock.

Amazon.com, Inc., a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the Internet in July 1995 and today offers the Earth’s biggest selection. The company aims to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices.