Not counting Skype charges, stock-based compensation and other expenses, eBay earned $563.8 million, or 41 cents per share, up 53% from $367.4 million, or 26 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Skype reported record revenue of 98 million dollars, up 96% from a year ago. It’s the third consecutive quarter of profitability for Skype, which had $246 million registered user accounts at the end of the Q3 – up 81% from a year ago. It was the first time the company reported a loss since the Q2 of 1999, eBay President and CEO Meg Whitman said. It’s also the first time the company has taken a write-down. „We are disappointed — obviously — by the write-down, and we’re behind in terms of some financial metrics we had originally anticipated,” Whitman said. „Moving to new management was completely the right thing to do. I actually feel confident in the business longer term.” Whitman said the company is working to integrate Skype into eBay’s core products more tightly, and it will expand Skype’s reach with partnerships. Skype announced a deal Tuesday with News Corp.’s MySpace, which will offer free Internet phone calls to members of the social network. (people.com.cn)
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