Internet auctioneer Ebay, reduced its annual earnings forecast and projected its first quarterly sales decline as growth slows at the company's web sites.
Ebay, which employs of 1,200 people at its Blanchardstown headquarters in Dublin, forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $2.02 billion to $2.17 billion, compared with $2.18 billion a year earlier.
The value of goods sold on EBay's sites fell 1 per cent in the third quarter, the first drop in the company's history, as international markets declined as much as the US.
The results are a blow to chief executive John Donahoe, who in six months at the helm has made acquisitions to bolster secure payments unit PayPal, overhauled fees, enhanced protections and offered credit to boost listings amid heightened competition and stalling growth at its Internet marketplaces.
“Ebay enjoys a global leadership position in e-commerce, but buyer and seller
expectations have been rising and we've not kept up,” Mr Donahoe said.
Ebay will boost spending on marketing in the fourth quarter to “fight for our sellers'' in what they expect to be “a tough holiday season,” Mr Donahoe said.
Ebay declined 63 cents, or 4.1 per cent, in late Nasdaq trading yesterday after the results were released.
Yesterday , the stock fell $2.41, or 14 percent, to $15.33 in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading.
The shares have dropped 54 per cent this year before today.
San Jose, California-based Ebay reported net income of $492 million, or 38 cents a share in the third quarter, compared with a loss of $935.6 million, or 69 cents,
a year ago, when results were hit by a writedown in the value of its Skype Internet telephone unit.