eBay's financials excluding Skype charge shine

eBay handily topped Wall Street expectations for the third quarter excluding a charge related to the Skype acquisition.

In a statement, eBay reported third quarter earnings excluding the Skype charge of $564 million, or 41 cents a share, on revenue of $1.89 billion. That revenue tally was up 30 percent from the same quarter a year ago.

According to Thomson Financial eBay was expected to report earnings of 33 cents a share on revenue of $1.83 billion.

Including the previously disclosed Skype charge, eBay reported a loss of $936 million, or 69 cents a share.

eBay countered that loss with a strong fourth quarter and 2007 outlook. For the fourth quarter, eBay projected earnings to be about 39 cents a share to 41 cents a share on revenue between $2.1 billion and $2.15 billion. For the year, eBay sees earnings excluding charges of $1.47 a share to $1.49 a share on revenue between $7.6 billion to $7.65 billion. Those projections handily topped Wall Street expectations excluding charges.

eBay noted that eBay International, PayPal, StubHub, classifieds and advertising businesses all performed above expectations. eBay's Skype unit was left off the list.

By the numbers:

• eBay users posted 556 million listings in the third quarter, down 5 percent from a year ago. Yet the listing generated gross merchandise volume of $14.40 billion, up 14 percent from a year ago.
• PayPal revenue totaled $470 million, up 35 percent from a year ago.
• Skype was profitable excluding charges on revenue of $98 million. Skype ended the third quarter with 246 million registered user accounts, up 81 percent from a year ago.