eBay announces first quarterly dividend after strong holiday quarter

Ecommerce company eBay Inc. delivered revenue of 2.9 billion dollars, up 6 percent on both an as-reported basis and a FX-neutral basis, driven by GMV of 24.6 billion dollars, up 1 percent on as-reported basis and 2 percent on a FX-neutral basis, for the quarter ended December 31, 2018. GAAP net income was 763 million dollars or 80 cents per diluted share and non-GAAP net income reached 670 million dollars or 71 cents per diluted share. The company also announced its first quarterly dividend of 14 cents per share, to be paid on or about March 20, 2019 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 1, 2019.

"We delivered record earnings for the fourth quarter and full year 2018," said Devin Wenig, President and CEO of eBay in a statement, adding, "We are confident in the strength of our business and future growth prospects, as demonstrated by our decision to institute eBay's first-ever dividend and increase our share repurchase program."

eBay’s full year revenues rise 8 percent

For the full year 2018, eBay delivered revenue of 10.7 billion dollars, up 8 percent on an as-reported basis and 6 percent on a FX-neutral basis, driven by GMV of 95 billion dollars, up 7 percent on an as-reported basis and 5 percent on a FX-neutral basis. eBay also returned 4.5 billion dollars of capital to shareholders through repurchases of its common stock.

In the fourth quarter, active buyers grew by 4 percent across its platforms, for a total of 179 million global active buyers. eBay added that the marketplace platforms delivered 2.3 billion dollars of revenue and 23.2 billion dollars of GMV. Marketplace revenue growth was 7 percent on an as-reported basis and 6 percent on a FX-neutral basis, and GMV was up 1 percent on an as-reported basis and 3 percent on a FX-neutral basis. StubHub drove revenue of 314 million dollars, up 2 percent on both an as-reported and FX-neutral basis, and GMV of 1.4 billion dollars, down 2 percent on an as-reported basis and down 1 percent on a FX-Neutral basis. Classifieds platforms delivered revenue of 263 million dollars, up 8 percent on an as-reported basis and 11 percent on a FX-neutral basis.

eBay reveals outlook for Q1 and FY19

For the first quarter of 2019, the company expects net revenue between 2.55 billion dollars and 2.60 billion dollars, representing organic FX-neutral growth of 0 percent to 2 percent, with GAAP earnings per diluted share from continuing operations in the range of 40 cents to 44 cents and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share from continuing operations in the range of 62 cents to 64 cents.

For the fiscal year 2019, the company expects net revenue between 10.7 billion dollars and 10.9 billion dollars, representing organic FX-neutral growth of 1 percent to 3 percent, with GAAP earnings per diluted share from continuing operations in the range of 1.83 dollars to 1.93 dollars and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share from continuing operations in the range of 2.62 dollars to 2.68 dollars.

The company expects to return approximately 7 billion dollars to shareholders through dividends and repurchases over the next two years, with approximately 5.5 billion dollars in 2019 and approximately 1.5 billion dollars in 2020.

Picture:eBay press room