Amazon posts modest profits

The online retail giant Amazon has reported weaker profits for the busy Christmas period, but a 15% rise in sales has cheered investors.

The company made a net profit of $214m (£142m) for the last three months of 2014, which is a drop of $25m on the same period in 2013.

However, it was an improvement on the previous quarter, in which Amazon made a net loss of $437m.

The company's shares rose by nearly 8% in after-hours trading.

But despite net sales of $89bn, Amazon made a loss of $241m for 2014 as a whole.
The firm also warned that its finances were "inherently unpredictable".

It sounded a note of caution for the next few months, saying it could make an operating loss of up to $450m.

The web giant added that profits may be "materially affected by many factors, such as fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, changes in global economic conditions and consumer spending, world events, the rate of growth of the Internet and online commerce".

Amazon also experience stiff competition from Chinese rival Alibaba, which made $9bn in one day sales sometime in November last year.