Online payments provider PayPal made more money from its international business – which includes the UK market – than from its home US market for the first time in the final quarter of 2011, its parent company eBay said today.
Releasing its figures for the fourth quarter of 2011, eBay said PayPal had added a million new accounts each month in 2011, reaching a total of 106.3m active registered accounts. Revenue for the quarter, the three months to December 31, rose by 28% year-on-year as more merchants and consumers adopted the payment method. Total payment volumes rose by 24% to $33.4bn (£21.6bn) in the quarter, and by 29% to $118.75bn (£76.96bn) across the year. Over the course of the year payments via mobile reached $4bn (£2.59bn), “more than five times the mobile payment volume in the prior year, as more consumers used their smartphones and tablets to pay online,” said eBay.
The eBay group’s total revenues were up by 35% to $3.4bn (£2.2bn) in the quarter, and by 27% to $11.7bn (£7.58bn) in the full year.
Meanwhile in eBay’s marketplace business net revenue rose to $1.77bn (£1.15bn) in the fourth quarter, up by 16% compared to the same time last year, and to $6.6bn (£4.27bn) in the full year. Gross merchandise volume (GMV), excluding vehicles, rose by 10% to $16.5bn (£10.68bn) in the fourth quarter. International GMV was up by 9% “driven primarily by stable growth in Europe and improved performance in Asia,” and in the US it was up by 10%. Mobile sales from eBay grew to $5bn (£3.2bn).
eBay Inc president and chief executive John Donahoe said: “Across eBay, PayPal, GSI and X.commerce, we have a robust portfolio of global commerce platforms and innovative mobile, local and social commerce technology assets.
“We are well-positioned to compete in the emerging new retail environment, and to help retailers of all sizes grow and engage their customers anytime, anywhere. We are a different eBay today, no longer just an ecommerce leader but a stronger, more diverse global commerce company shaping the future of shopping and payments.”
