Ebay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) is to pay its first quarterly dividend after the online marketplace retailer delivered record fourth-quarter earnings during the all-important holiday season.
The Nasdaq-listed firm reported sales of $2.88bn for the three months ended 31 December 2018, up 6.3% year-on-year and marginally ahead of analysts' estimates for $2.86bn.
The company’s net income from continuing operations in the fourth quarter was $763mln, or $0.80 on a per share basis, a turnaround from the $2.6bn loss posted a year earlier which was impacted by a one-off tax-related cost of more than $3bn.
For full-year 2019, ebay said it now expects net revenues to be in the range of $10.7bn to $10.9bn and earnings from continuing operations of $1.83 to $1.93 per share.
The group initiated a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share and announced its intention to expand its share repurchase authorisation by an additional $4bn.
Ebay’s chief executive Devin Wenig said: "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."