Net income at Amazon rose nearly 32% in the first quarter of 2014, to $108 million, compared to the same period in 2013 and revenue increased 23%, to $19.74 billion. Operating income fell 19%.
Media group sales, home to books and e-books, rose 8%, to $5.48 billion, while sales in the electronics and general merchandise group increased 27% to $13.02 billion. The biggest revenue jump came in the other segment, which includes its cloud services, where revenue rose 57%, to $1.26 billion. North America media sales rose 12% in the quarter, while international media sales increased 4%. Amazon said it is now selling more digital units in North America than physical, though that is not the case abroad. In the first quarter of 2013, North America media sales rose 14%.
In its prepared release, Amazon ticked off a host of initiatives it has started so far this year which ranged from the introduction of Fire TV, to the launch of Prime Pantry, to licensing deals with HBO. The two book-related ventures in the first quarter were the launch of a German-language publishing program and the purchase of Comixology.
The company had no comment on reports that it is creating its own fulfillment network, but did allow that it continues to work to get closer to customers. Same day delivery to as many customers as possible has long been a goal of founder Jeff Bezos.
The company expects revenue in the second quarter to increase between 15% and 26%,but expects to post an operating loss in the period. In last year’s second quarter it had an operating profit of $79 million.
