eBay Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2004 Financial Results

Business Wire, Jan 19, 2005

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY)

--Company Reports Record Q4 Net Revenues of $935.8 Million

--Achieves Q4 GAAP Diluted EPS of $0.30 and Pro Forma Diluted EPS of $0.33

--Announces a Two-for-One Stock Split

eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY)(www.ebay.com), the World's Online Marketplace, reported financial results for its quarter and full year ended December 31, 2004.

eBay reported record consolidated Q4-04 net revenues of $935.8 million, up 44% year over year; operating income of $284.7 million, up 40% year over year; and pro forma operating income of $313.9 million, up 44% year over year. Operating income was 30% of net revenues and pro forma operating income was 34% of net revenues.

Consolidated net income in Q4-04 was $205.4 million, or $0.30 per diluted share. eBay's pro forma consolidated net income, excluding certain items, was $226.0 million, or $0.33 per diluted share.

These results exceeded the company's guidance of $915 million for net revenues, met the guidance of $0.30 for earnings per diluted share, and exceeded the guidance of $0.32 for pro forma earnings per diluted share.

For the full year, eBay generated consolidated net revenues of $3.27 billion, a 51% increase over the $2.17 billion reported in 2003. Consolidated net income increased 76% year over year to $778.2 million, or $1.14 per diluted share. On a pro forma basis, eBay reported a 68% increase in consolidated net income year over year to $829.5 million, or $1.21 per diluted share.

In addition, eBay's Board of Directors has approved a two-for-one split of all outstanding shares of the company's common stock, payable February 16, 2005 to stockholders of record on January 31, 2005. These results have not been adjusted to reflect this stock split.

"Our strong Q4 results capped off outstanding success throughout the year, with exceptional growth across every part of the business," said Meg Whitman, President and CEO of eBay. "We have tremendous momentum going into 2005, and I'm more confident than ever that the decisions and investments we're making today will ensure a bright future for the company and our community of users around the world."

Full Year Key Financial and Operating Metrics

Consolidated Net Revenues -- Consolidated net revenues totaled a record $3.27 billion, which represented an increase of 51% from the $2.17 billion reported in the full year 2003.

Listings -- Listings totaled a record 1.4 billion in the full year 2004, 45% higher than the 971 million listings reported in the full year 2003.

Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) -- GMV, the total value of all successfully closed listings on eBay's trading platforms, was a record $34.2 billion, representing a 44% year-over-year increase from the $23.8 billion reported in the full year 2003.

Total Payment Volume (TPV) -- TPV, the dollar volume of payments initiated through the PayPal system, was $18.9 billion, representing a 55% year-over-year increase from the $12.2 billion reported in the full year 2003.

Key Q4 Financial and Operating Metrics

Consolidated Net Revenues -- Consolidated net revenues totaled a record $935.8 million, which represented an increase of 44% from the $648.4 million reported in Q4-03.

Net Transaction Revenues -- Consolidated net transaction revenues totaled a record $907.3 million, which represented an increase of 43% from the $632.6 million reported in Q4-03.

--eBay U.S. Net Transaction Revenues -- eBay U.S. net transaction revenues totaled $362.7 million in Q4-04, representing 24% year-over-year growth.

--eBay International Net Transaction Revenues -- eBay International net transaction revenues totaled $344.3 million in Q4-04, representing 64% year-over-year growth.

--Payments Net Transaction Revenues -- Payments net transaction revenues totaled $200.2 million in Q4-04, representing 53% year-over-year growth.

Confirmed Registered Users -- Cumulative confirmed registered users at the end of Q4-04 totaled a record 135.5 million, representing a 43% increase over the 94.9 million users reported at the end of Q4-03.

Active Users -- Active users, the number of users on the eBay platform who bid, bought, or listed an item within the previous 12 month period, increased to 56.1 million, a 36% increase over the 41.2 million active users reported in the same period a year ago.

Listings -- New listings totaled a record 404.6 million in Q4-04, 39% higher than the 291.7 million listings reported in Q4-03. New listings in Q4-04 included 28.0 million new eBay Stores listings, versus 5.1 million new Stores listings in Q4-03.

Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) -- GMV was $9.8 billion, representing a 39% year-over-year increase from the $7.1 billion reported in Q4-03.

Total Payments Accounts -- PayPal's business had 63.8 million total accounts at the end of Q4-04, a 58% increase from the 40.3 million reported in Q4-03.

Total Payment Volume (TPV) -- PayPal's TPV was $5.6 billion in Q4-04, a 51% increase from the $3.7 billion reported in Q4-03.

Gross Profit -- Gross profit was $759.4 million, or 81% of net revenues, which was down slightly from the 82% level reported in Q4-03.